Foxwoods Moving

This philly inquirer story that just broke seems like great news, but of course with these casinos, the devil is in the details. I opposed the two waterfront casino proposals, partly because the idea of gambling in Philadelphia was so transparently conceived as a way to scrape up some revenue and nothing else, and partly because the proposals were both junk for the city. For urbanists, this is now well accepted, but insular car oriented developments are always dead spots. They're the ugly, uninteresting and dangerous. Think Pier 70. Think Dockside. Think the paperboard condos up by the Sugarhouse site. I go to these places when I want to feel bleak and disconnected. It's an ignorant remnant of the twentieth century that big power player developers still try and foist this nonsense on Philadelphia.

Okay, s0 the possibilities that come from this resiting are terrific. I've always had a soft spot for the Gallery. I'm not sure if it was genius or negligent to put a mall over one of the biggest train hubs in the region - frankly it's a little of both. It's actually a good thing to have a mall accessible to center city, I use it and so do a lot of other people. The problem was that as it was developed, the gallery missed opportunities that would have made it great. It's tone deaf as an urban project - no real street presence, and it's got a location that easily would have accommodated much higher density. It could and should have 20 stories of residential or office or both above it.

So I'm hoping that the owners -PREIT and a group of others take this most recent news as an opportunity to do a major reboot of that whole area. I can easily imagine a high end shopping mall with major entertainment infrastructure becoming the seed of a vibrant center city. Face it - right now all the new construction that's happening there is the convention expansion or related to it. And conventions alone won't bring strength to that part of the city.

And maybe Sugarhouse will take this opportunity to stop being wrongheaded and think about locating next to Foxwoods on that big, empty lot. I mean, cities are made for agglomerations.

god.

That last post was as pointless as it was ineffective.

10 posts in August

I'm going to do it.  I guess this one shouldn't count.

Better Parking Policy

It could be coming to Philadelphia, according to this inquirer article.  From every angle, driving is a classic example of what happens when individuals are not responsible for the marginal burden they put on the system.  They rarely pay for their portion of road use, almost always have a free or government subsidized parking, and the cumulative effects of vehicle CO2 emissions are bourn by everyone in the world. 

It's good to see some governments trying to take a proper accounting of the true costs of driving. 

By the way, what is up with the inquirer website ads?  They seem to be slowing down my computer to a crawl.

SEPTA Dune Buggy

This was amusing on my way home from work. Suddenly enormous piles of sand have appeared around the neighborhood of South Street (it think it's related to the streetscape overhaul). This particular pile has spilled over into 4th street, requiring a couple of soon to be striking transit police to guide a bus through it. Oh yes, right through it. What a wild ride it must have been inside!

South Street, from Front to Second

For your Strolling Pleasure...

More Miyata Titanium

Right after the bike race. I broke the law by wading into the Logan Circle Fountain, but on a day as hot as that, who would care?

Notice that I've completed the transfer of components from my old Centurion. I also found a great deal on craigslist: an almost complete Shimano Sora component group (just missing the bottom bracket) for 60 bucks. Currently, the thing is sort of a Frankenstein hybrid - 600 calipers, cranks, and derailleurs; Dura Ace bottom bracket and hubs, some strange "T System 1" quill stem, an unidentifiable headset, narrow Nitto handlebars, and Sora shifters. The rims don't match either, and that's the thing that probably bugs me the most.

Meanwhile, the Centurion languishes in the basement, waiting impatiently for a summer resurrection that may never happen.

So far, I think I have spent around 500 dollars, which is way more than I wanted. I could not resist that frame, and now this bike has become something of a love object. And when you act out of love, any cost can be justified.