Before a packed crowd of about 1,000 people at the Convention Center, University and city officials laid out a new vision for developing one of Philadelphia's most underutilized assets: its waterfront.
PennPraxis executive director Harris Steinberg, Mayor John Street and City Councilman Frank DiCicco promised to bring sanity back to developing the Delaware River.
To cheers from the crowd, Steinberg - the head of the planning arm of Penn's School of Design - promised to work toward transforming Delaware Avenue into a true "boulevard" by making it pedestrian-friendly.
The signature part of the plan calls for tying the seven mile-long riverfront - currently cut off from the rest of the city by Interstate 95 - to the rest of the city by extending William Penn's original street grid eastward.
This, Steinberg argued, would transform the area from "a post-industrial wasteland" into a thriving part of the city.
The plan also calls for better utilizing Penn's Landing by connecting it to a network of parks.
"Parks are the great democratizing part of the American landscape," Steinberg said in response to a woman who yelled out that the parks would be a preserve of the rich.
"Parks are going to do work - they're no longer just pretty things to look at," he added, explaining that open spaces lift property values, and that turning Penn's Landing into a gigantic lawn is preferable to leaving it in its current state.
Last evening's unveiling represents the culmination of months of work that began when DiCicco asked Street to bring PennPraxis in as a neutral mediator to redevelop the waterfront.
The plan was developed after multiple meetings with community leaders and the city Planning Commission.
Though the plan has faced a backlash from developers, area residents seemed enthusiastic last night, frequently interrupting the presentation with applause.
"That's why I moved over there [by the river] - because of the open space," said area resident and 2005 College alumna Kendra Fretz, who attended the event.
Fretz added that "this is the first plan that's a whole package" in its approach to area development.
Andrew Dalzell, a 2007 College alumnus, shared Fretz's enthusiasm.
"I think it's great. It speaks to the power of planning," he said.
- Staff writer Albert Sun contributed reporting for this article
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