Awaken city from its long planning nap

Much is made of William Penn's celebrated street grid, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the making of Society Hill. But let's face it: Despite these landmark achievements, city planning has not been Philadelphia's strong suit for a long time.

Cities like Portland, Boston and Chicago have left us in the dust kicked up by their grand projects. They've busily reclaimed their waterfronts, reformed their zoning laws, fostered green design, and attracted international development dollars.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, wasted years praying over cursed tracts such as Penn's Landing. Here, we pit communities against developers, and scare off investment with a backroom political culture. We starve our planning commission of funds and staff.

No doubt about it: We've rested on our planning laurels. We've slept and snored. And we've come to accept a degraded public sphere as a fact of life.

Luckily, the legacy bequeathed us by long-ago decisions - walkable neighborhoods, gracious architecture and a compact downtown - now are seen as major assets by a nation rediscovering city life. A 50-year trend of population loss is leveling off; home values are rising.

Suddenly, Philadelphia is planning again: More than 1,000 people jammed the Convention Center for the recent unveiling of a new waterfront master plan. A new Zoning Code Commission has begun a rewrite of that tangled document. The city is at work on a bold GreenPlan for open space. Mayor-elect Nutter is strong on these issues.

A new era beckons. But where to begin?

WHY IT MATTERS: The 1,100 acres along the central Delaware River are the city's biggest development opportunity, and its worst planning mess. Working with broad public support, a team from the University of Pennsylvania has done a visionary plan to reunite the city with its river.

WHAT TO DO: Protect the riverfront from more scattershot development while the detail work on the Penn Praxis plan gets done. Incorporate the vision's ideas into the new zoning code. Map out the riverfront street grid called for in the vision. Set up a new public or nonprofit agency to carry out these ideas.

Blooper backstop

Create a design-review commission to help prevent architectural bloopers from getting built. Baltimore and Boston get better buildings this way. We can, too.

Don't stack the code

Be clear from the outset that the zoning-code rewrite must balance community and developer interests, not throw the advantage to one side. Open a broad public conversation, and don't skip the basics. Use that dialogue to decide first what civic principles the new zoning rules should encode.

Plan for the whole city

Begin a citywide plan now, engaging all communities, as a proper basis for the new zoning code. The recent system of letting some neighborhoods draft their own plans ignores that not every area can afford to hire its own planners.

Call in the pros

Reserve some seats on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for design professionals. End its reputation for arbitrary judgments.

Bet against the (state) House

Keep up pressure to relocate the two casinos slated for the riverfront. At the least, fight hard to revise the Foxwoods project's oppressive, big-box design.

Appoint a development czar

Name a coordinator to ride herd on the alphabet soup of development agencies. The goal: Ensure the fairness and predictability that quality builders expect.

Embrace 21st-century zoning

Ditch the complicated mathematics of conventional zoning for a "form-based" code, one that starts with how a building meets the street, defines public space, and matches its context. The benefit? Peace in our time between neighbors and developers.

Save the middle-class house

Lobby construction unions to charge city jobs the lower rates available in the competitive suburbs. Philly building costs are the fourth highest in the nation. Luxury builders can handle those costs, but middle-income homes don't get built without subsidy.

Build greener

Build incentives into the zoning code to reward energy-efficient design. Reduce parking requirements to encourage use of transit and your own two feet.

Make no small plans

Let

ambition

become the city's byword as it rethinks public spaces. Public investments attract private capital.

Civic exchange:

Set up a knowledge clearinghouse to link neighborhood leaders who know how to handle development issues with those who need to learn how.

Finish NTI:

Don't lose momentum on the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. Continue programs to maintain cleared lots. We've seen the bulldozers. Now bring on the bricklayers.

Play something else

: Public confidence in City Hall's ability to shape development has been seriously harmed by pay-to-play debacles like the last round of Penn's Landing shakedowns. An era of no scandals is desperately needed.