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World-class landscape architects, elegant design plans, a strong, practical, efficient marriage of work and play on the Delaware River, and a better sense of place for the communities that share its banks.
Bring proven mechanics and essential elements together and you can paint a vision of greatness on the torn canvas we now call the Delaware waterfront.
It will be something for the ages that connects generations and sets our record straight, once and for all, on the purposeful and responsible treatment of the confluence of environment, industry and recreation.
Sounds divine, no?
Yo! Already. Before we start making that heavenly architectural soufflé, let's get real.
First, we have to make scrapple.
We need to talk to each other, frankly, boldly, respectfully. Conversations, that is, without finger-pointing, shouting and foot-stamping. Let's find out where we as citizens of the great City of Philadelphia flow as one, and where we bifurcate when it comes to our hopes and dreams for a better riverfront.
Two months ago, Mayor Street mandated that a master plan for the central Delaware River be developed through a civic vision that balances the public good, a working river, access to the waterfront, open space, and quality urban development.
Since then, we've seen the following: the formation of a 45-person Central Delaware Waterfront Advisory Group; three riverfront walk-and-talk sessions; City Council briefings; a Delaware Avenue tour at rush hour with New York City's preeminent traffic consultant; a full-day tour of New York City waterfront renewal sites; and ongoing meetings with citizens and businesses that have a stake in the Delaware River's future.
Next week, the facilitators for this open and transparent process, PennPraxis, of Penn's School of Design, and Harris Sokoloff, an expert in civic engagement with the Penn Graduate School of Education, will hold a series of public meetings that will capture and use the voice of the people to help lay the foundation for creating a vision for the waterfront.
At these "value sessions," citizens will come together and talk very personally about what's important to them about the waterfront. They will share their ideas about how neighborhoods and the city should value and intersect with the riverfront.
Some ideas have been shared already. On the field trips, people were already forming thoughts and opinions about what they wanted to see.
Joe from Fishtown is worried about public access to the water. Jill from Pennsport wants to know how Delaware Avenue will be redesigned to handle development and casino traffic. Alice from Center City wants all-new buildings to match the scale of their neighborhood. Jack from Port Richmond is worried about the scores of little creeks that have been buried in culverts, and wonders if some can be restored.
In the "value sessions," these diverse special interests will all come together to form the superstructure of yet-to-be-formed plan to reinvent the waterfront.
After these practical exercises in finding our voice, the next level will be public meetings that help the project identify what has to change now, who has to make that change happen, and what ideas Philadelphia can borrow from other world-class cities to make the Delaware River a more important partner in our day-to-day lives.
"Citizens' values are at the heart of civic engagement," says PennPraxis director Harris Steinberg. "In order to truly create a citizen-driven civic vision for the Central Delaware, the values, hopes and dreams of Philadelphians must serve as the bedrock upon which all future plans are made."
Come share your hopes and dreams with us.
Register now for one of the forums:
Monday: 6:15 to 9 p.m., St. Anne's Social Hall, Memphis and Tucker Streets. Registration and light refreshments start at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 6:15 to 9 p.m., George Washington Elementary School, Fifth and Federal Streets. Registration and light refreshments start at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday: 6:15 to 9 p.m., Independence Seaport Museum, Penn's Landing. Registration and light refreshments start at 5:30 p.m.
RSVP at www.planphilly.com/
registration or by fax to 215-573-9600. Include your name, address, neighborhood, phone number and e-mail address.
Matt Golas (mgolas@design.upenn.edu) is managing editor for www.PlanPhilly.com, the PennPraxis planning and urban design Web site.
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