PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

The Best Practices session will begin with breakfast and registration at 8 a.m. at the Independence Seaport Museum, with the program beginning at 9.  For the panelists, breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. in the Green Room so you can meet other panelists and respondents and be briefed on the objectives and structure for the day by Praxis Executive Director Harris Steinberg.
After we welcome everyone, we have three panels on the agenda, simply titled “The River,” “The City,” and “The Road Ahead.”  “The River” will address the unique challenges that come with balancing ecology, development and a variety of uses. “The City” will delve into particular issues of the real estate market, infrastructure development and urban design challenges facing Philadelphia; and the “Road Ahead” will focus on civic design implementation strategies and possible roles for advocates, political officials, and public-private partnerships.
Each of the three panel sessions will last 90 minutes.  Each session includes three 15-minutes presentations given sequentially.  These presentations will be followed by a talk-show-style response in the form of a moderated conversation amongst the three panelists and the three local respondents.  There will also be a short question-and-answer period with written questions from the floor. Harris Steinberg will moderate the program including facilitating the post presentation discussion and fielding written questions from the floor.

There will be a break between each panel session, with two panels in the morning and one after lunch.

• Click for an updated agenda for the day
• REMINDER: Featured speakers must email to Praxis:
  o A short biography
  o Writing submission
  o Presentation submission

Section 3: Existing Conditions
• Casino Licensing
  o The primary news on the waterfront is the licensing of two 5,000-slot casinos to be sited on the waterfront by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: one at the north end of our project area and one at the south end.  Though legislation has already been written to speed up the permit and development process, community opposition remains vocal.
• Click to read casino coverage from the Inquirer and Daily News after the licenses were awarded
• Click here for a column that questions the Planning Process’ approach to casino development
• Another comprehensive site for casino information is www.hallwatch.org 
• The following maps were created by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and give us more insight on the competing uses on the waterfront and other development challenges. Click on the PDF links at the bottom of this article:
  o Building Footprints
  o Zoning
  o Open Space
  o Working Port
  o Environmental Jurisdictions
  o Recent & Proposed Development
  o Neighborhoods and proposed casinos
  o Transitways

• A PDF that outlines some general constraints and opportunities along this seven-mile section of the Delaware River
• Click here for a satellite map with local cultural and historical points of interest along the waterfront that will help you learn about the built environment.

Section 4: Useful Links
• For more information on the Central Delaware, please check out the following websites for news, studies, and other data collection.
  o Philadelphia City Planning Commission (www.philaplanning.org)
  o Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (www.dvrpc.org)
  o City of Philadelphia (www.phila.gov)
  o Center City District (www.centercityphila.org)
  o 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania (http://www.10000friends.org/)
  o American Institute of Architects Philadelphia (www.aiaphila.org)
  o Delaware River Port Authority (www.drpa.org)
  o Fairmount Park Commission (http://www.fairmountpark.org/)
  o Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/home/index.html)
  o Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (www.septa.org)

  o Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
  o SugarHouse Casino
  o Foxwoods Casino
  o Penn’s Landing Corporation
  http://www.nabrhood.org/
  www.hallwatch.org
  www.casinofreephila.org

  http://www.riverfrontunited.org/

  www.democracyguard.org/casinofreephila/Petition.pdf