Contents

Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. A Civic Vision

3. An Open and Transparent Planning Process

4. Framing the Vision

5. Movement Systems

6. Parks and Open Space

7. Land Development

8. Implementation

9. Phasing

Appendix

Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY pdf
The central Delaware riverfront in Philadelphia is an area of enormous cultural, ecological and economic potential. With more than 1,100 acres of land stretched over seven miles—from Oregon to Allegheny Avenues and the Delaware River to I-95—the riverfront offers the city a prime opportunity to capitalize on this signature public asset. Its location along one of the world’s great working rivers, its proximity to the strong Center City Philadelphia real estate market, its vibrant neighborhoods to the west of I-95, and the stunning sweep of history along its shores place the central Delaware among the most important development areas in the region today.

Despite this potential, the goal of creating a world-class riverfront along the central Delaware has eluded the city for nearly forty years. The central Delaware has been hampered by a variety of factors, including zoning regulations that have not been updated since the city’s industrial decline; weak economic cycles; unsympathetic development that has filled large, postindustrial parcels with suburban-style structures; minimal points of public access; the barrier created by public-infrastructure investments such as I-95; and the lack of a comprehensive plan to guide the creation of public spaces and private development.

The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware presents the city with a challenge: to transform the physical, social and political landscapes of the central Delaware riverfront at a time when the city is facing explosive riverfront growth, including the possibility of two state-authorized casinos, within the project area.

The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware offers a framework for development predicated on public riverfront access and urban design excellence. It is based on planning principles grounded in the values and civic aspirations of more than four thousand Philadelphians who participated in a year-long public-planning process.

The process was led by PennPraxis of the School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania and authorized by executive order of Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street on October 12, 2006. The charge was to “create a civic vision for the central Delaware that balances the public good, access to the waterfront, open space and quality urban development.” The hallmark of the work has been the civic-engagement process, which was designed and facilitated in collaboration with the Penn Project on Civic Engagement.

These civic principles are the foundation for the vision:

Reconnect the city to the river’s edge.
Build Philadelphia back to the river. Split up the sprawling, super-block­style street layout that currently undermines the character of the central Delaware, and increase and enhance the quality of the physical and visual connections between the riverfront and adjacent neighborhoods.

Honor the river.
The Delaware River is a significant regional resource. Acknowledge both the historical role the river played in shaping Philadelphia as a leading American city and its importance to the city today. Support the needs of the shipping industry and Philadelphia’s working port, as well as the river’s recreational and environmental potential.

Design with nature.
Remember that the Delaware River is a giant watershed. Plan development along the river’s edge carefully, so that natural sites can coexist harmoniously with other uses, such as residences, businesses and the working port.

Strike the right balance.
Create a twenty-four-hour, livable and walkable community along the entire river’s edge by encouraging a healthy mix of urban development and public improvements. Successful cities offer a tantalizing blend of uses throughout the day and year, so no single type of building use should dominate the central Delaware riverfront.

Take the long view.
Do not be seduced by short-term gains in developing the central Delaware. Think big and create bold plans for the future of I-95 at Penn’s Landing, the connections between the river and the neighborhoods and the possibilities for creating a world-class riverfront.

Protect the public good.
Connect city neighborhoods to the riverfront through a new and distinct network of public places that tells the story of Philadelphia and the Delaware River. Establish the riverfront as a meeting place for all Philadelphia residents, and provide multiple access points for neighbors to use.

Make it real, Philadelphia.
Honor Philadelphia’s illustrious past and promising future through the design of the central Delaware. Make the riverfront a real place based on local values by ensuring that the implementation of the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware is based on sustained civic engagement.

Throughout the process of creating this civic vision, PennPraxis worked with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and lead planning consultant Wallace Roberts and Todd, LLC (WRT) to refine a vision for the central Delaware that honored the civic principles and incorporated best-planning practices. Participants in the design process included representatives of numerous city and state agencies that helped to develop both short- and long-term recommendations for Philadelphia’s central Delaware riverfront. Citizens provided feedback throughout the process through public forums, advisory group meetings and focused group discussions. The process was open, collaborative,respectful, responsive and iterative.

The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware is based upon a set of three interlocking networks that establish a framework for growth:

Movement systems: streets, public transit and trails

Parks and open space: parks and ecological systems

Land development: mix of uses

The framework for growth presented herein will enable the central Delaware to fill in gracefully over time. As a framework for development,the vision incorporates ideas of sustainable urban growth, ecological principles, transportation policies and implementation strategies.

The civic vision ensures that the public’s ability to access the water is maintained for future generations through the creation of parks, streets,boulevard and trails. These improvements, when implemented over time, will provide a framework for development, increase property values and support a high quality of life.

The civic vision calls for bringing existing neighborhoods to the river’s edge with mixed-use development that extends the traditional Philadelphia grid under and over I-95; the creation of new parks, trails and open spaces; and the implementation of sound economic policies and development controls to enable the creation of a humane, walkable, dense urban riverfront

In short, it calls for the extension of Philadelphia to the river’s edge.

The goals of the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware can be accomplished by following these key recommendations:

Ensure public access to the riverfront through zoning, conservation easements and acquisition of public spaces. Create a continuous riverfront trail and parks every 2,000 feet. Improve the health of the river through a naturalized riparian buffer, and transform Penn’s Landing into our signature riverfront public park.

Connect the city to the river’s edge by adopting a new street grid across the project area that connects adjoining neighborhoods with the riverfront, disperses traffic and creates a pedestrian-scaled urban environment. The new grid will include a new boulevard with mass transportation that is a part of a comprehensive, regional network of traffic and transportation. Capitalize on the rebuilding of I-95 over the next thirty-five years to redress the divide that the highway creates.

Improve the quality of development through the creation of both an interim zoning overlay and a long-term riverfront zoning classification. The zoning classification, to be completed by the new Zoning Code Commission, needs to codify the goals of the civic vision. Ensure the protection of both natural and historic resources along the central Delaware.

Build on economic assets by making use of innovative strategies for financing public infrastructure, city/state/federal collaborations and partnerships with anchor institutions, such as the working port, for job creation and retention.

Ensure sound implementation efforts with early-action projects that demonstrate the viability of the vision. Create collaborative strategies to design, implement, manage and oversee the long-term realization of the vision while maintaining ongoing civic engagement. First, do no harm, ensuring that short-term gain does not preclude achieving long-term goals.

To achieve these goals, Philadelphia will need to use tools it has not often used over the past thirty years, as it has largely handed over the role of public planning to the private development sector. Key among these traditional city powers are adopting new streets onto the official city plan and enacting and enforcing zoning regulations that support the civic vision. Indeed, it is the city’s responsibility to determine its own form and to regulate how buildings act along its streets.

The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware sets forth a new model for civic engagement in planning and development in Philadelphia—one that places civic values at the heart of public decision-making.

A Civic Vision

A CIVIC VISION pdf
A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware covers 1,146 acres of land in an area once known as the Workshop of the World. Following an industrial decline affecting the entire region, the riverfront has undergone dramatic changes in land use, and the city adjoining it has also been transformed. The central Delaware landscape has the potential to become one of the great urban riverfronts of the world.

While cities around the world have developed comprehensive plans for revitalizing their waterfront areas in recent years, the central Delaware riverfront has lacked a plan that reflects current market trends. The city of Philadelphia has allowed the area to be developed on an ad hoc basis, without the benefit of a comprehensive and sustainable urban vision. This leaves us at considerable risk of losing the rare opportunity to create a varied cityscape of beauty and consequence and leave an invaluable legacy for future generations.

The Genesis of the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware
A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware presents a civic vision that seeks to create a road map for future growth along the central Delaware riverfront. It aims to combine high-quality, private urban development with current thinking about sustainable urban systems and the concept of the greater public good. By adopting this civic vision, Philadelphia can join the ranks of progressive, world-class cities that have envisioned new futures for their riverfronts and created places of inestimable value that inspire visitors and residents alike.

This civic vision was forged through an exhaustive process that recognized the need to balance public and private interests to ensure a sustainable future for the central Delaware riverfront. Through an open, transparent public process and the engagement of multiple stakeholders, the project team has married expert knowledge and citizen values in a plan of unusual breadth and strength. The process itself gave thousands of Philadelphians the chance to have a strong influence over the governing principles and values underlying this document, as well as allowing countless others in public and private roles of consequence to share their concerns. The resulting vision offers a comprehensive look at the riverfront that is appropriate for the twenty-first century—a vision supported by both the on-the-ground knowledge of citizens and best planning practices from around the world.

The vision establishes a sound yet flexible framework for development that will make the central Delaware riverfront into an active, vital asset for the city of Philadelphia and its environs. Because achieving this aim requires the integration of multiple factors, including civic values, best planning practices and numerous ownership interests along the riverfront, the civic vision outlines implementation strategies that emphasize collaboration.


(Philadelphia's central and southern riverfront, circa 1870.)

A vision plan is vital for clarifying and transforming the city’s role in determining the future of the central Delaware riverfront. These are some of the benefits that A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware provides for the city of Philadelphia and its citizens:

A starting point for future civic action that builds the case for more detailed planning, as well as economic, environmental and technical studies;

A framework for advocacy, ongoing public dialogue and action by public officials based upon extensive civic engagement;

A focus on “big idea” concepts that encourages the implementation of progressive public policy and public investment in civic infrastructure; and

A broad-based vision that demonstrates what is possible while allowing for growth and adaptation.

The Power of Planning
Cities are organic entities that grow and change over time, and sound urban planning and design help them evolve in beneficial ways that create a framework for our lives. They are shifting landscapes. Visionary plans influence urban-development practices for decades and even centuries; perhaps the most notable example of this in the United States is Daniel Burnham’s plan for Chicago in 1909, which established the template that has guided subsequent growth. The most revered cities around the world still adhere to elements of their hallmark plans, from the plan of Pierre L’Enfant in Washington to that of Baron Haussmann in Paris. Quality urban design is attuned to the rhythm of the era, but it also stands the test of time. It informs development, makes a city more memorable and can even help us feel safe in our neighborhoods. By giving sites a feeling of permanence, sound city planning allows buildings and sites to be adapted over time without losing their essential character.

Successful planning requires that we balance the interests of the public and private sectors, but the process of creating a successful plan also teaches us that these interests are intertwined. Public policy that is written to create and preserve quality urban development will benefit private-sector interests by stimulating demand. However, the decline of both public and private investment in recent decades shows that Philadelphia’s land-use policies are out of date with current development pressures, allowing for development that does not adhere to sound principles for planning, land use, transportation and quality of life. As a result, the quality of the built environment has been compromised.

The city was not always characterized by a haphazard development style. In fact, Philadelphia began with a plan: William Penn’s plan for the city, a holy experiment that was also a real-estate deal. The plan, which Penn designed with his surveyor, Thomas Holme, was first published in 1683. It laid out development parcels and public squares along a network of parallel streets, reflecting the planners’ efforts to resolve the tension between religious freedom and aristocratic land ownership, community interaction and private property. This plan allowed for growth within a formal framework, and economic realities led to the speedy filling in of Penn’s blocks with dense, mixed-use neighborhoods. Theirs was a prescient template for growth that survives to this day.

Penn’s clear delineation of development parcels, a street network and open space has served the city as a template for 325 years of growth. Today, in the absence of comprehensive planning, this growth has been implemented mainly at the hands of private developers and property owners. What follows is a brief history of city planning in Philadelphia and the central Delaware.

The Philadelphia Story: A Timeline of City Planning and Growth

1683: Philadelphia Plan: William Penn and Thomas Holme’s grid plan
for Philadelphia is first published in London. Its framework of streets has guided the city’s growth for 325 years, allowing for an easy mix of uses between businesses and residences.
1684: Seeing the clear economic value of the central Delaware, Penn allows development at the river’s edge as long as public riverfront access is retained at every block. The Wood Street Steps in Old City are the lone remaining vestige of this agreement.
1700s: River Of Commerce. The city continues to develop, primarily north and south along the Delaware River. By the time of the American Revolution, the river has become a national center for commerce and manufacturing, and it remains so through World War II.
1822: This year marks the opening of Frederick Graff’s Fairmount Water Works, the first municipal waterworks in the country, designed to protect the city’s water supply and provide a refuge from the crowded metropolis. It soon becomes a beloved symbol of excellence in civic design.
1831: Delaware Avenue: In his will, shipping magnate Stephen Girard starts a trust that finances Delaware Avenue. The avenue becomes the first public road to link the docks of the central Delaware to one another.
1854: Philadelphia is consolidated into a single city and county, giving local government new authority to acquire land for public good. The establishment of Fairmount Park follows in 1855.
1876: The Centennial International Exhibition, the first offcial world’s fair in the United States, is held in Fairmount Park. The showcase introduces the United States as a new industrial force and Philadelphia as a center of American culture and industry.
1907-1917: The Parkway. With the help of plans created by Paul Cret and Jacques Gréber, the Fairmount Park Commission designs the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a European-style boulevard that connects Philadelphia’s downtown with Fairmount Park. This effort generates the first direct participation in city planning by local leaders (the Parkway Association) and helps make Philadelphia one of the most progressive cities for urban design in the United States.
1920s: Infrastructure: Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the subway system are completed.
1949-1970: Edmund Bacon becomes a national figure as executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, implementing many large projects, such as the Society Hill revitalization, Penn’s Landing, and the Gallery at Market East.
1956: CPDC: Central Philadelphia Development Corporation is founded, ushering in a new era in which planning is conducted by smaller, non-profit groups.
1952-1962: Reform: Philadelphia mayors Joseph Clark and Richardson Dilworth begin a post-WWII reform movement that significantly strengthens the local government’s role in city planning. John Gallery calls this reform in urban redevelopment a “civic and political partnership.”
1970s-Present: Displacement: As many early projects of the Urban Renewal era caused widespread displacement, the federal government is focusing its projects on communities and neighborhood preservation. Philadelphia responds by decentralizing its planning processes to involve more community groups and citizens.
1979: Elevated I-95: A mostly-elevated extension of Interstate 95 opens along the central Delaware, marking the beginning of the riverfront's identity as a regional auto thoroughfare.
1990: Center City District: CPDC helps establish Center City District, a business improvement district charged with implementing maintenance and marketing programs for downtown. Over the next seventeen years, the residential population of Center City grows to make it the third largest downtown in the nation.
2003-2007: Mayor Street launches the New River City initiative. This includes the creation of a civic vision for the central Delaware, a vision plan for the future of the central Delaware River.

Current Features of the Project Area

The civic vision covers 1,146 acres of land; these acres include seven miles along the river’s edge. The project area’s boundaries are Allegheny Avenue to the north, Oregon Avenue to the south, I-95 to the west and the Delaware River to the east. Currently, the area is comprised of piecemeal development that lacks a cohesive plan. As the following factors reveal, the situation is growing urgent.

The riverfront is currently a fragmented collection of development, ranging from a working port and big-box retail in the southern area to high-rise, gated communities in the north. Among the unintended consequences of its unchecked development are traffic jams along Columbus Boulevard, reports of flooding in nearby basements during significant storm events and a virtual lack of public access to the water’s edge.

Development pressures are intense: along the central Delaware, twenty-two high-rise towers and two state-approved casinos are in various stages of proposal and approval.

With I-95 and Columbus Boulevard cutting a 600-foot-wide swath through the corridor, the riverfront is an auto-dominated landscape that precludes public access to and enjoyment of the river.

The area abuts Philadelphia’s oldest, most historic and densest row-house communities, and the project area includes structures that high­light the city’s former industrial primacy as the Workshop of the World.

Only 8 acres of the project area are publicly accessible park space: Penn Treaty Park in Fishtown and Pulaski Park in Port Richmond.

Penn’s Landing remains a significantly underutilized public space in the center of the study area due in large part to the difficulty of accessing the site across I-95.

Across the project area, a lack of openness and transparency characterizes both government oversight and the development process.

Much of the land in the project area is privately owned, and large portions remain underutilized, most notably the 250-acre Port Richmond rail yards in the northern sector.

About 60 percent of the project area has been certified as “blighted.”

The current and future health of the Delaware River is a significant concern, largely due to combined sewer outflows, proposed dredging and increased riverfront development.

Given the current development landscape along the central Delaware, it is time to create a sound framework for growth.

(A chaotic convergence of land uses typifies the southern portion of the project area, which includes suburban-style big-box retail and a working port.)

Recent Planning Efforts along the Delaware Riverfront
A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware is the first planning initiative to cover such a large stretch of the Delaware riverfront in Philadelphia in twenty-five years. (Between 1981 and 1982, under Mayor Green’s administration, Waterfront District Plans were completed by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.) Throughout the planning process, we consulted with those involved in other riverfront planning efforts in the project area and throughout Philadelphia and worked to coordinate our efforts with theirs. Most of these planning initiatives began before our planning process, and each one represents an important community effort. A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware recognizes the work of these various neighborhood, city, state and regional entities and has incorporated many of their tenets into the civic vision from which it sprang. Key organizations include the following:

Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA): In April 2007, NLNA released the Northern Liberties Waterfront Plan, a community-based riverfront vision that will guide development from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to Penn Treaty Park. Commissioned by NLNA and financed by local developers, it is the first community plan address­ing land along the central Delaware. The plan focuses on ideas for narrowing the gap between the neighbors and the river, such as east-west “civic incisions” that reclaim important connector streets as public space, manicured parks under portions of I-95 and floating trail elements in the river as a way to allow people to travel along a continuous riverfront trail, despite private control of riparian land. The full plan can be viewed or downloaded from the NLNA website at www.nlna.org/images/NLNA_WaterfrontPlan_Web.pdf.


New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) and Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront (NABR) are working with The Pennsylvania Environmental Council to lead a community-driven greenway study that examines how to improve neighborhood connec­tions to the river from Spring Garden Street to the Betsy Ross Bridge. More information can be found on NKCDC’s website, www.nkcdc.org.


NABR conducted a workshop in April 2007 that used the neighborhood principles identified during our planning process to envision alternate uses for the Foxwoods and SugarHouse Casino sites. More information can be found on its website, www.nabrhood.org.


Delaware River City Corporation is the non-profit implementing agency for the North Delaware Riverfront Greenway, an eight-mile trail and landscaped edge from Pulaski Park to Glen Foerd. The project grew out of a vision plan for the North Delaware prepared by Field Operations for the City Planning Commission in 2001. That plan called for increased public access and mixed-use development, primarily on brownfield sites. Several projects proposed by the plan are already underway, including the extension of Delaware Avenue north and the major expansion of trails and parks. More information can be found on the group’s website, www.drcc-phila.org.


GreenPlan Philadelphia, the city’s blueprint for sustainable open space, is Philadelphia’s first comprehensive plan for parks, recreation and open space. This plan was created concurrently with our planning process. GreenPlan includes strategic recommendations for improving the city’s open-space network and an implementation plan that includes first-action demonstration projects. Numerous sites along the central Delaware have been identified by both our project team and those who developed GreenPlan as potential early projects, such as Penn Treaty Park, the former city incinerator site and Festival Pier. More information can be found at www.greenplanphiladelphia.com.


Cooper’s Ferry Development Association: Founded in 1984, CFDA has leveraged more than $500 million of public and private investment in the Camden riverfront, including financing for Tweeter Center, RiverLink Ferry, Campbell’s Field and the New Jersey State Aquarium. The Camden riverfront currently draws two million visitors per year and contributes about $4 million in annual taxes to the city of Camden, 18 percent of its overall collections. More information can be found on CFDA’s website: www.camdenwaterfront.com.

Though not on the Delaware River, other recent riverfront planning projects include the Schuylkill River Development Corporation's Tidal Schuylkill River Master Plan: Creating a New Vision in 2003 and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation's 2004 Philadelphia Navy Yard Master Plan. Plans can be found at www.schuylkillbanks.org and at www.navyyard.org.

Riverfront Development Pressures Reach New Heights
Intense development pressures in recent years along the central Delaware have demonstrated the need for a comprehensive vision for the riverfront. The city’s recent downtown housing boom, aided by the expansion of the ten-year property tax abatement for residential construction, has caused a dramatic rise in interest in vacant, post­industrial riverfront parcels. Today, these vacant parcels are seen as prime sites for high-density living and retail establishments. As of 2007, plans for twenty-two new high-rises are proposed along the central Delaware riverfront, and many have received zoning approval. Additionally, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has licensed two casinos with five thousand slot machines each; these are also slated for development along the riverfront. If the casinos are built as approved, it is anticipated that each casino development will stimulate ancillary and supporting development on adjacent sites.

To date, the city’s approach to riverfront development views any development as good for the economy. Thus, the city has spent little time strengthening the land-use controls needed to encourage high- quality design, a feature that would protect the area’s value and appeal. In the absence of these controls, the existing physical landscape is one of isolated development, replete with traffic jams, flooding caused by poor stormwater management and a lack of public access to the river. A comprehensive approach to riverfront development that addresses economics, urban design, social equity and ecology has been lacking from the conversation. This civic vision presents Philadelphia with the opportunity to manage development pressures along the riverfront, protect the public good, address long-term and sustainable design principles and adopt a framework that will ensure that the Delaware riverfront succeeds in becoming a major local and regional asset.

The Challenges Facing Riverfront Development, and the Potential for New Growth
The primary challenges to developing the central Delaware into a model twenty-first century, urban riverfront community are physical and governmental. However, many opportunities exist to create such a riverfront in what is currently an array of big-box shopping centers, super- block-scaled development, vacant land, an auto-dominated landscape and a largely inaccessible river’s edge. Underutilized land can be the city’s next great developed and public space, existing sprawl-type development can become urban infill, and neighborhood development pressures can spill over constructively onto the river’s edge.

Challenges
The physical and psychological barrier of I-95, which literally cuts the city off from the riverfront.

Inadequate coordination between a plethora of governing and managing entities at both city and state levels.

An automobile-dominated landscape that makes the riverfront a high-speed thoroughfare and not a destination.

Large-scale, post-industrial brownfield sites that encourage suburban-style development with horizontal, big-box development and acres of surface parking.

Development pressures that decrease opportunities for open space.

A dearth of attractive, public green spaces.

Gated communities that block public access to the river.

Minimal road connectivity between the river and adjacent neighborhoods.

An aging combined sewer infrastructure that contributes to riverfront pollution.

A current lack of federal funds for transformational urban-redevelopment projects.

An existing rail right-of-way ownership down the center of Columbus Boulevard that is incompatible with a pedestrian-friendly, urbane boulevard.

A lack of coordination between the needs of the riverfront as a whole (traffic, open space, riverfront access) and community benefits agreements presented for Zoning Board of Adjustment approval that are negotiated by civic associations and individual developers without regard to comprehensive planning implications.

Archaic zoning code practices that cause unintended development consequences, with the Zoning Board of Adjustment and City Council adjudicating zoning variances on a parcel-by-parcel basis.

Largely private ownership of riverfront land.

The ten-year property tax abatement which has stimulated develop­ment but is also a missed opportunity for capturing future property tax value for public infrastructure investment.

The lack of a comprehensive civic vision that balances public good with quality urban development.

Potential
Strong neighborhood communities bordering the central Delaware.

An existing Philadelphia street framework that allows for potential “green” connective corridors to the river from adjoining communities.

Development pressure that will spur neighborhood expansion to the river and provide the density necessary to support park space, retail, mass transportation and quality public investment in civic infrastructure.

Future job growth in the working port, construction, riverfront hospitality and retail fields.

Strategic public investment in infrastructure (street grid, boulevard, parks), yielding significant private investment returns and increased public revenues.

Existing public access points (Penn’s Landing, Penn Treaty Park, Pulaski Park) as starting points for new riverfront parks and open spaces.

A historic legacy as the site of earliest Philadelphia settlements.

An existing rail infrastructure as basis for future mass transportation infrastructure.

The potential for creative funding sources for future infrastructure investment.

A working port as a growing economic driver for the city.

Large, undeveloped parcels as potential sites for new urban destinations.

A planned I-95 rebuild and improved design during current rebuilding process.

Developing partnerships between public, private and non-profit entities.

The Advisory Group’s Work to Address Casinos on the Riverfront
The central Delaware riverfront planning process proceeded in parallel with other independent development proposals, the most controversial of which was the siting of two state-mandated and licensed casinos within the project area. In response to community concern, the Central Delaware Advisory Group voted to include a “no-build” scheme in this civic vision so that alternative site plans would be acknowledged.

Thriving riverfronts—indeed cities in general—incorporate a wide mix of uses. In some cities, mostly in Europe and Canada, this mix can include casinos if they are given urban form and properly contextualized. However, to achieve this, cities must be able to provide and enforce zoning regulations and design guidelines that manage building form and scale, provide public riverfront access and ensure that the auto­mobile does not dominate the landscape. The controversial process that brought casinos to the Delaware did not allow for a thorough discussion of design and planning.

The proposed casino locations and no-build criteria are included in the following pages and demonstrate the effect of applying the central Delaware design guidelines (created with the advisory group as a part of this process) to the site and program of the proposed casinos.

Elements of the proposed no-build provision include the following:

Extending the Philadelphia street grid over large development parcels to create a pedestrian-scale environment and improve riverfront access.

Encouraging smaller buildings to allow for permeability at the river’s edge.

Providing a 100-foot minimum public easement along the riverfront for a multimodal riverfront trail and green space.

Placing buildings at the building line on city streets.

Requiring parking that is visually unobtrusive and has a minimal impact on pedestrians’ riverfront experience.

Exploring innovative remedies to the auto-dominated landscape, including remote parking, car sharing and automated garages.

Requiring that buildings are constructed to ensure that massing, height, scale and form reflect their riverfront and neighborhood context.

The current designs for SugarHouse and Foxwoods do not meet many of the design standards established in the central Delaware planning process. However, it should be noted that the Philadelphia City Planning Commission worked to incorporate these standards into the city’s casino review process.

Short-Term Recommendation
With the construction of the casinos, traffic is expected to increase in areas that already have persistent congestion problems. Although an independent study of traffic impacts approved by City Council was not completed by the time of the printing of this report, it is clear that the casinos will bring thousands of cars to the riverfront. Our recommendations for traffic mitigation are related to all large-scale development on the riverfront and include the creation of a riverfront-specific traffic and transportation policy that enhances and encourages mass transit, coordinated remote parking, shuttles, water taxis and other forms of traffic dispersion and management. Before long term improvements are made, short-term traffic congestion will worsen. Managing and facilitating this change will require collaboration between city and state agencies.

Long-Term Recommendations
In the longer term, because this civic vision is concerned primarily with providing guidelines for good riverfront development, PennPraxis recommends that the casinos evolve to meet the design standards established through this vision. This is especially critical in future phases of growth to ensure the development of the mixed-use riverfront envisioned in this plan. Because casinos frequently renew their physical plants, future compliance with design guidelines should be a goal and an expectation of the casinos and the city.

Recommendations for future changes include the following:

Reduce or break down the scale of buildings and provide more permeability through the site in accordance with the 420 x 500 foot maximum riverfront parcel size recommended in the design guidelines. On the river’s edge, buildings should not exceed 250 feet in length to ensure pedestrian access and viewsheds to the water.

Provide active frontages to city streets, with buildings meeting the city street line with a variety of retail and commercial uses, stimulating a quality pedestrian-oriented series of sidewalks adjoining the casino development.

Eliminate or reconfigure all exposed parking garages.

Create an active pedestrian realm on Delaware Boulevard. Large driveways should be minimized to enhance walkability.

If adjacent properties are acquired by the casinos, development standards should allow for the creation of city streets separating casinos from new development to allow for access to the river. The casinos should also work to avoid the construction of additional large-scale structures dominated by inactive parking structures and blank-walled buildings.

Encourage and accommodate use of mass transit along the proposed Delaware Boulevard and to and from Center City. This use would be bolstered by the development of remote parking locations served by mass transit as a part of a comprehensive, regional traffic and transportation strategy.

Encourage the use of water-taxi service from both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides of the Delaware.

In community benefits agreements, accommodate for infrastructure improvement and long-term mitigation of impacts, and require compliance with the design guidelines established in this civic vision.

Explore city-level ways to leverage the revenue-generating power of the casinos (further explored in Chapter Eight) making the casinos into partners in implementing the goals of the civic vision.

Riverfront Susceptibility to Change
As our look at the planned casino development reveals, the project area faces a drastic transformation from its current state in coming years as private developers reimagine their riverfront land. The project area is composed of a series of post-industrial parcels that are transitioning from their former uses in ways that reflect a changing real-estate market. Here are some factors in the region that we anticipate will lead to significant changes, changes that call for the city’s active guidance based on a comprehensive plan:

The land south of Pier 70 that belongs to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is available for future port development. Port-related employment is of growing importance in Philadelphia, especially considering Pennsylvania’s proposed investment in port expansion.

The big-box retail center along South Columbus Boulevard is susceptible to change due to the short life spans of these types of buildings. With Foxwoods Casino just to the north, it is easy to imagine that this section could change into a denser district offering varied retail options within ten years.

The holdings of the Penn’s Landing Corporation (PLC) can be changed with approval by its board of directors; the proximity to Center City of these parcels makes them particularly attractive for development or long-term, ground-lease agreements with PLC.

The area from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the PECO Delaware Generating Station will likely change quickly due to strong residential development pressures from downtown, rapidly transforming adjacent neighborhoods such as Northern Liberties and Fishtown and their large number of underutilized parcels. With two Water­front Square towers already built, SugarHouse Casino and Bridge­man’s View Tower already approved by the city, and fifteen other high-rise proposals in the Northern Liberties and Fishtown stretch of the river alone, this area of the central Delaware riverfront is poised to become a dense, high-rise residential and commercial district.

North of the PECO Delaware Generating Station are 250 acres of underutilized post-industrial land. This area does not have the same market pressures as parts directly to the south, but available parcels have received development interest, particularly due to their proximity to the reconfigured ramps created in the Girard Avenue Interchange rebuild, which is slated for completion in 2013.

The two existing riverfront parks, Penn Treaty Park and Pulaski Park, are neighborhood assets that must be protected and that would benefit from expansion.

An Open and Transparent Planning Process

AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PLANNING PROCESS pdf

A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware was created through a citizen-driven, open and transparent planning process. The public nature of the planning process attracted press coverage, enabling the conversation to remain public and vigorous and ensuring that special interests were not allowed to dominate the outcome. PennPraxis, together with the Penn Project on Civic Engagement, developed a process of creating a vision plan that married citizen values with professional knowledge. Since October 2006, the process has engaged more than four thousand Philadelphians in a robust civic dialogue that has included citizens, business leaders, elected offi cials, developers and design professionals.

The Central Delaware Advisory Group


The Central Delaware Advisory Group, chaired by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s executive director, Janice Woodcock, began meeting monthly in November 2006. The group included forty-six appointed public officials, business leaders and community group members. The advisory group also selected a steering committee, which met as needed over the course of the process. Members of the advisory group visited New York City in November 2006 to meet with various planners and officials and learned about New York’s diverse waterfront initiatives. Each representative served an important role in the advisory group, helping to guide the process to ensure that it remained thorough and embodied shared values.

PlanPhilly
In October 2006, PennPraxis launched www.planphilly.com, a portal for content on planning and urban-design issues in the Philadelphia area. Since January, the site has kept the public up to date on the status of the civic vision and helped to educate its visitors on riverfront issues through interactive applications that encourage local citizens to use the Web for civic engagement. PlanPhilly earned honorable mention on Planetizen’s list of Top 10 Best Planning Websites of 2007 and had over eighty thousand unique visitors in its first nine months.

A Year of Civic Engagement

Fall 2006, Riverfront Walks
PennPraxis led over three hundred citizens on several guided riverfront tours. During the tours, many participants shared their stories and knowledge of the central Delaware riverfront. These walks marked the beginning of a process in which neighbors, public officials and design professionals came together to envision a new future for the riverfront. As such, they sent the important signal that the process begins with the public at the water’s edge

December 2006, Community Forum: Value Sessions
The Penn Project on Civic Engagement facilitated three outreach sessions in Kensington, South Philadelphia and Penn’s Landing. The value sessions, organized around small-group discussions, encouraged citizens to describe valued aspects of their communities. Over 850 Philadelphians participated in creating a list of community-derived values

February 2007, Community Forum: Best Practices Session
PennPraxis invited local and national experts to the Independence Seaport Museum to provide Philadelphia with a crash course in various aspects of waterfront development. Through discussions focused on ecology, sustainable systems, challenges of large-scale urban design and models for waterfront planning implementation, over four hundred Philadelphians began to believe in the potential for the development of a twenty-first century riverfront and to understand the long-term effort necessary to achieve such a goal.

February 2007, Community Forum: Principles Sessions
Following the identification of community values and best practices, PennPraxis gathered over 450 residents of Society Hill, Kensington and Pennsport to develop a series of planning principles. These principles became the blueprint upon which the vision plan was based.

March 2007, Design Workshop
PennPraxis, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and planning consultants Wallace Roberts & Todd organized and facilitated a design workshop at which participants were asked to imagine a new future for the Delaware riverfront. Five world-renowned designers led teams of local planning professionals, community members and design students through three days of collaborative brainstorming and intensive designing. Using the citizen-derived planning principles as their foundation, the teams imagined a fully transformed central Delaware riverfront. Over five hundred citizens attended the standing-room-only presentation at the Independence Seaport Museum to see the work of the design teams, and many of the ideas were published in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News and presented on local television and radio stations. During the workshop, three essential planning networks were identified: movement systems, open space and land development. These three networks became the basis for this vision plan.

Spring and Summer 2007, Design and Community Feedback
Throughout this planning process, many community and riverfront stakeholders played important roles in refining the citizen and expert recommendations for riverfront design and implementation. The Penn Project on Civic Engagement facilitated a series of citizen feedback sessions in Northern Liberties and Queen Village, as well as holding smaller community meetings in Washington Square, Port Richmond and New Kensington. Approximately four hundred local residents provided comments on many elements of the design and development guidelines. Their feedback served as a checkpoint, enabling the team to see if the design ideas in development were conveying the public’s voice appropriately.


Summer 2007, Collaboration and Outreach
Recognizing that the Central Delaware Riverfront Vision Plan requires cooperation at many levels (neighborhood, city, state and region), PennPraxis convened multiple focus groups to obtain specific information on the specialized disciplines, key projects and upcoming work of various public agencies. These included internal workshops and information-sharing sessions with historic preservation experts, parks groups and the broader development community. The team also consulted with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Philadelphia Water Department, the Center City District, the Design Advocacy Group, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Delaware River Port Authority and the Penn’s Landing Corporation, among others. In addition, the project team worked with local developers and promoted the plans of local neighborhood groups, including the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront, the Delaware River City Corporation and the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.

November 2007, Public Presentation of the Civic Vision
PennPraxis hosted the public unveiling of the Central Delaware Riverfront Vision Plan. The presentation offered local citizens and others an opportunity to see how the civic values and principles developed through public outreach have been translated into a long-term vision for Philadelphia’s riverfront.

Values and Principles

A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware relied upon the efforts of thousands of committee members, residents, business owners, com­munity leaders and government officials to define the values and principles that best reflect Philadelphia’s distinctive characteristics. The following values and principles form the core of the civic vision.

Values

The following list reveals neighborhood features that citizens told our team are important. We have sought to retain some of their language.

A safe place to live
We value a neighborhood in which children can play outside, one where adults and kids alike walk the neighborhood and feel safe because they know and trust one another, whether they live or work in the community.

A varied culture
We appreciate the economic, ethnic, racial, cultural, generational and physical (ecological and architectural) diversity in our neighborhoods.

A healthful environment
We value a clean and open environment—including the river, trees and air—and want access to that environment.

Economic sustainability
We recognize that quality jobs on the riverfront are an economic engine of the city. It is important that we sustain, if not expand, industrial and shipping jobs, as well as small, locally owned businesses. This will provide a strong economy for adults, as well as jobs for youth.

A rich history
We value Philadelphia’s history as the birthplace of democracy in the United States and as a city to which different ethnic groups have im­migrated and in which they have prospered. The traditions, buildings, cultural institutions and activities, educational institutions and other features that have grown from that history make Philadelphia unique.

Planning Principles derived from Citizen Values

Reconnect the city to the river’s edge
Build Philadelphia to the river. Split up the sprawling, super-block-style street layout that damages the character of the central Delaware, and link the waterfront physically and visually to adjacent neighborhoods. Reuse historic structures to hold on to traces of Philadelphia’s past. Bring the narrow, neighborly grid of streets to the river’s edge so that dense intimate communities can thrive, increasing the sense of safety and strengthening community pride. Remove barriers to waterfront access and make it safe to work, walk and play in this new district. Reduce car traffic on Columbus Boulevard/Delaware Avenue and Interstate 95 so the human-scale city can flow to the river. Use innovative mass transit, car sharing and automated-parking techniques so that people can visit the waterfront without having to drive.

Honor the river
Acknowledge the role the river has played in shaping Philadelphia, as well as its importance today. Support the needs of the shipping industry and Philadelphia’s working port as a vital part of the city’s current and future economic base. At the same time, think of the river as a series of interlocking systems—economic, recreational, transportation, residential, cultural and commercial—and work to manage the river’s multiple uses and needs. Improve public access for boating, recreation and leisure. Maintain the health of the river for future generations. Build on Philadelphia’s relationship with Camden, its neighbor on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, and create water-taxi and ferry services to enhance the connections.

Design with nature
Remember that the Delaware River is a giant watershed. Plan development along the river’s edge carefully so that natural sites can coexist with residences, businesses and the working port. Practice effective water management to reduce stormwater runoff from new development, and create new streams and inlets where paved-over creeks once fed into the Delaware. Encourage new development that enhances the river’s ecology and environment rather than degrading it. Promote “green” building technologies and remediate and develop vacant brownfields in ways that celebrate the industrial past while creating new uses for the twenty-first century. Offer good mass transit along the waterfront to reduce car pollution and congestion.

Strike the right balance
Create a livable and walkable community along the entire water’s edge by encouraging a healthy mix of urban development and public improvements. Successful sites offer a blend of uses throughout the day and the year, so no single type of activity should dominate the central Delaware waterfront. Encourage a healthy public life along the water’s edge with a careful balance of public spaces, shops, cafés and residences. Design Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard to be one of the great boulevards of the world, one that manages traffic artfully, encourages a mix of uses with ground-level activity to keep streets populated and includes a variety of lively public spaces. Promote dense, human-scale development that brings people and urban energy to the river. Create a destination for local residents and visitors that adds to Philadelphian’s sense of hometown pride. Beautify the public realm through signage, public art and landscaping.

Take the long view
Do not be seduced by short-term gains in developing the central Delaware. Think big and create bold plans for the future of I-95 at Penn’s Landing, the connections between the river and the neigh­borhoods and the possibilities for creating a world-class waterfront. Seize the opportunity to create a visionary road map for large-scale public investment in Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard, mass transit and the creation of generous public spaces. Encourage high-quality private urban development and support it with urban-design excellence in the public realm. Aim high and put forward a vision that can be implemented in phases over the next fifty years. Cultivate farsighted civic and political leadership to put the plan into action.

Protect the public good
Connect city neighborhoods to the waterfront through a new and distinct network of public places that tells the story of Philadelphia and the Delaware River. Reach out along the river to the north and the south—beyond the central Delaware—and link the central region with the public improvements planned for those other areas. Develop a waterfront that will bring different types of people together through shared experiences of public spaces. Establish the waterfront as a meeting place for all Philadelphia residents, and provide multiple access points for neighbors to use. Plan for a diverse built environment as well as a diverse community of residents. Develop public policies that encourage a variety of housing opportunities for citizens of mixed income levels and backgrounds and that protect the quality of life for local community members.

Make it real, Philadelphia
Honor Philadelphia’s illustrious past and promising future through the design of the central Delaware. Make the riverfront a real place based on local values by ensuring that the implementation of the civic vision for the central Delaware is based on sustained citizen engagement. Tap into Philadelphia’s vast wealth of design excellence for inspiration while making sure that the vision for the central Delaware is truly contemporary. Create a lasting legacy of urban- design excellence for generations to come through the thoughtful balance of public good and private development. Continue making citizen input a priority as the plan for the central Delaware takes shape so that this vital dialogue can continue to inform development.

Looking to the Future
Through the process of civic engagement described above, local designers, elected officials and neighborhood stakeholders formed partnerships and began to collaborate in new and creative ways. These relationships are an early win for the civic vision. In addition, the active and sustained participation of the public reveals the community’s eagerness to become involved in forming a comprehensive vision for the future of the riverfront that is based on shared civic values. This active public involvement sends the strong and clear message that Philadelphians want their city to abandon the traditional method of transactional, parcel-based planning and development without regard to the greater public good.

Philadelphia will benefit by continuing this sustained and active civic engagement at both neighborhood and city-wide levels. It is essential that community leaders continue to mobilize Philadelphians into action to ensure that public and private interests work together to identify common ground and set priorities for future growth and development along the central Delaware riverfront. Community members want development that places the public good at the forefront. They want progressive public policies to be created and implemented—policies that ensure that the look and feel of the cen­tral Delaware will be inviting and provide an example of sustainable development for generations to come.

Framing the Vision

FRAMING THE VISION pdf

In 1683, William Penn and Thomas Holme created a plan to guide Philadelphia’s growth. The plan was sensible and refl ected the fact that Philadelphia began partly as a business venture. First, their plan established a gridiron street network that facilitated connectivity and commerce; second, in a manner evocative of the European trend toward the “greene country towne,” the plan established a series of public squares; and third, the plan allowed for the subdivision of land, which set the stage for residential, commercial and industrial development. For the past 325 years, Penn and Holme’s fl exible framework for building a community has served Philadelphia well, successfully guiding the city’s growth and allowing for an easy mix of uses between businesses and residences.

Yet today, because much of the central Delaware riverfront lacks this formative framework, riverfront development is occurring in a haphazard fashion. A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware seeks to inspire Philadelphia’s citizens to aspire toward a higher-quality built environment. The plan presents the citizens of Philadelphia with a challenge: to transform the physical and regulatory landscape of the central Delaware at a critical juncture in the city’s history. The plan seeks to enable developers, political leaders and citizens to establish the framework for a legacy of urban excellence for generations to come. A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware combines William Penn and Thomas Holme’s timeless lessons with the aspirations of Philadelphia’s residents to envision Philadelphia as a fresh, modern, premier riverfront city. The strength of this civic vision lies in the fact that its values and principles are citizen derived. As such, they reflect what is meaningful to Philadelphia—what matters about its past as well as what is valuable in its present and desired for its future.

A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware offers a comprehensive vision that translates citizen-driven values and principles into an integrated series of networks—networks that can create, support and sustain the civic vision for the central Delaware for generations to come. The three networks described in this vision—movement systems, parks and open space, and land development— represent both the planning principles outlined earlier and best planning practices. These principles and practices include ideas about urban growth and densities, ecological sustainability and effective transportation policies.

Below we offer an overview of the three networks, including the goals and recommendations formed during our extensive process of soliciting and integrating citizen voices and the input of local and international experts.

Movement Systems
In order to extend Philadelphia to the river’s edge, we will need to create new movement systems that will work together to serve as a template for riverfront growth. New streets will determine the size of development parcels and optimize public riverfront access; they will incorporate public transit for residents and tourists, a recreational trail and a right-of-way dedicated to biking. These movement systems will improve connectivity by increasing route options for all modes of transportation and shifting the focus of the central Delaware from the car to the pedestrian, cyclist and jogger.

Goal: To increase opportunities for public access to the riverfront and to help shape urban development through infrastructure investment and transportation policies that lessen auto congestion in the project area. Increasing public access and improving transportation options are goals that directly express the concerns shared by thousands of Philadelphia citizens at public forums. These concerns include inadequate public access to the riverfront, the domination of the riverfront landscape by automobiles and a scarcity of transportation connections along the central Delaware.

Parks and Open Space
What makes a riverfront an asset to any city? The celebrated riverfronts of the world are defined by their park spaces, which function as links between major destinations within their cities. These public green spaces at the river’s edge improve the health not only of nearby neighborhoods, but also of the city and its surrounding region.

Goals: To improve riverfront life and promote water quality by building a network of attractive, public open spaces. This sustainable system should serve local residents while increasing the area’s economic and ecological viability. The goals of improving the quality of life along the river and the quality of the river itself are responses to concerns that surfaced during the public forums. These concerns include a lack of safe public space along the riverfront, threatened river habitats and inadequate opportunities for river recreation, including boat-related activities.

Land Development
Celebrated urban riverfronts offer many types of activities to their visitors; they are not single-use destinations. Thus A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware does not outline a parcel-by-parcel program of land use; instead, it supplies a blueprint for development that, if followed, will turn the central Delaware into a vital extension of the vibrant urban life that already exists to the west of I-95.

Goal: To extend Philadelphia’s urban neighborhoods to the river’s edge in a way that is mixed-use, transit-oriented and supportive of changing market conditions.
As with the previous two network categories, this goal directly reflects the concerns expressed by citizens at public forums. Their concerns include the following: the ad hoc state of development approvals along the riverfront, the increase in non-waterfront-dependent uses along the river’s edge and the apparent lack of concern for both social equity and sustainable design in development proposals.

The following chapters explore the three networks in greater detail and provide research and recommendations to guide Philadelphia toward the creation of an active, vibrant riverfront—a memorable place that will honor and serve the city for generations to come.

Movement Systems

MOVEMENT SYSTEMS pdf
The central Delaware riverfront is host to a tangle of infrastructure that reflects centuries of development and large-scale projects. I-95 cuts a wide swath through the entire central Delaware, and in most cases it separates residential communities from the river. Sewer outfalls reach the river every few blocks, running directly
under the I-95 viaduct where it depresses in Center City and under city streets throughout the project area. Remnants of the city’s great railroad infrastructure along Delaware Avenue and Columbus Boulevard include remainder rail lines and rights-of-way. The scale of this infrastructure presents great challenges to the city, but it also presents opportunities to enhance the riverfront in the near term and to set up decision-making that could be transformative for the city in the future.

The central Delaware riverfront is generally dominated by automobiles and is difficult to traverse on foot and bike. This lack of balance is caused by land-use regulations that do not encourage urban forms of development, the tangle of I-95/676 and Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard serving as a high-volume arterial highway. The riverfront is also inadequately served by public transit, and sidewalks at riverfront destinations are often narrow, disconnected and sometimes lacking altogether. To create an active riverfront, the city should aim to balance land-use transportation policies that support the creation of dense urban form.

Strategic decision-making will be important to achieving a multimodal, dense and walkable riverfront. With development expected to increase in the coming years, phasing will allow for increased car capacity while improving the pedestrian environment on a new boulevard. It is certain that the central Delaware will continue to have traffic congestion—all successful urban areas do—but it should be managed so that a balance exists between modes of transit, with forward-thinking policies and actions reflective of the goals of this vision. Most importantly, in the course of managing growth on the central Delaware, decision-makers should be sure to avoid short-term fixes that preclude long-term gain. One look at I-95 reveals the difficulty of changing large-scale infrastructure decisions once construction is complete.

Purpose
This civic vision offers Philadelphia the opportunity to improve movement systems along the central Delaware riverfront by increasing opportunities for public access to the riverfront and shaping urban development through infrastructure investment and land-use and transportation policies that allow for multiple transportation modes.

General Findings
The project team compiled research to gain quantitative and qualitative support for various movement strategies. Research indicates that a well-connected street network with redundant paths, and intersections disperses traffic across a wide area, as it allows vehicles multiple ways to access the same destination. Areas with higher concentrations of intersections are areas with higher potentials for accessibility, which creates better riverfront access and improved traffic conditions. Effective movement strategies also rely on public transit, including land and water transportation. The Urban Land Institute estimates that the minimum density needed to support light rail is twenty-three residents or 125 employees per acre. These density levels already exist in many places in the project area.

Movement Systems Goals
To create a framework for dense, urban development along the central Delaware riverfront that is pedestrian-scaled with ample public access, the following movement systems are recommended:

1. Envision a New Boulevard: Create a new Delaware Boulevard— a pedestrian-oriented, landscaped, multimodal boulevard along the riverfront.

2. Extend Philadelphia’s Urban Fabric: Create a street network that extends the city’s existing street grid on the west side of I-95 to the river, including a network of sidewalks and continuous riverfront access.

3. Expand the Transit System: Establish policies that minimize the impact of traffic and parking on the environment, support new riverfront activity and increase connections to neighborhoods and existing transit lines.

4. Embrace Innovative Infrastructure: Approach the reconstruction of I-95 as a transformative investment that will increase connectivity to the riverfront and stimulate significant economic growth.

Achieving these goals is possible in the long term, but it is important
to remember that decisions can and will be made in the short term that will affect the long-term realization of the civic vision (as outlined in the “phasing” diagrams in Chapter Nine). Though we must not preclude long-term gain, these short-term steps can be taken by the city and the state to provide the initial framework of public access and urban development.

(Delaware Riverfront Trail Early Action Project: The intent of the provisional trail alignment is to create a continuous waterfront trail that can be implemented immediately using available resources. Nodes such as this one at the Ben Franklin Bridge will provide starting points, rental stations and places to rest along the trail.)

Early Actions

Movement networks create a framework that determines the form and density of riverfront development. In the short term, community and political leaders can help ensure the long-term stewardship of the goals of the civic vision with these early action projects that increase connectivity and serve to create a new way of thinking about transportation:

Finalize the proposal by the Center City District for a two-mile, riverfront trail running from Pier 70 to the Ben Franklin Bridge at the river’s edge.

Prepare feasibility studies on the future transportation network to serve the riverfront, including short- and long-term mitigations of the impact of I-95 and the creation of Delaware Boulevard and a supporting street network.

Plan for a street grid that extends key streets to the riverfront and begin the platting process to adopt these key streets on the official city plan.

Establish an interim zoning overlay that codifies the goals of the civic vision by mandating minimum public-access requirements to ensure ample points of connection (both physical and visual) between the city and the river.

(Delaware River Conversion: The current size of Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard is the result of managing traffic without an integrated network of streets connecting riverfront development to the boulevard and the network to the west. The street section above illustrates the short-term six-lane boulevard that will be possible when a street network is implemented.)

Goal 1: Envision a New Boulevard
Create a new Delaware Boulevard —a pedestrian-oriented, landscaped, multimodal boulevard along the riverfront. The transformation of the central Delaware riverfront into a local landmark and a regional destination can be accomplished by the creation of Delaware Boulevard as the spine of all riverfront activity. This boulevard will connect all development at the river’s edge and shape the identity of the reinvigorated central Delaware.

The proposed Delaware Boulevard offers multimodal transportation options as a part of a larger network that will emphasize the movement of goods and people and provide signature street frontage and access to high-quality urban development. Buildings with civic character will line the boulevard, creating new destinations east of the I-95 barrier and increasing street activity.

Discussion
The civic vision calls for the proposed Delaware Boulevard to become a part of an integrated transportation network that works in conjunction with secondary and tertiary streets to maximize access and disperse traffic. When combined with a more complete street network, mass transit, increased pedestrian and bicycle access, and transportation and parking policies that manage traffic flow, this plan may reduce the number of traffic lanes necessary on the boulevard.

In the short term, the boulevard will remain at its current size to support existing and proposed development. Traffic will undoubtedly increase in some areas along the central Delaware as development continues, and without a built-out street grid, congestion on the proposed Delaware Boulevard will worsen. But an examination of cities with connected riverfront networks can be instructive. For example, initial traffic counts following the two-week shutdown of Seattle’s I-5 in the summer of 2007 showed that highway traffic was “diffused to other routes,” causing no significant congestion incidents over the two-week period. Other cities have benefited as well from making auto corridors more pedestrian-friendly.The city of San Francisco, for instance, has replaced a section of its Central Freeway with the tree-lined Octavia Boulevard.

Early Action
The creation of Delaware Boulevard should begin with a few key steps. Although these early actions may be difficult and will require political strength from the city and the state, the landscape must be altered in the short-term if the long-term vision is to be realized:

Add key segments of the boulevard beyond existing rights-of-way to the official city plan. The diagram at the left illustrates initial actions that will allow for the extension of Delaware Boulevard to the north:

Recommendations
The civic vision recommends that the city establish the alignment for Delaware Boulevard using existing rights-of-way and key acquisitions to make connections. The following are short- and long-term recommendations for implementing the boulevard.

Short-Term Recommendations
In the central-southern portions of the study area, establish the framework for Delaware Boulevard using existing right-of-way, including these:

In the central, Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard (Marlborough Street to Washington Avenue).

In the south, Columbus Boulevard (Washington Avenue to Oregon Avenue).

Establish collaboration between city and state agencies to ensure the implementation of Delaware Boulevard.

Identify where excess rights-of-way exist that can be used for widened sidewalks or additional bicycle lanes.

Long-Term Recommendations
In the long term, make Delaware Boulevard two traffic lanes in each direction for most of the project area.

Keeping a two-way street along the riverfront will increase accessibility and visibility, supporting retail development.

Design and construct Delaware Boulevard for a desired operating speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour to promote pedestrian activity.

Provide a continuous landscaped median along its center that can accommodate future transit service.

Provide landscape treatments that can help with stormwater management along the boulevard.

Provide dedicated bicycle lanes on both sides of the boulevard and a multi-use riverfront trail to accommodate both recreational and commuter cyclists. The proposed trail is described further in Chapter Six, “Parks and Open Space.”

Provide sidewalks of 10 to 24 feet wide on both sides of Delaware Boulevard to allow ample space for pedestrians. Where appropriate, the widened sidewalk will take the place of an on-street parking lane.


From Lehigh Avenue to Allegheny Avenue, build the boulevard closer to the river’s edge to maximize the redevelopment potential of the Port Richmond rail yards and to connect to the Delaware Avenue extension that is being developed along the north Delaware by the Philadelphia Department of Streets.

In the south, as the area redevelops, reconstruct the boulevard further inland to allow for separate cartways for passenger cars and trucks needing access to the working port.

Connect Delaware Boulevard westward into the city at key arterials, such as Allegheny Avenue in the north and Oregon Avenue in the south.

Goal 2: Extend Philadelphia’s Urban Fabric
Create a street network that extends the city’s existing street grid on the west side of I-95 to the river, including a network of sidewalks and continuous riverfront access.

A new street grid is essential for the creation of an integrated, multimodal transportation network. The street grid imagined in this civic vision is one logical continuation of the existing Philadelphia grid, which we extend to the river in order to increase connectivity, create continuous public access to the river and relieve traffic congestion.

Discussion
There are many advantages to applying the Philadelphia-scale street network to the riverfront. The movement network shown on page 78 would add 40 percent more vehicular capacity, offer over three times more east-west neighborhood connections to the river, and add numerous additional north-south streets. This type of network can also increase route choice for cars, bikes and pedestrians, as well as boasting mass-transit use, as more citizens use transit if walking in an area is easy and interesting. A smaller block size maximizes visibility and access, which benefits developers and businesses. In 2003, Milwaukee introduced a new street grid, and it has since seen over $600 million in nearby development.

There are also public health and ecological benefits to a well-designed street grid. A 2003 Bay Area survey found that adding 25 percent more intersections to an area made people 45 percent more likely to walk. Center City Philadelphia exhibits this finding by leading the nation in residents who walk to work. Though more streets will increase the amount of impervious pavement, well-landscaped streets can mitigate negative effects. The civic vision identifies streets with generous rights-of-way as ideal green streets. The benefits of green streets go beyond aesthetics: a UC Davis study shows that New York City street trees are collectively worth $122 million in annual energy savings, air-quality protection, stormwater-runoff treatment and real-estate values.

The civic vision also identifies the need for smaller, secondary streets that could be service routes or pedestrian walkways. It should be noted that the grid depicted in the vision plan is just one possible way for the city to adhere to the civic principle of connecting with the river. The sample plan on page 4 outlines the essential connector streets, cross streets and green corridors. Together with new zoning guidelines, these will ensure view corridors and human-scaled pedestrian access from the city to the river. These streets can be added to the official city plan by city government through a street-platting process (see “Spotlight: Street Platting” below for more detail).

SPOTLIGHT: STREET PLATTING
The city’s legal authority to plat, or draw, streets by adding them to the of.cial city plan is crucial to this vision's recommendation to develop an integrated road network that extends the city to the river’s edge. Changing the city plan is a process that requires approvals by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, the Board of Surveyors and Regulators, the City Solicitor’s Of.ce, City Council and the Mayor’s Of.ce. Public hearings must occur before a plan change can be formally adopted, so that citizens and city agencies can respond to proposed changes.

New streets can be added to the city plan even if the current land con.guration does not provide appropriate space for them. If these proposed streets receive all of the necessary approvals, they will be drawn on the city plan. A building permit will not be issued for any development encroaching on these new streets unless the landowner agrees not to seek compensation for the removal of the improvements should the city legally open the street. Merely drawing the streets on the city plan does not create an obligation on the part of an owner to create a street or a .nancial or ownership responsibility for the city. The street is only created when development occurs, and a financial responsibility is only created when the city legally opens the street. The process of legally opening a street is separate and distinct from the process of platting streets on the city plan. Compensation to land owners, made when a street is legally opened, does not include the value of any improvements added to a property after a street is drawn on the city plan.

Early Actions
Given the pattern of private land ownership in the study area, implementing a new street grid, sidewalks and greenway will be a long-term process. However, several important steps toward building the street network can begin shortly.

Plan and adopt the key streets identified in this section and in Chapter Nine on the official city plan. These streets will form the initial development framework that, supported by an interim zoning overlay, will begin to define the scale and character of the central Delaware riverfront.

Begin mapping the framework grid and meeting with the appropriate stakeholders, including the city, the state, the development community and civic leaders.
Utilize existing rights-of-way in establishing improved roadway networks. For example, make the service road to the east of the WalMart site at Pier 70 into the southern stretch of River Road.

Finalize the proposed two-mile, riverfront trail running from Pier 70 to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge at the river’s edge. (This movement system is addressed in greater detail in Chapter Six).

Recommendations
The civic vision’s connected network of streets, sidewalks and the continuous riverfront greenway helps increase auto and pedestrian connectivity, improve public access to the river, improve traffic capacity and, ultimately, form urban blocks that can be adopted to serve different uses as land economics change over time. The following recommendations are offered as ways to implement this crucial aspect of the civic vision. (More detailed recommendations can be found in Chapter Nine.)

Short-Term Recommendations
Plan for a street grid with the city government that extends key streets and begins the platting process for the following streets across the project area:

Pier 70 Blvd. from Columbus Blvd. to the river.

River Rd., establish between Tasker St. and Pier 70 Blvd. and from Reed St. to Washington Ave.

Washington Ave., extend and realign from I-95 to the river.

New streets created at Penn’s Landing south of Dock St. Beach St. wider between Columbia Ave. and Susquehanna Ave.

Accommodate all modes of travel on appropriate city streets. Form a partnership with the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Task Force to finalize the “Complete Streets” policy, which provides adequate right-of-way for walking, bicycling and public transportation. This could include releasing a Request for Proposal for a bike sharing program.

Prohibit curb cuts as entrances to garages or parking lots on through streets to the river so as to enhance the pedestrian experience. This entrance could be accomodated on smaller, tertiary streets.

Work with property owners to ensure that proposed developments can be integrated into the new grid. This includes Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), which is considering the Conrail rail yards as a site for industrial growth, as well as big-box structures at the southern end of the project area, which will eventually become obsolete.

Long-Term Recommendations
With the boulevard as the major spine of the grid, complete a network of two-lane secondary streets. This will include a hierarchy of streets similar to that of Center City, as well as a River Road. Many of these streets could be developed in combination with privately funded development projects.

Design and landscape east-west “green streets” to provide attractive links from the neighborhoods to the river and stormwater­management benefits.

Identify key roads that provide a break in the grid to create visual interest and variety—for example, those that suggest the character of creeks that once fed the Delaware (such as Cohocksink Creek).

Complete an urban mobility study similar to the one conducted in Seattle (see “Spotlight” later in this section) that finds ways to boost local street connectivity and the functioning of regional thoroughfares.

Goal 3: Expand the Transit System
Establish policies that minimize the impact of traf.c and parking on the environment, support new riverfront activity and increase connections to neighborhoods and existing transit lines.

Mass transit is a critical part of a transportation strategy that aims to mitigate the auto-dominated nature of the central Delaware river­front. This civic vision calls for expanded land and waterborne public transportation. Elements would include a transit rail line that would run down the center of Delaware Boulevard throughout the project area (once density and activity levels can sustain it), as well as a system of water taxis and ferries running north-south along the river and east-west to New Jersey.

Like Philadelphia’s street grid, the city’s regional transit network should be extended to the river’s edge in order to encourage and support higher levels of development density and activity on the riverfront.

Discussion
Currently, Philadelphia’s riverfront is hard to reach by public transit. While the seven-mile corridor of the central Delaware riverfront is close to the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) line and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA) Market-Frankford line, the central Delaware could be far better connected through a regional transportation network.

To support the amount of development anticipated for the riverfront, the city and regional transit authorities should develop a comprehensive transit plan for the region, a plan that integrates the PATCO and SEPTA systems via a dedicated riverfront rail line. Coordination with the Delaware River Port Authority (which runs PATCO) and SEPTA to determine the best transit technology for the corridor is critical. One possible technology is light rail, which costs less to build and operate per service mile than a heavy-rail subway. It is also a faster, more sustainable and more attractive option than traditional buses.

The possibility of sharing the existing freight rail line in the center of existing Columbus Boulevard with a new passenger rail service should be explored. Many passenger systems throughout the United States share the rail with freight uses (including Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle and Camden). Utilizing light rail presents opportunities for effective partnerships with local rail companies. A dedicated transit right-of-way will be necessary along the central Delaware to ensure reliability and ridership, especially as development pressures persist. Light rail and streetcar systems have played key roles in revitalizing waterfronts in areas as diverse as Toronto, Ontario; Portland, Oregon; and Baltimore, Maryland. Local leaders have already shown that they understand the economic, social and environmental benefits of an integrated transit system by authorizing DRPA to conduct a $2.1 million study on improving transit connections between South Jersey and Philadelphia. The Center City District has also recommended extending trolley access along Market Street from the Delaware River to Thirtieth Street Station. The findings of these studies must be evaluated in conjunction with the recommendations of this civic vision.

To be successful, a transportation network needs to offer variety. In Philadelphia, the RiverLink Ferry at Penn’s Landing serves an important but underutilized function as a local water taxi service, which this vision recommends expanding. Ferries and water taxis have succeeded in cities as small as Erie, Pennsylvania, and as large as New York City. The addition of smaller, more attractive and more frequent water taxis along the Delaware River would increase options for the region’s transit network.

SPOTLIGHT: CONNECTIONS TO CAMDEN

The redeveloped Camden riverfront features multiple attractions, including an aquarium, a minor-league baseball stadium, a large concert venue and a riverfront esplanade. To create an active riverfront, connectivity between the two riverfronts should be increased. The civic vision proposes investigating the potential to open the former trolley stop under the Ben Franklin Bridge to connect with PATCO, as well as launching a new fleet of water taxis. Potential stops include destinations along Camden’s riverfront, Petty’s Island—an important open-space development opportunity on the Delaware River— and the proposed casinos. Together, improved land transit and water taxis will increase access between the two riverfronts.

Early Actions
Developing a complete transit system is a long-term endeavor. However, important short-term applications can be implemented before the needed build-out population and employment densities are established.

Coordinate with DRPA and SEPTA to ensure that the recommendations in this vision are incorporated into their riverfront-transit studies, including exploring the option of opening the Ben Franklin Bridge trolley stop to PATCO trains.

Study opportunities for connections between the central Delaware riverfront’s proposed transit additions and the existing transit lines beyond Penn’s Landing. Focus sites could include SEPTA’s Market-Frankford El at Spring Garden Street and the proposed Route 23 trolley at the Sports Complex.

Begin discussions with representatives of CSX and the Philadelphia Belt Line Railroad about the possibility of sharing the line with passenger service.

Recommendations
Public transit is key to ensuring that the civic vision can be successful. Different forms of transit have specific demands (land use, density, urban design) that must be met to ensure their success, both in ridership and land use benefits. The following recommendations outline steps that will bring Philadelphia closer to having the high quality riverfront its citizens desire.

Short-Term Recommendations
Create phases for the implementation of this transit plan. In the initial stages, the city could utilize buses that run in mixed traffic. Then, once ridership can support it, the city could designate a cartway on Delaware Boulevard for interim transit, such as Bus Rapid Transit.

Coordinate a study by DRPA and SEPTA to develop an implementa­tion plan for mass transit on the riverfront. The study should explore possible connections to the Sports Complex, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and existing and future subway stations along Broad Street.

Establish a system of water taxis and ferries to support new river­front activity and provide connections north-south along the river and east-west to Camden.

Long-Term Recommendations
Build a rail transit line with dedicated rights-of-way to serve riverfront communities, and connect it with existing transit lines.

Utilize the existing rail right-of-way along a portion of Columbus Boulevard and a portion of Weccacoe Avenue for transit.

Use modern, sustainable technologies for vehicle and track design.

Develop a transfer station at Penn’s Landing. This location would offer connections to the Market Street surface trolley envisioned by the Center City District as well as to water taxis and ferries.

Provide regional connections to PATCO by reopening the Franklin Square station, and investige the feasibility of using the station located in the western abutment of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Goal 4: Embrace Innovative Infrastructure
Explore the reconstruction of I-95 in Center City as a transformative investment with that will increase connectivity to the riverfront and stimulate significant economic growth.

I-95 runs north and south through the central Delaware project area. It blocks movement from the city to the river, allowing for only two streets to cross to the riverfront at grade without the viaduct overhead: Spruce Street and Dock Street. In the near term, the creation of a multimodal boulevard, greater transit options, progressive urban land-use policy and quality development will lessen the barrier effect by invigorating the riverfront with residents and visitors. While ideas to bridge the divide created by I-95 at Center City have circulated for many years, the reimagining of I-95 is a collaborative effort that the city should undertake with state and federal partners to realize the central Delaware’s full potential. The success of the central Delaware riverfront should not be contingent upon I-95 being buried. As noted in this vision, in coming years the city and state will have opportunities to recreate Penn’s Landing as a green space, provide greater development opportunities on surrounding parcels and enhance the riverfront north and south of Center City. And, the planned rebuilding of the entire Philadelphia segment of this federally funded highway in the coming years presents the city with an opportunity to transform the way Center City meets the riverfront. The section of I-95 that runs along the central Delaware riverfront project area will be reconstructed between 2008 and 2040.

Reconfiguring I-95 to connect Center City with the river would be a major project. Determination of economic feasibility is years away, but the city and state should begin the process of exploring options today to ensure that this type of transformative infrastructure improvement is not precluded.

Discussion
Construction of I-95 began in 1959, a time when abundant federal dollars financed highway construction. The highway design of that era featured functional, elevated structures located in commercial sections of downtowns and along industrial waterfronts. In today’s Philadelphia, almost 200,000 cars per day move north and south on I-95 each day, travelling within Philadelphia and between neighboring states.

SPOTLIGHT: SEATTLE

As its regional population increases, Seattle is developing a comprehensive traf. c and transportation policy that addresses connectivity issues within the city. Its innovative traffic control program has constructed hundreds of speed humps, curb-bulbs and traffic circles and has helped community groups work with police to monitor local traffic. Seattle is also exploring alternatives to the Alaskan Way Viaduct, its double-decker highway that runs along its waterfront, in its Urban Mobility Plan. Its City Council charged the Seattle Department of Transportation to develop an alternative to its proposed new waterfront highway: new surface streets and increased public transit. Though eliminating I-95 altogether is not a viable option for Philadelphia, Seattle’s initiatives demonstrate a change from traditional thinking about regional connectivity that Philadelphia ought to consider.

The reconstruction of the highway presents us with the opportunity to enhance connections between the city’s neighborhoods and the riverfront. PennDOT is in the process of rebuilding I-95 through a routine renewal cycle. It has already completed plans for the Girard Avenue Interchange, which will reconfigure the structure from Allegheny Avenue south to Race Street. Ground-level roadway construction is slated to begin in January 2008. PennDOT plans for the reconstruction of the portion of the interstate south of Christian Street to begin in 2020 and for reconstruction of the sunken section in Center City to begin in 2032.

This civic vision explores both short- and long-term measures to miti­gate the impact of I-95 on the central Delaware. Short term initiatives include at-grade improvements around I-95 that increase connectivity. Recent designs for the Girard Avenue interchange can be used as a prototype for future interchange design. Further, capping the highway for some portions of the central section should be investigated as a short term economic development strategy.

In the long term, the rebuilding of the Center City portion of I-95 has the greatest opportunity to transform the central Delaware as a regional destination. An initial civil-engineering analysis indicates that depressing I-95 to allow for street-level connections from the neighborhoods to the river is technically feasible. With the portion of I-95 that rises to pass over the Market-Frankford Line representing a significant physical, visual and psychological barrier between the oldest portions of the city and the river, it is crucial that further study be conducted in order to reestablish this important connection with the river at the foot of Market Street.

This vision plan also recommends that PennDOT further investigate the economic, environmental and engineering feasibility of depressing I-95 at Center City. While this section of the highway is not slated for reconstruction for another twenty-five years, now is the time explore its feasibility and to plan for a rebuild that will support long-term connectivity between the river and the city.

I-95 is a vital regional transportation link, and traffic is an inevitable part of city life. Yet other cities have found ways to make urban highways function as one part of an urban cityscape. After an earthquake destroyed its waterfront highway, San Francisco replaced it with an urbane boulevard, while Portland and Providence removed stretches of their highways to gain riverfront access. Plans for deck­ing highways with developable cover are also being widely accepted around the country, including in cities such as Dallas, Saint Louis, Cincinnati and San Diego.

Federal highway funding is beginning to be used to help cities manage congestion and improve their infrastructure. Cities such as New York, Seattle and Miami received federal funding this year to address their congestion challenges. Additionally, a new plan for New York City’s F.D.R. Drive calls for the construction of new public spaces, new aesthetic treatments and a modern lighting scheme around the highway. Underneath the highway in Louisville, a 55-acre brownfield site was redeveloped into an expansive riverfront park that includes both passive and active spaces along the Ohio River. Though states currently struggle for funding, many believe that more federal funds will be available for urban infrastructure investments in the near future (see “Spotlight: Transformative Investments” below).

Early Actions
Infrastructure improvements happen on an incremental cycle. Long- term decisions require near-term planning.

Begin the next phase of a comprehensive planning study that examines the potential movement and transportation network for the study area, including the redesign of I-95 and the creation of Delaware Boulevard and the local street network. This study should involve both state and local agencies.

Ensure that funding is allocated for at-grade improvements in the Girard Avenue Interchange redesign.

Plan future stages of PennDOT’s I-95 redesign to conform with the civic vision.

Consider short-term solutions to soften the barrier of I-95—such as public art, lighting and landscaping—as reconstruction will not occur for decades.

Recommendations
Currently I-95 acts as a psychological and physical barrier separating Philadelphia’s neighborhoods from the riverfront. Through a series of infrastructure investments, this civic vision offers various methods of reducing this barrier. The following recommendations identify a variety of infrastructure investments that could contribute to the creation of a premier riverfront. These include short-term at-grade improvements as well as the long-term possibility of capping or tunneling the central portion of I-95.

Short-Term Recommendations
Implement the following improvements to the current design for the Girard Avenue Interchange, as envisioned in collaborative workshops with PennDOT:

Narrow lane widths and widen sidewalks along the new portions of Richmond Street and Delaware Avenue that PennDOT will construct as a part of this project.

Provide landscaping and amenities that will promote the use of the area under I-95 for recreation and access and provide a pleasant connection to Penn Treaty Park and the river. The construction and maintenance of recreation facilities should be coordinated with the city, PennDOT, property owners and other stakeholders.

Use newly available land on either side of Richmond Street for landscaping or park space.

Conduct a feasibility study for the proposed transportation network along the central Delaware that considers these solutions:

Reconstructing I-95 at Center City to address its barrier effect.

Constructing Delaware Boulevard where right-of-way currently does not exist.

Using technologies such as signal synchronization and lane control to make Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard more efficient as auto traffic increases.

How traffic volumes can be maintained without widening existing roads.

Exploring ways to address issues underneath and around the highway through at-grade improvements.

Begin collaborative partnerships between city, state and federal agencies (such as PennDOT and the Philadelphia Water Department) that could result in new ways of thinking about infrastructure along the riverfront.

Long-Term Recommendations
During the long-term reconstruction of I-95 from Spring Garden Street to Washington Avenue, consideration should be given to using one of the following alternatives:

Cap the central stretch of I-95 in the highway structure currently designed, or

Depress I-95 (with Callowhill Street as the northern boundary) in the current right-of-way, allowing urban-scale development above the interstate.

Realign I-95 beneath the current Columbus Boulevard in a tunnel, and use the old interstate right-of-way for development.

Using the collaborative designs created for the Girard Avenue Interchange as a prototype, implement these and other ground-level improvements to reduce the divide created by the elevated highway:

Build the elevated highway on structure, not an embankment, thus preserving a view of the river from the neighborhoods al­lowing for physical access under the highway.

Extend dead-end streets under the highway to continue the street grid.

Design elements of I-95 at key through-streets to establish attractive civic portals that enhance pedestrian connections to the river and that use attractive lighting, public art and high-quality materials.

Line the highway structure with landscaped sound walls to create a more effective noise buffer and environmental treatment.

Provide high-quality, contemporary urban lighting underneath I-95.

Prohibit billboards on either side of I-95 in the project area.

Eliminate redundancies in the I-95 ramp system in the project area between Race Street and Bainbridge Street in light of the proposed addition of a southbound exit ramp to serve Foxwoods Casino.

SPOTLIGHT: TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS
Though federal funding for urban infrastructure projects has been in decline in recent years (indeed, the federal highway trust fund is reported to be facing a deficit), recent events such as the 2007 failure of the Minnesota I-35W bridge have focused public attention on the nation’s underinvestment in infrastructure. This vision recommends that attention be given to the potential for future federal funding of what the Brookings Institution calls “transformative investments” in urban-infrastructure projects—projects that restore the physical landscape and successfully stimulate economic growth. While the current economic and political climate does not support these kinds of projects, the civic vision recommends that Philadelphia position itself for “transformative investment” in the coming decades, when it is believed that Congress will again be investing in cities. Private investment can also be utilized in such a large-scale project as redesigning I-95. If developable cover is built over the Center City stretch of I-95, development air rights can be leveraged for infrastructure funding. Through a combination of traditional federal funding sources and new funding sources, cities and states can work together to address public infrastructure in a meaningful way. In order to maximize opportunities for future funding, it is important that Philadelphia begin preparing for the possibility of transformative investments today.

In addition, this civic vision recommends investigating coordination between PennDOT and the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), which is under a federal mandate to addres