And the audience, moved to at least three standing ovations, seemed to agree, although not one of the overflow crowd of 600 was holding up lighters.
This was, after all, a Planning Commission meeting, and the rock star was the Chief Wonk himself, Mayor Michael Nutter. He was there to lay the groundwork for reforming the city's broken system of planning and development last Tuesday at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
For decades, "planning" in this city - deciding what gets built, or, maybe more important, what doesn't - has been constructed on insider politics, nourished by the twin poison pills of bureaucracy and chaos, and sustained by a philosophy that those wanting to build something here, and have enough money and connections, can do whatever they want.
Want a hulking condo tower that hogs the city's view of the Delaware? Here, have two or three. How about a few big-box stores down there for good measure? Want to dig a big hole on Market Street for a complex that will never happen? No problem. Don't like those historic buildings? Just knock 'em down.
ACTUALLY, IT may be the commonwealth itself that put the cherry on top of our planning mess by mandating two casinos for prime waterfront space with no consultation or input from anyone in the city.
Mayor Nutter vows that's all going to change.
"Monty Hall has left City Hall, and the MSB and One Parkway and all of our other buildings - those days are over!" he said last week. That sentiment got people to their feet.
Nutter's ability to tell a good story - that's part of his job, after all, to tell us our story - is what left last week's audience of planners, designers, architects, developers and citizens like Missaoui jazzed by the promise of a city shaped with conscious intention instead of lack of attention.
He has started by changing the makeup of the Planning Commission, and by hiring Andrew Altman, who combines oversight of both planning and economic development, and others like Mark Alan Hughes as sustainability czar and Terry Gillen as head of the Redevelopment Authority. The commission will create a design-review advisory board to judge projects, and will no longer approve projects without a transportation-and-transit impact study.
Sounds promising. But another announcement earlier in the day underscored just how big the challenge is.
A few hours before the mayor's speech, City Controller Alan Butkovitz released a report on the state of the city's recreation centers, complete with stomach-turning photos of what can only be called ruins: hazardous equipment and grounds, trashed buildings, vats of putrid water, all testaments to a city's contempt for its citizens and for itself.
The mayor and the new Planning Commission and related professionals are going to have to reconcile neighborhood-level challenges like these with the shiny, visible and sexy big-ticket items like the Parkway, airport and waterfront.
But this is a time for optimism.
And tomorrow night, there's a way to celebrate that optimism when Penn Praxis launches its much-anticipated action plan for the Delaware waterfront.
This plan, the result of a year-plus process that involved thousands of Philadelphians who live near or love the Delaware waterfront, provides a detailed "to do" list for capitalizing on one of the city's most underutilized assets.
The action plan includes both the Great Big Idea that will refocus the city's attention on the water, as well as the nitty-gritty steps the city can (and should) take to get there, including bike paths, greenways, new oversight and management, transportation and more.
THE Praxis report is a great illustration of how good planning works: It's detailed enough to show how to execute the vision but flexible enough to respond to changing needs and budgets.
In many ways, this plan, as well as the entire process of planning that involved thousands of citizens, is a gift for the mayor - it's a detailed map of how things can actually can be done differently, with intelligence, honesty and democracy, ending up with a bold plan for a part of the city that should be a crown jewel.
The mayor is expected to attend tomorrow night's launch. I hope he blesses it and hits the "go" button. Gifts like this plan - and this riverfront - don't get handed to just anyone.
Maybe only to rock stars.
Space is pretty full, but you can still register for the meeting at the Seaport Museum at www.planphilly.com/registration or by calling 215-573-8720.
Light refreshments start at 5:30 p.m. *
Sandra Shea is the editorial page editor of the Daily News.
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