Throughout the city, there are a number of efforts under way to help clean and green various areas along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.

PennFuture, an environmental advocacy group, thinks it's time for the groups behind those efforts to band together.

Next week, PennFuture will host a meeting intended to help focus environmental efforts on the city's two riverfronts into a combined push for change that would potentially affect the rivers' edges citywide.

The new initiative will form the Coalition for Philadelphia's Riverfronts, an association that aims to create a greenway along both rivers which could be used as a walking and biking trail and would connect the two rivers by extending through the entire city.

While no route for a continuous trail has been determined yet, there are a number of projects in the works - including the Schuylkill River Trail and a trail that would link urban areas up and down the East Coast - that could be connected and expanded through this project.

"This is a long-term objective," said Rachel Vassar, Philadelphia outreach coordinator for PennFuture. "But, we think it's important that there be a connected greenway."

The greenway, she said, would essentially be a specifically designed area along each river's edge that would prohibit any construction projects from building too close to the river while allowing space along the water's edge for recreational trails.

She said that larger areas of the greenway could also serve as preserved habitats, allowing nature to take back the river as well as provide places for residents to access the rivers where there are currently none.

"There are a lot of people who live along the banks of the Delaware River especially who live life like they don't live near a river just because it's so inaccessible," she said.

On Oct. 6 at 5 p.m., PennFuture will host a kick-off meeting for the Coalition for Philadelphia's Riverfronts at the new Schuylkill Banks Plaza at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, on the Schuylkill River adjacent to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The meeting will be held to allow residents and community groups to work together and generate ideas that could help make the vision for a continuous greenway into a reality.

In recent years, the Port Richmond Community Group, New Kensington CDC, Fishtown Neighbors Association, Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, and more have worked to increase access to the Delaware. A common theme has been the desire to create a continuous public pathway along the waterfront.

According to Vassar, PennFuture realized that a single greenway might be possible only through the cooperation of many groups, because while singular groups have had success at various spots along the river, there is no overall plan for both riverfronts.

Groups like the NLNA have seen success in smaller ventures, such as ongoing plans to clean and green an area from Second Street to the Delaware riverfront along Spring Garden Street.

The Central Delaware Advocacy Group has seen even more success with its work, which has helped bring about the city's current plans to revitalize Pier 11, located in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge, into a new park for public use.

Vassar said if these organizations are able to have success at projects tied to portions of the river, through cooperation, a larger project like a continuous greenway might have a shot.

"We had seen a lot of success when groups work at a portion of the riverfronts, but there's nothing overall," she said. "We want to be able to say 'this is our vision for a fairly sizeable portion of those riverfronts.'"

She said the project would not be unlike the greenway setbacks determined in Penn Praxis' recent Action Plan for the Central Delaware Riverfront.

However, she said, unlike that plan, created by the clinical arm of the school of design at the University of Pennsylvania, PennFuture hasn't determined any specific footage or necessary setback sizes for the riverfronts.

She said that is because the topography of the city is such that no specific designation could be used completely along both riverfronts.

"There are benefits to certain size setbacks, but they aren't all workable in all locations," said Vassar. "But, we do have certain requirements. We want (setbacks) large enough to offer a multifunctional trail and be large enough to have environmental benefits."

Along with environmental benefits, Vassar claimed setbacks where a greenway could be created would also potentially have financial benefits like increasing economic development in the areas closest to the river and potentially raising the property values of nearby homes.

During the upcoming meeting, she plans to discuss more benefits of a continuous greenway through the city as well as feature a "green carpet still life," which she said is essentially a green flooring that will display, in a life-size way, just how much space is needed for setbacks and how that space could be best utilized.

The first goal of the coalition, Vassar said, would be to encourage lawmakers in City Hall to add setback requirements into the city's zoning code.

This could be complicated, she admitted, but nothing can begin on a greenway project unless setbacks are made mandatory.

"We're not saying any of this should be done by a set date," she said. "But, nothing can be done until we get that setback."

Reporter Hayden Mitman can be reached at 215-354-3124 or hmitman@phillynews.com

Getting to the meeting

The Coalition for Philadelphia's Riverfront will meet on Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. at the new Schuylkill Banks Plaza at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, on the Schuylkill River adjacent to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Representatives from PennFuture will talk about how a new greenway could help the city's economy and how a continuous, connected trail along our rivers might benefit Philadelphia.

Hidden River Outfitters will offer discounted kayaking for the price of $25 after the event.

For more information, please contact Rachel Vassar at 215-545-9691 or e-mail vassar@pennfuture.org