PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Ah yes, blame the University's for the crime in the city, and because of the crime, there should be no attempt to grow commercial businesses. Very smart logic /s

I'm not blaming the Universities for crime, TG. I dunno if attacking my ability to use logic is fair.

It's a policing/security issue and whether its wise to expect widespread development and investment to happen in an area that is riddled with crime.

(Saying that there's crime there isn't making some controversial statement)

Unfortunately, that's the reality. And I'm rooting for that to change as hard as anyone. I think Temple is a great school and I hate that the area it is situated in factors into whether or not some people choose to go there. I know more than a few kids who weighed that fact heavily when considering Temple.

I know that here are some super positive developments going on around the campus. North Broad has made some great strides and I hope with all my heart that it continues. A safe, vibrant corridor from Temple - and points north - all the way down to City hall would be a dream for the school and the city. And I'm not saying it can't or won't happen. All I'm saying is that the school and that vision of North Broad would be much more of a reality if there was a significant upgrade to a more aggressive, multi agency security plan that materially improved the crime and safety situation on and surrounding North Broad.

Call it "The North Broad Security Initiative." At the very least, sending the message that the city/University was initiating a coordinated effort to thwart crime in the area would show that it was a priority.

I didn't mean to offend. Again, I think Temple is a great school and a tremendous asset to the city and root hard for it's success.

[BroadandMarket]

Totally unrelated but is Love Park the worst park renovation we've seen? The city did such a good job with Dilworth but this is such a mess. The new layout is nice one month a year for the Christmas Village. These trees going in aren't going to help it either, it's just so bland and sterile. They did everything to make it unfriendly to skateboarders and instead just made it unfriendly to everyone.

https://twitter.com/bikemamadelphia/...670255/photo/1

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

Totally unrelated but is Love Park the worst park renovation we've seen? The city did such a good job with Dilworth but this is such a mess. The new layout is nice one month a year for the Christmas Village. These trees going in aren't going to help it either, it's just so bland and sterile. They did everything to make it unfriendly to skateboarders and instead just made it unfriendly to everyone.

So true. They screwed this.

[skyhigh07]

I dunno, I’ll take it. Both Dilworth Plaza and Love Park were pretty bad back in the day. The picture makes it look a lot better than it was.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

I dunno, I’ll take it. Both Dilworth Plaza and Love Park were pretty bad back in the day. The picture makes it look a lot better than it was.

Agreed. It's also a bit disingenuous to show the new version in the dead of winter and the old version lush/full foliage. I think once the trees mature, it will be much better. These reconstructions also have an ulterior motive of removing the homeless, which was pretty bad before the redesign - very stabby.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Agreed. It's also a bit disingenuous to show the new version in the dead of winter and the old version lush/full foliage. I think once the trees mature, it will be much better. These reconstructions also have an ulterior motive of removing the homeless, which was pretty bad before the redesign - very stabby.

Haha. Agreed. I didn't even notice that.

[FlyersFan]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

Totally unrelated but is Love Park the worst park renovation we've seen? The city did such a good job with Dilworth but this is such a mess. The new layout is nice one month a year for the Christmas Village. These trees going in aren't going to help it either, it's just so bland and sterile. They did everything to make it unfriendly to skateboarders and instead just made it unfriendly to everyone.

https://twitter.com/bikemamadelphia/...670255/photo/1

I agree, every time I walk through love park I’m disappointed

[PHLtoNYC]

^ Post that same angle of Love Park in July and then compare. It looks nice in the summer and will improve as the vegetation matures.

Still a bit sterile, but overall fine. A dog park would be a nice use of that lawn space (or in Thomas Paine Plaza).

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

I dunno, I’ll take it. Both Dilworth Plaza and Love Park were pretty bad back in the day. The picture makes it look a lot better than it was.

Exactly and a picture of the park in winter with fountain off, no people and no trees isn't exactly the most flattering. The changing grade of the block makes this a challenging site and they wanted to eliminate the steps and blind spots and make it ADA compliant which is one reason why you have so much open sloped area between 16th and 15th. Trees will definitely help. The walls at Love park were magnets for grafitti and urine. It looked OK from above but in reality it was falling apart and smelly in the summer.

[PHLJD13]

Originally Posted by cardeza

Exactly and a picture of the park in winter with fountain off, no people and no trees isn't exactly the most flattering. The changing grade of the block makes this a challenging site and they wanted to eliminate the steps and blind spots and make it ADA compliant which is one reason why you have so much open sloped area between 16th and 15th. Trees will definitely help. The walls at Love park were magnets for grafitti and urine. It looked OK from above but in reality it was falling apart and smelly in the summer.

Agreed with all of the foregoing comments - the old Love Park was inhospitable and quite literally stunk as soon as the weather warmed. The new design is tidy, if a bit bland. During the summer months, the trees and plantings are visibly maturing and filling in.

In my opinion, the biggest thing holding it back is that, seven years on, a quarter of the space is still unusable by virtue of the hulking abandoned visitors center the City cannot get re-activated.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PHLJD13

Agreed with all of the foregoing comments - the old Love Park was inhospitable and quite literally stunk as soon as the weather warmed. The new design is tidy, if a bit bland. During the summer months, the trees and plantings are visibly maturing and filling in.

In my opinion, the biggest thing holding it back is that, seven years on, a quarter of the space is still unusable by virtue of the hulking abandoned visitors center the City cannot get re-activated.

I still wonder how they intended to make it a restaurant. Where would you put a kitchen?

[SEFTA]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

Totally unrelated but is Love Park the worst park renovation we've seen? The city did such a good job with Dilworth but this is such a mess. The new layout is nice one month a year for the Christmas Village. These trees going in aren't going to help it either, it's just so bland and sterile. They did everything to make it unfriendly to skateboarders and instead just made it unfriendly to everyone.

https://twitter.com/bikemamadelphia/...670255/photo/1

Are these the same designers that are doing Penn's Landing?

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

Are these the same designers that are doing Penn's Landing?

Everybody's hating on Love park but I really like it from a pedestrian perspective. It's laid out well and in the summer it looks great. It'll continue to improve as the foliage grows in. Did any of you ever walk through the old Love park or am I taking crazy pills? The new version isn't perfect but it feels a million times safer, especially at night.

My only real complaint is that they could have added more trees in some of the grassy areas.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by PHLJD13

Agreed with all of the foregoing comments - the old Love Park was inhospitable and quite literally stunk as soon as the weather warmed. The new design is tidy, if a bit bland. During the summer months, the trees and plantings are visibly maturing and filling in.

In my opinion, the biggest thing holding it back is that, seven years on, a quarter of the space is still unusable by virtue of the hulking abandoned visitors center the City cannot get re-activated.

Yeah I think it's time to try something new there. I've always wondered why that isn't still the visitors center. It's pretty centrally located and feels like it would work well.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by Gatorade_Jim

Yeah I think it's time to try something new there. I've always wondered why that isn't still the visitors center. It's pretty centrally located and feels like it would work well.

I still think its one of the best masked downtown parking garages I've ever seen. I do recall there are complications on the lot: that it's above a huge parking garage, the grade difference as it slopes down to the NW poses issues on that lot including running plumbing. It's been a while but I do recall these issues being discussed in my structural circles way back when.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

I still think its one of the best masked downtown parking garages I've ever seen. I do recall there are complications on the lot: that it's above a huge parking garage, the grade difference as it slopes down to the NW poses issues on that lot including running plumbing. It's been a while but I do recall these issues being discussed in my structural circles way back when.

It's wild to me still that there's a massive parking garage below this. You'd never know walking through the park. It is really well hidden.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I still wonder how they intended to make it a restaurant. Where would you put a kitchen?

If I remember correctly the kitchen will be in the basement.

[Ahoi]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...4YuQ2LZmRA1l2w

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20240321.html

[Mr Saturn64]

Originally Posted by Gatorade_Jim

Yeah I think it's time to try something new there. I've always wondered why that isn't still the visitors center. It's pretty centrally located and feels like it would work well.

There is a visitor center. It's this little box along JFK near the round building. It's really tiny.

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I still wonder how they intended to make it a restaurant. Where would you put a kitchen?

I've heard that Mural Arts is going to move in and add a small art exhibit in there.

[SEFTA]

It's the landscaping. It's terrible. Most parks in such a vista have large mounds of flowers and flowering bushes and trees. I don't understand the little plots of flowers I'm supposing, because they bloom at different periods. Are they growing corn? It's like being at Home Depot. It looks unfinished in all seasons. I also see these little plots in the plan for Penn's Landing.