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[Jeremy Chin/The Daily Pennsylvanian] A streetlight shines outside Gregory College House at 40th and Spruce streets. City groups are spending millions to install more streetlights.

A fear of the dark often subsides with age, along with other childhood worries and fantasies.

For Philadelphia officials, however, dim streets and pathways are still a valid threat.

The Center City District -- an organization dedicated to cleaning and improving Philadelphia's downtown business district -- began construction last week to add more streetlights to several areas, including Washington Square, Pine Street and the Market Street Bridge.

The construction is part of a $1.6 million plan to revitalize Center City streets. The city has completed various aspects of the project biannually since 1997.

Currently, there is no public pedestrian lighting in University City.

The University City District and the Division of Public Safety at Penn are working together to bring pedestrian lights to the area, but the plan is still in its infancy.

UCD spokeswoman Lori Brennan said the organization has hired consultants to study the lighting situation, but she would not give any further details on the subject.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that there will be no concrete developments until UCD can secure funding for the project.

Rush said that Penn funded the lights that run along 40th Street and throughout campus but that there is only private or residential lighting beyond these borders.

"If you go out at night and you go down 40th and then go down 42nd, there is a big, big difference in how it feels and how it looks," Rush said.

She added that new lighting would almost definitely result in a decrease in crime.

"That lighting makes people feel safer," Rush said, adding that it decreases crime "because no one wants to commit a crime if it is directly under lights."

CCD spokeswoman Elise Vider said there is no question that the lighting improvements already made in Center City have resulted in an increase in pedestrian traffic and safety.

But Rush said that UCD's plan has nothing to do with the strides made by Center City.

"This is something that has been on our plan for years, and [between] Center City District and UCD, there is no competition," Rush said. "We have a lot in common and we have the same ultimate goals."

Wharton freshman Kimberly Kalb -- who walks off-campus frequently on weekend nights -- said she has noticed the dim setting.

"I think I would feel a little bit safer if I could see more around me and could see broader distances," Kalb said.

In response to such concerns, the UCD and Penn will consider a number of factors when choosing which type of lighting to install.

Rush said that the lights will probably look similar to those on 40th Street.

"We are going to look for lights that are bright white lights, white lights being the best for being able to see and understand color," Rush said. "And we are going to make sure that they are cost-effective, and [we will] look at the life cycle of the bulb because it is not only the project of putting in these lights, it is the upkeep."

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