Ave. of the Arts aka S. Broad St. needs makeover/cleanup, imo. ASAP

[RittenhouseGirl]

Went to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Acadamy of Music last night. When exiting after the concert and walking toward city hall I just couldn't help but notice how worn and shabby S Broad St. seemed. There was much more litter than usual. The special lighting effects were kind of dreary and creepy. Or maybe just dated. City Hall Tower was dark, (although the clock was illuminated) and the two large elegant ornamental fixtures that frame the southern entrance are in terrible shape. The sidewalks are in disrepair in spots all along S Broad and landlords could give their properties some tlc, too. Suprisingly, not a patrolman in sight on a busy night. The overall effect left a lot to be desired, which is disappointing given one would hope the city and the CCD would want to put its best face on given the huge investments at the nearby Barnes and Convention Center. Maybe it was the extreme heat, or maybe I am being overly critical but the Ave. of the Arts did not sparkle like it should.

I would say a bit before you get to Broad and Washington Avenue it starts to to look sketchy, but between that area and City Hall, I don't think I've ever noticed any shabbiness.

Of course, I live around here, so maybe I am just not seeing it since I walk amongst it every day.

[bootsywannabe]

I'm real stoked that there's a homeless shelter - whoops I mean "homeless cafe" - at 315 S. Broad St., right across from the Kimmel Center and in the middle of the UARts campus. Great place for it. Good thing the community didn't have any input. Nice to see a row of homeless guys out front there everynight, or the one's who sleep on Cypress St. and eat out of the dumpster on Watts St. behind 315 S. Broad St. (their dumpster).

Joke: When is a homeless shelter not a homeless shelter?
answer: When it is called a "homeless cafe" to avoid zoning hearings.

[Bleeper]

That comparison was from a guy who was at one time arguing for shutting down the BSL and replacing it with Light Rail down the middle of Broad Street.

I still say in the year 2012 that people should be traveling,breathing and walking above ground.

No Thanks.






That was one of my more levelheaded recommendations imo. Right between turning the loft district into Lake Rizzo which would act as a trigger for investment, and turning Sunoco's toxic albatross into New Hope/Lambertville. Lake Rizzo would be fed by Venice like canals coming from the Delaware and Schuylkill.

[RittenhouseGirl]

I'm real stoked that there's a homeless shelter - whoops I mean "homeless cafe" - at 315 S. Broad St., right across from the Kimmel Center and in the middle of the UARts campus. Great place for it. Good thing the community didn't have any input. Nice to see a row of homeless guys out front there everynight, or the one's who sleep on Cypress St. and eat out of the dumpster on Watts St. behind 315 S. Broad St. (their dumpster).

I forgot about this. Is it usually a church they are lined up in front of? Or it looks like a church anyway.

[Litter Box]

I forgot about this. Is it usually a church they are lined up in front of? Or it looks like a church anyway.

It is a church, that is what a church does !

Sho do look like a Church.

[bootsywannabe]

Oh right all churches receive money from the City to run a homeless shelter - oops homeless cafe - without having to go through any kind of zoning. Zero zoning for a homeless shelter, oops cafe.

Do you have any idea what the difference is between a homeless shelter and a homeless cafe?

None, except the name. They check in at around 8 pm, and check out the next morning. After getting fed and sleeping there. Doesn't sound like a cafe to me really. Sounds like a shelter.

Can I open a shelter in my place without going through zoning, and get a bunch of money from the City to run it?

And can I put a dumpster behind my place and put food in it several times a day so a bunch of homeless dudes can get their 3 squares out of it, because they don't want to check in to the cafe?

[MarketStEl]

I still say in the year 2012 that people should be traveling,breathing and walking above ground.

No Thanks.






That was one of my more levelheaded recommendations imo. Right between turning the loft district into Lake Rizzo which would act as a trigger for investment, and turning Sunoco's toxic albatross into New Hope/Lambertville. Lake Rizzo would be fed by Venice like canals coming from the Delaware and Schuylkill.

I'll assume your tongue is in your cheek on all of the above.

Otherwise, I'll have to call you out as ill-informed yet again.

In no large, dense city do people travel on or above ground exclusively. Elevated transport facilities are blighting influences on the land around them, unless they run on their own rights-of-way. And in the middle of a dense urban district, the only such rights-of-way available are streets. Therefore, most cities choose to put fast railroads under, not on or on top of, streets. On the street, they won't be fast.

And not even Philadelphia's subway concourses look that bad. How often do you go underground anyway?

[DCnPhilly]

Hello, Since this "alley" has a street name and a few people actually live on it between 17th and 18th you would think the city would take a little better care of it. It's very visible to the shoppers in the area too. I found this video of someone walking the length of it between 15th and 18th at night.

A Walk On A Philadelphia Alley - YouTube

What could you possibly do to this alley that isn't already being done? The fact that its named is moot. They all are. If the dumpster werent parked in the smallest streets, they'd be in front of Rouge, and I don't think anyone's going to drop $200 on dinner by the dumpster. I've never ever heard anyone complain about these small streets. They're part of Philadelphia's streetscape. As long as the trash goes in the dumpsters what's the problem? Should we paint flowers on them? Divert funding for roads to paving them every other year?

[OffenseTaken]

What could you possibly do to this alley that isn't already being done? The fact that its named is moot. They all are. If the dumpster werent parked in the smallest streets, they'd be in front of Rouge, and I don't think anyone's going to drop $200 on dinner by the dumpster. I've never ever heard anyone complain about these small streets. They're part of Philadelphia's streetscape. As long as the trash goes in the dumpsters what's the problem? Should we paint flowers on them? Divert funding for roads to paving them every other year?

Once the subway gets shut down for being too dangerous, we should start sticking our trash cans down there.

[mixiboi]

Getting back to the topic...

New Vision Expected for the Famed Avenue of the Arts

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of the Avenue of the Arts, Inc. (AAI), an independent non-profit organization created to coordinate and oversee the growth and development of the Avenue of the Arts, stretching from Washington Avenue on the south to Glenwood Avenue on the north. To celebrate this significant milestone, AAI has partnered with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) to launch the “New Vision for South Broad Street” Request for Proposal (RFP) project, seeking to update and reimagine the original vision for Philadelphia’s premier arts and entertainment district.
Ten architectural and landscape architectural firms submitted qualifications for consideration, and four teams were selected by AAI’s South Avenue Task Force to engage in the comprehensive RFP project

At the culmination of the RFP phase, the four consultant teams will submit proposals and present their visions on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. The RFP winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 20, 2012, with hope that implementation of the new vision will begin by 2014; dependent on city support and fundraising.

AAI board member, Carl Dranoff, President of Dranoff Properties, is funding the RFP project, providing each team with $5,000 to create their proposals. “I not only live on South Broad Street, but two of our premier properties are located there with our third coming in 2013,” said Dranoff. “I continue to invest in the avenue because it is a crucial artery of the city that is utilized by millions. Some of the best Philadelphia has to offer is located here, and I think this RFP project will augment the street’s presence and enhance the experience for all that walk, live and use this amazing avenue.”

So yeah Next Month you guys get your wish...

[bootsywannabe]

Wow, $5000 each. I didn't know it was that cheap to buy civic organizations.

I didn't know it was that cheap for a politically connector developer - the only one apparently who can develop on City lots on Broad St - to purchase the good graces of horiticultural societies and such.

But of course the City - oops I mean the Taxpayer - will ultimately pick up the tab for the improvements, right?

How about supporting businesses on the Ave by LOWERING THE TAX RATES ON BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS IN PHILLY.

So maybe, just maybe we'd at least be competitive with Bucks County.

do you think maybe then we'd have money to fix up Broad St.?

[OffenseTaken]

So maybe, just maybe we'd at least be competitive with Bucks County.

do you think maybe then we'd have money to fix up Broad St.?

It's my understanding that pension obligations are what kick us in the butt more than anything else, and will for the next couple of decades at least. We could put the Swiss or the Dutch in charge of city government here, and the tax burden would still be painful, even with zero corruption. (Services would get better, at least.)

Which is what makes the horrific way that city business is done here all the more baffling. Philadelphia can't afford to be corrupt at all, and yet it's not just corrupt, it's...

[MarketStEl]

Wow, $5000 each. I didn't know it was that cheap to buy civic organizations.

I didn't know it was that cheap for a politically connector developer - the only one apparently who can develop on City lots on Broad St - to purchase the good graces of horiticultural societies and such.

But of course the City - oops I mean the Taxpayer - will ultimately pick up the tab for the improvements, right?

How about supporting businesses on the Ave by LOWERING THE TAX RATES ON BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS IN PHILLY.

So maybe, just maybe we'd at least be competitive with Bucks County.

do you think maybe then we'd have money to fix up Broad St.?

FWIW, I don't know if you've been following the news lately, but when you throw property taxes in the mix, Philly is already competitive with its suburbs, at least as a place to live, now.

As I think that the state Constitution requires that property taxes be uniform across all classes of property (i.e., a local government cannot tax residential and commercial property at different rates, as cities and counties in some states can do), if there remains a competitive disadvantage for businesses, it would have to be the business privilege tax. (Employers don't pay the wage tax; employees do. If, where W is wage taxes, Pr is property taxes, Ph is Philadelphia and S is the suburbs:

(W(Ph) + Pr(Ph)) <= (W(S) + Pr(S))

then people seeking a place to live no longer have tax burdens as a reason to prefer the suburbs over the city. There may remain other reasons to do so, such as quality of municipal services or quality of public schools.)

However, what all this may suggest is that back in his first term, Mayor Street was right when he tried to shift the tax-cutting emphasis from wage taxes to business taxes. Recall how everyone howled over that?

[mixiboi]

Uhh..The $5,000 went to the four architectural and landscape architectural firms who are working on their own vision for the Avenue, NOT to any civic organizations.

Which is nice of Dranoff since he is paying for 3 visions that won't be picked...

[bootsywannabe]

Oh sure, and after he picks the winner, then he can get the City to pay for it, oops I mean taxpayers. Hey, why not, he's the anointed Nutter donor who gets to develop all the City lots on Broad St., right?

That's a pretty cheap price to get 4 civic organizations in his pocket. But hey it's Philly, yo

And anyone who says we are at all competitive with Bucks county on a tax basis is seriously out to lunch, and would fail any entrepreneurial course at a local University when asked to compare the relative merits of locating in Philly or Bucks from a tax perspective.

[RainboTeabagger]

And anyone who says we are at all competitive with Bucks county on a tax basis is seriously out to lunch, and would fail any entrepreneurial course at a local University when asked to compare the relative merits of locating in Philly or Bucks from a tax perspective.

No one is really disputing that troll. Any large city in the western world is going to cost more to do business in its CBD than its suburbs.

[RainboTeabagger]

Oh sure, and after he picks the winner, then he can get the City to pay for it, oops I mean taxpayers. Hey, why not, he's the anointed Nutter donor who gets to develop all the City lots on Broad St., right?

That's a pretty cheap price to get 4 civic organizations in his pocket. But hey it's Philly, yo

Are you insinuating pay to play still exists with the mayor? Can you tell me of any investigations of this with Nutter personally?

[bootsywannabe]

Ah yes, a vocal proponent of the Nutter administration. A real freedom fighter.

Yes Philly is so much more competitive than Bucks because we have high crime rates, high labor rates, and high tax rates.

That's why all the startups base themselves in bucks county or delaware.

Unless you base yourself at the Navy Yard or the Biotech Center here, where you get a tax break - yes a tax break - for 7 years or so.

If lower tax rates work in these areas, and Bucks, and elsewhere, why can't the rest of us in Philly have them too?

[RainboTeabagger]

Ah yes, a vocal proponent of the Nutter administration. A real freedom fighter.

Yes Philly is so much more competitive than Bucks because we have high crime rates, high labor rates, and high tax rates.

That's why all the startups base themselves in bucks county or delaware.

Unless you base yourself at the Navy Yard or the Biotech Center here, where you get a tax break - yes a tax break - for 7 years or so.

If lower tax rates work in these areas, and Bucks, and elsewhere, why can't the rest of us in Philly have them too?

Are you a politician? You certainly did a good job avoiding the question.

I'm in between on Nutter. His work on council was good but he's lacked a set as mayor. He seems to either be shrill or ballless with the rest of council as mayor.

Again though, tell me one major city where its more affordable for businesses to be situated in the CBD than nearby suburbs. You can't. You resort to the same tired name calling and shouting of taxes. You're preaching to the choir. I'd like to see the BPT and WT eliminated.

[BarryG]

Ah yes, a vocal proponent of the Nutter administration. A real freedom fighter.

Yes Philly is so much more competitive than Bucks because we have high crime rates, high labor rates, and high tax rates.

That's why all the startups base themselves in bucks county or delaware.

Unless you base yourself at the Navy Yard or the Biotech Center here, where you get a tax break - yes a tax break - for 7 years or so.

If lower tax rates work in these areas, and Bucks, and elsewhere, why can't the rest of us in Philly have them too?

The tax reforms passed last year give startups big tax breaks if they have employees.

The reality is that most startups today are in the city. The problem is that they move when they grow due to tax issues.