Maybe good urbanism isn't a Democrat vs. Republican kind of thing

Entry: Friday Spetember 22, 2006

(Fixing the formatting while listening to "This is not a love song" by Public Image Limited. "Big business is very wise. I'm inside free enterprise." ...)

Below is a long document, produced by the University City Philadelphia Republican Committee, but you should take the time to read it. It's the basis of the kind of independent neighborhood-based planning that I more frequently recommend that neighborhoods do--with or without city support.

The Committee is (1) applying meta-principles; (2) about urban-appropriate development--compact and mixed-use, not centered around the car; (3) to a specific area in their neighborhood. What I call the "tyranny of neighborhood parochialism" doesn't usually lead to good planning. But a focus on the meta-principles while ignoring neighborhood knowledge and needs doesn't work either.

But for the most part, if I had written this document, I'd be very proud. There are some big differences of opinion, but it's well-reasoned, and I am all about empowered deliberative participation.

One of the things this made me think about is that most developers and ideologues talk about the market as if the real estate market is truly "perfect" in the economic sense. We all know that it isn't. But the other dangerous thing is to argue against financial supports for urban development, because of usually conservative political principles about "the market" and the efficient use of capital.

The fact is that the overall market is not geographically bounded at the city or neighborhood level--the real estate market is regional and the region is big--but individual political jurisdictions, such as the center cities, are geographically bounded, and what such communities can do is constrained by budgets and enabling legislation. (DC has some advantages compared to a typical city because we don't have to worry about county or state laws. On the other hand, Congress does restrict the city's ability to act in many ways. One such way is not being able to tax poeple who work in but don't live in the city. Another is that Fannie Mae has a Congressionally-granted exemption from local taxes, etc.)

And the center city market specifically is stunted by the development and financial paradigm that favors suburbs. Center cities are by no means on an "even playing field" when it comes to participating in the regional development and real estate market.

University City Republican Committee Comments on 40th & Market

For immediate release
For information, contact: J. Matthew Wolfe, Esq., 215-387-7300

The Partnership CDC, in partnership with the Friends of 40th Street and PennPraxis, has undertaken an effort to help shape a vision for the area around 40th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. They are calling it a Charrette. We are not smart enough to know exactly what a Charrette is, but we'll do the best we can. The University City Republican Committee has drafted this document to raise some issues to be considered in the effort.

PRESENT CONDITIONS: The area to be considered is the intersection of 40th and Market Streets, as well as the area about a block in each direction. At the intersection itself, the properties on the west side of 40th Street are small retail stores, anchoring a retail strip going west. The properties on the east side of 40th Street include a surface parking lot with ample green space on the south side and a fortress-like building on the north side that houses an interior retail mall and office space, reached by a single entrance on Market Street. Continuing east on the south side is a well-kept public housing project and on the north side is a mid-rise senior citizen's home. South of Market Street the west side of the street continues the retail strip while the retail strip on the east side picks up at Ludlow Street, after the parking lot ends. The retail strip continues south on 40th Street, albeit in a non-contiguous manner, to Baltimore Avenue. North of Market Street is very quiet, dominated by a bar but otherwise lifeless due to the nature of the interior mall building on the east side and a warehouse on the west side. Overall the retail properties could be termed somewhat run-down, especially in comparison with the properties at 40th and Walnut Streets to the south.

PROCESS: Much like the development of principles for the development of 40th Street some years ago, the process set up by Penn Praxis is a subjective one. No single entity, public or private, controls the real estate that we are talking about. Different individuals and groups have different visions of what they would like to see happen to 40th Street. Our city government is an obstruction to positive change in many ways, including its ineffective and corrupt bureaucratic structure and its oppressive tax system.

That is not to say that this planning process is not worth going through, however. Putting some of the players in the neighborhood together with professional planners could yield some plans that could transform the area for the better. As long as the limitations of this process are understood, expectations will not be raised unnecessarily. One important point is that if we are going to make recommendations, we should do our best but understand that there will be no consensus. Let' have the nerve to take a stand, even if there is some controversy.

The recent effort by the Friends of 40th Street to develop principles for development succeeded in terms of bringing people together to discuss issues of importance for the area and getting people to think in a broad, long-term way about the street. The principles themselves, however, were an abject failure.

They were so broad and vague that they can mean anything that anyone wants them to mean. We could develop a plan for a strip club that would fit into those principles. We should not repeat this mistake and if we make recommendations, we should not be afraid to advocate ideas that do not have unanimous support. At that time the University City Republican Committee developed recommendations, a truncated version of which is at the above website in the forum area, along with our criticism of the final principles.

We can forward you a copy of our recommendations from that project upon request.

Design Point -- "The Northeast Corner" -- Tear it down!

The building at the northeast corner of 40th and Market is a bad example of what could be termed the State of Siege style of architecture. It screams out "This crummy city is a scary place, protect me."

It presents a face towards 40th Street that has all the warmth of a prison wall. The only entrance is on Market Street, and is far above grade, forcing any visitors to scale the wall to get there. The interior is a courtyard with generally underutilized retail on the first floor and offices on the second story.

What we need is a building with full retail at street level, with that space perhaps extending to the floor below and/or above if the market supports stores of a size larger than a first floor only space. Above the retail space should be either office or residential space as high as the footprint of the building makes practical. The people brought there by the upstairs space will add life to the corner and a market for the retail stores below and along both 40th and Market Streets. It is possible to reconfigure the building so that the windows along 40th Street open into retail stores, but those windows are about six feet from ground level and are separated by stark walls. The best option "knock it down and start again."

Design Point -- "The Southeast Corner" -- Build it up!

The corner is mainly a green, planted area which very pleasantly buffers a surface parking lot that serves the well-maintained housing project that extends along the south side of Market Street to 39th Street. Admittedly the green space is very nice and a scarce and valuable commodity in a densely populated urban area. On the other hand, a surface parking lot is the one of the worst uses of urban real estate. All things considered, this area should be built upon. The footprint will not allow a large scale development, but a mixed use development with first floor retail and upstairs apartments would work there. The apartments could cover the two floors above the stores, with entrances to the apartments on the east side of the buildings facing the existing residential units and the retail face on 40th Street.

Design Point -- Market Street west of 40th Street, 40th Street south of Market Street -- "Cohesive retail strip."

Much of this is in place. Both Market Street west of 40th Street and 40th Street south of Market Street are retail strips that are already attractive to the local market. Improvements can be made. For a retail strip to thrive, it cannot be a series of corner stores with other things in between.

There is a reason for planning and zoning. Grouping similar uses together enhances value. No one wants to live next to a slaughterhouse. Most people want to live around other neighbors. If businesses are grouped together, a single customer is more likely to patronize multiple establishments.

First and foremost, as noted immediately above, building retail along the east side of 40th Street from Market Street to Ludlow Street will complete a create a more contiguous retail strip on 40th Street that will hopefully connect with a revitalized retail strip further south. There has been remarkable progress on the area north of Walnut Street, and this would dovetail into that area.

Market Street west of 40th Street has a few areas in need of improvement. There are a few vacant lots which should be filled in. Towards the western end of the block the retail strip stops. On the south side of the street are large surface parking lots. Again, this is one of the worst uses of urban real estate. Those sites have large enough footprints to allow larger retail developments, such as a department store, appliance store, etc.

We also favor mixed use development, with office or residential uses above the retail, again feeding the market for the retail and livening up the block. If parking is a concern, underground parking would be ideal. Also on the west end of the block is Eckerd Drugs. This is exactly the wrong sort of development for this area. An Eckerd Drugs would be fine as a tenant, but what we have is an automobile oriented, suburban style building. The setback, windowless facility is decidedly pedestrian unfriendly. Since you can only park in their lot while you shop at their store, the parking does not benefit the other retail establishments in the area.

Unfortunately, the Eckerd is going nowhere anytime soon, but on the plus side it is basically a crappy modern building that will not stand in the way of progress if the market increases the value of the real estate it sits upon and redevelopment makes economic sense.

Another problem on this part of Market Street is the proliferation of office and social service agency uses in what should be retail space. We in no way denigrate the offices themselves or the programs that they provide. We simply believe that those uses could as easily be in an upper floor of an office building and that they detract from the viability of the retail strip. The Elwin Institute is likely going nowhere, as their facility was built especially for their program (again in a State of Siege style of architecture).

The Partnership CDC building could easily be re-converted to a retail use. Of current concern is the new West Philadelphia Job Technology and Technology Center, a wonderful program that will create employment opportunities for our community. It is located in a building, however, that used to house a furniture store. They have taken a retail use in a ground floor location and converted it to office space. This happened in the last year and is not the direction we should be taking the street. Gone are the days that we are so happy to get any development that we should accept any nice people who have money and want to put something in our midst. Again, if we are successful in creating some mixed use development, there will be space for these sorts of programs in floors above the retail.

Overall, the present condition of the buildings on these two blocks could be better. A concerted effort to green the area with street trees, window boxes and other plantings will help a lot. If facade improvements could be subsidized in some way it would ease the burden on many of the small businesses located there. Lighting can make a big difference in the feel of the street at night. Additionally, we should agree that we have no particular attachment to the businesses presently on the street. The market will determine the proper mix of businesses, and the market is constantly changing.

Design Point -- 40th Street North of Market Street -- "Make something happen."

Retail life kind of stops here. A new building on the northeast corner with retail along 40th Street will be a big help. There is a warehouse on the west side of the street. It is our understanding that it is leased to Penn and used for storage. In another life, it was a catering hall targeting the local African American market. It would seem to be vastly underutilized at this time. Some sore of use compatible with a retail strip is important. It is large enough perhaps for a live music venue (needed in the area), a restaurant or a number of retail uses. The other properties on this end are more run down physically than the rest of the area and need special attention.

Design Point -- Market Street East of 40th Street -- Can we do anything?

This area is dominated on the north side by the senior citizen's home and on the south side by the housing project. One might argue that both of these facilities were poorly planned. Market Street is a natural and traditional retail spine through the neighborhood. Redevelopment destroyed this. At the time both of these projects were conceived, it was thought that retail would never come back and we were happy for any development whatsoever. Both properties seem to be well managed. There is some space along Market Street on both sides where one might conceive a row of stores. It would remove some valuable green space and it is so narrow that anything more than a one story row of stores would be cumbersome. We probably do not want to go there, but if the Science Center makes good on its promises to transform itself and build in ground floor retail along Market Street, such a development may make more sense if it ties into that development on the east.

Design Point -- Transportation

This is an important gateway into University City and West Philadelphia. Of obvious note is the subway station. Opening it up, making it brighter and more accessible is a priority. The subway station renovations at Broad and Cecil B. Moore near Temple may be the model. Accommodating bus lines at the corner will improve the corner as a public transportation center.

Transportation is more than just public transportation, however. Cars are relevant. The large parking lot at 40th and Walnut Street has changed the picture and additional parking is not as critical as it once was. Penn plans massive new parking when it takes over the postal lands at 30th Street, building underground parking in the flood plane. While it does not directly affect 40th Street, there is a ripple effect. As noted previously, there may be opportunities for underground parking if necessary.

Pedestrians must also be considered. Contiguous retail strips will help. Making sure that traffic moves slowly enough to allow easy crossing the street and having clear and safe pedestrian guidance is important. This is especially true at the southern end of our area of concern, where Chestnut Street is essentially a freeway taking vehicles from the suburbs into Center City, not caring how the affect our neighborhood.

Design Point -- Public Safety / Public Sanitation

A constant flash point for problems in the area has been crime. Much of the problem is related to drugs and ranges from nuisance crimes to violent crime. Changes that bring more people to the area should be positive in this area. Crime is not as much a design issue as an issue of allocation of police and other resources. Close consultation with the 18th District Police and the Penn Police as changes go along, however, will maximize the chances using design in any possible to have a positive impact on crime. Along the same lines, design elements can make sanitation and maintenance easier, and they should be explored and added.

Conclusions

As stated before, no vision worth having will meet a consensus. The norm in University City is that everyone is afraid to take a strong stand if they think that anyone will speak out against them. This is not civic leadership. For this process to have any real meaning, those involved must not be afraid to take a stand and advocate a design that will effect positive change understanding that it may involve controversy.

We are the University City Republican Committee, so it is fair to make clear that we believe that our current elected officials in the City are a big part of the problem. We have had a City Councilman, a City Treasurer and others close to Mayor Street convicted of corruption. If the current crop of Democrats who are in charge were thrown out of office we could begin to move away from the "Culture of Corruption" that the current administration has brought us. We need real leadership to implement the sort of vision that we develop.

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization; urban-design-placemaking; neighborhood-based-planning