Changing Skyline | Welcome, welcome, city planners
By Inga Saffron
Inquirer Architecture Critic
Rendering by H2L2 Architects & Planners
The South Street Bridge project. Designed without effective planning by
Mayor Street's administration, it doesn't make pedestrians feel
comfortable, and could discourage fringe development.
If you notice groups of people lingering on Philadelphia's street
corners in the next few days, methodically measuring the width of the
sidewalks or counting the lunchtime population in LOVE Park, please - do
not call Homeland Security. It's probably just city planners at work.
Starting tomorrow, 6,000 professionals will descend for the American
Planning Association's annual convention.
Their penchant for focused observation may strike some here as novel
because Philadelphia hasn't seen many of their kind in the last 15
years. Planning became a dirty word in the Rendell years, when
Let's-Make-a-Deal became the city's rallying cry. Planning remains
undervalued to this day.
But with the city in the throes of an up-for-grabs mayoral race, the
lack of meaningful planning has finally become a fit subject for public
discussion. The issue merited its own candidates' forum Monday night.
It's true that only three of the six major contenders showed up, and
none was willing to advance anything resembling a signature planning
vision. But at least they agreed that planning should inform the Zoning
Board of Adjustment's decision-making.
cont'd....
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