PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by blart

Arch between 2nd & 3rd-

When that building's finished, it's gonna look like it's always been there. Very nice.

Lol, I can't wait till some NIMBY or another points to it as being exactly what Old City should look like!

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

When that building's finished, it's gonna look like it's always been there. Very nice.

Lol, I can't wait till some NIMBY or another points to it as being exactly what Old City should look like!

Agreed! I love all this development in Old City, which really should have been happening in the last couple development cycles if not for all the obstruction. Especially for structures built on surface lots, density should be everyone's friend unless one is obsessed with street parking.

[jsbrook]

Would have to disagree a bit with some of the comments above. These buildings don't scream Old City to me. I would say more like Callowhill. But they look tasteful, appropriate, and fine. They don't look at odds with their surroundings at least.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Agreed! I love all this development in Old City, which really should have been happening in the last couple development cycles if not for all the obstruction. Especially for structures built on surface lots, density should be everyone's friend unless one is obsessed with street parking.

The rampant nimbyism of 2000s was almost criminal. Have they laxed the "no booze North of Market" policy in Old City? Outside of a few grandfathered in places seems like a huge miss to not allow a good gastropub/restaurant north of Market. If I'm plopping down $750k for a spot there I'd like to have an option or two besides Race Street and the more touristy/bridge and tunnel crowd of South 2nd. The city has grown up a lot since that policy was enacted and Old City was THE place to get your drink on.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Londonee

The rampant nimbyism of 2000s was almost criminal. Have they laxed the "no booze North of Market" policy in Old City? Outside of a few grandfathered in places seems like a huge miss to not allow a good gastropub/restaurant north of Market. If I'm plopping down $750k for a spot there I'd like to have an option or two besides Race Street and the more touristy/bridge and tunnel crowd of South 2nd. The city has grown up a lot since that policy was enacted and Old City was THE place to get your drink on.

I was not aware of this policy and never noticed a lack of restaurants and bars on Arch and beyond...so I'd have to say yes.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

I was not aware of this policy and never noticed a lack of restaurants and bars on Arch and beyond...so I'd have to say yes.

I think it's still in place. It takes a while to notice but most of the restaurants north of Market are BYOB. It's one of the things that contributes to the stubbornly high retail vacancy rate in that area.

[Londonee]

Can anyone confirm that they are starting to barricade Market Street for the Bike Lane? I'm hopeful it's not because it's appalling looking. Something straight out of Soviet Russia. It's like big, clunky jersey barriers and highway crash barriers. Hopefully I'm overreacting to a temporary solution, but man if that's going to go down the middle of Market Street it's going to look like shit.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Parkway

I think it's still in place. It takes a while to notice but most of the restaurants north of Market are BYOB. It's one of the things that contributes to the stubbornly high retail vacancy rate in that area.

Yeah I think it's in place still too. So weird. It made sense at the time when South 2nd was bro-ville mayhem 4-5 nights a week and the "pioneers" (as they viewed themselves) didn't want the action to push north toward the more owner occupied areas of the 'hood.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Parkway

I think it's still in place. It takes a while to notice but most of the restaurants north of Market are BYOB. It's one of the things that contributes to the stubbornly high retail vacancy rate in that area.

I'm not sure where that "No Booze North Of Market" is enforced but it is still holding. Parkway is right; everything between Race and Market is BYOB. Now, I like a good BYOB here and there, but (much like the 2nd amendment), the era the "no booze" rule came to be was a completely different one than what is today. It's not all lounges and dollar-drink pub crawlers anymore. From what I understand, the OCCA (Old City Community Association - now defunct) didn't want the non-partying residents of Old City to have to deal with drunken spill-out at 2:30 on a Wednesday night so they enforced this ban. I'm still not sure how they had the jurisdiction to enforce such a ban but it seems like if you have a nice bar or restaurant that doesn't cater to the Bridge and Tunnelers, there would be nothing but positives to actually encourage such development.

It's a miss and I think it pushes development more in the direction that Old City will no longer be known as the lounge and boutique district but instead, the Hoagie District.

It would do wonders if there were a couple of cool, chill places on 2nd and 3rd. And as Parkway said, I think it would add a ton of infill to the vast amount of vacancy you see north of Market. It's a shame.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Redddog

...if you have a nice bar or restaurant that doesn't cater to the Bridge and Tunnelers, there would be nothing but positives to actually encourage such development.

Who, like people from Baltimore?

(I'm being facetious but I get annoyed when we need to parrot everything that people in New York say even when it doesn't make sense or even apply to us. If you mean people from South Jersey, just say so. And I bet that many of the young party goers in Old City come from the PA suburbs who travel by neither bridge nor tunnel.)

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Who, like people from Baltimore?

(I'm being facetious but I get annoyed when we need to parrot everything that people in New York say even when it doesn't make sense or even apply to us. If you mean people from South Jersey, just say so. And I bet that many of the young party goers in Old City come from the PA suburbs who travel by neither bridge nor tunnel.)

While I'd never say bridge and tunnel, I think it's perfectly in line with Philly ethos to refer to people from Jersey as the bridge and bridge crowd--as both a dig on Jersey-ites and a self-effacing swipe at ourselves vs. New York. As in: "I was at Morgan's Pier on Saturday afternoon left at five to avoid the bridge and bridge crowd."

[shadowbat2]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Can anyone confirm that they are starting to barricade Market Street for the Bike Lane? I'm hopeful it's not because it's appalling looking. Something straight out of Soviet Russia. It's like big, clunky jersey barriers and highway crash barriers. Hopefully I'm overreacting to a temporary solution, but man if that's going to go down the middle of Market Street it's going to look like shit.

You talking about the barriers in front of the 900 and 1000 block? Those have been in place for the Gallery work.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Who, like people from Baltimore?

(I'm being facetious but I get annoyed when we need to parrot everything that people in New York say even when it doesn't make sense or even apply to us. If you mean people from South Jersey, just say so. And I bet that many of the young party goers in Old City come from the PA suburbs who travel by neither bridge nor tunnel.)

It's not copying New York. The crowd that permeated Old City through the mid-2008s DID largely get here through bridges and tunnels (PATCO). Yes, they happen to have come from South Jersey. I'm sure some PA suburbs too.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

It's not copying New York. The crowd that permeated Old City through the mid-2008s DID largely get here through bridges and tunnels (PATCO). Yes, they happen to have come from South Jersey. I'm sure some PA suburbs too.

...you do realize PATCO crosses the BFB like everybody else? There aren't any tunnels under the Delaware at all.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

When that building's finished, it's gonna look like it's always been there. Very nice.

Lol, I can't wait till some NIMBY or another points to it as being exactly what Old City should look like!

I don't think that precast is fooling anyone.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

...you do realize PATCO crosses the BFB like everybody else? There aren't any tunnels under the Delaware at all.

Let him keep digging - he's evidently one of those people that can't be wrong. I did just learn though that "bridge and tunnel crowd" is not a New York coined term and that the PATCO travels under the Delaware and that's why the term is what it is. His next correction is that he means the train travels through a subway tunnel in Center City or that he was really referring to people coming from the turnpike through the Blue Mountain tunnel.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

...you do realize PATCO crosses the BFB like everybody else? There aren't any tunnels under the Delaware at all.

Lol. I wasn't actually thinking about that. You are right. Just bridges.

[jsbrook]

Not sure if anyone posted this here:

http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...ginal-estimate

The Navy yard subway extension could be extremely expensive. Around double original estimates. Personally, I think this is not worth it. Let's build up the 30th Street area and make the Schuylkill Yards and 30th Street District plan come to fruition sooner rather than later. I'm not sure why we spend so much money to help further development at the Navy Yard when we can develop a second business district around an existing transportation hub in close proximity to our universities. Seems to me that public funding should focus on encouraging development in this area.The Navy Yard will have its time. Like the extension of the 7 train in New York and an expensive buildout of Hudson Yards. That happened AFTER Manhattan had a scarcity of usable land for development in its traditional heart.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Let him keep digging - he's evidently one of those people that can't be wrong. I did just learn though that "bridge and tunnel crowd" is not a New York coined term and that the PATCO travels under the Delaware and that's why the term is what it is. His next correction is that he means the train travels through a subway tunnel in Center City or that he was really referring to people coming from the turnpike through the Blue Mountain tunnel.

I can't admit if I am wrong? I have no issue admitting I was wrong as I just was. I am sure I'm wrong many times each day. Go fuck yourself. Not sure what your problem is. I hope you see this before it is deleted.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

I hope you see this before it is deleted.

So you have your satisfaction, I did see it. But despite that, we can still be friends as far as I'm concerned. Peace.