Philadelphia 2035 (Clark: monthly, parents, carpets)

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan2013

SEPTA Introduces SEPTA Key Cards For Easier Travel | NBC 10 Philadelphia

SEPTA has officially commenced the transition into SEPTA Key, and, effectively, a new era in transportation throughout the Delaware Valley!

The NBC10 video brief is accurate; the accompanying text is simply a restatement of what's on SEPTA's website, which has an incorrect rollout date: March is the projected start.

As for why the rollout took so much longer than announced, Jim Saksa at Plan Philly had an excellent explainer on this very subject the week before Christmas:

Why is SEPTA Key arriving two years late? | Plan Philly

To sum up, SEPTA was going into unexplored territory with no IT Sacajaweas to guide them. (I think Jim leaves readers with the impressions SEPTA had no IT-savvy people at all; that's not the case - I know some of the agency's IT staff. But there are only a few of them - not enough to keep abreast of SEPTA's current IT operation and vet a technology so new only three firms bid on the specs. Add to that a desire to avoid the debacle that was the Chicago Transit Authority's rollout of the Ventra card, driven mainly by the agency's desire to stick to its previously announced rollout date, and you get the two-year lag time.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I know you're no fan of Inga's*, but I share her low opinion of the Symphony House as architecture: leaving aside the choice of color for the concrete, the building desperately wants to be the Drake just to its northwest but doesn't really have the proper Moorish Revival mojo to pull it off - and the faux-classical gimcracks attached to its lower-floors facade also do a disservice to what could have been a decent building if the architect, or Dranoff, were willing to let the building just be its Modernist self the way the attached Philadelphia Theatre Company is. As far as its sales are concerned, I'm glad the building was a hit - but we've got lots of people living in blander and tackier new buildings than Symphony House while we're at it (I'm looking at you, you brick box with metal-clad boxy protrusion that can be found all over Point Breeze and parts of G-Ho).

The new buildings Dranoff's built since have IMO been better. I like the South Philly-meets-South Beach mix of brick and Art Deco that characterizes 777 South Broad. Southstar Lofts is a decent building that plays well with its neighbors. SLS will be a show-stopper. One Riverside looks awfully sleek to me as well based on the renderings.

Dranoff knows what will appeal to Philly urbanites. That's the secret of his success. They're not looking for jaw-dropping architecture as much as they are classy amenities, and he gives them those.

*Perhaps I should also disclose here, though, that Inga likes my stuff.



Once you all have the new ID cards, the only thing will be that you'll have to wave them over the reader screens. Your state-issued ID can be swiped through the mag-stripe readers. Maybe not as quick as flashing the driver or booth clerk your paper ID and shoving a dollar bill down the slot, but hardly a PITA IMO.

First of all many seniors will never hear about, or understand the need for, new cards. So they won't do anything until they're refused being able to ride on vehicles. Second, the idea of swiping driver's licenses/ state-issued IDs could be a recipe for identity theft. I can't believe Septa is serious about it.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

A "death blow to Philadelphia" as what?

A death blow in the context that Inga shouldnt be surprised in the least that Philadelphia's industrial/post industrial grittyness completely overpowers its relatively small upscale modern millennial vibe.


When you come over the airport bridges and then see places like SW Philly,Kensington,N Philly,W Philly you have no leg to stand on in regards to your city being portrayed as gritty.

It is what it is Inga. Deal with it or do something to improve the situation .Stop whining.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Addtionally, if Rainrock had ever set foot in Bartram's Garden, he/she might have a different view of the lower Schuykill.

Ive been to Bartrams Garden once. Once!

The immediate surroundings makes it a No Go to 99.9 % of outsiders.

BG is a stellar example of what I am talking about. A garden treasure that is lost and forgotten mainly because its location next to the oil refineries and its toxic aftermath.

[PhilliesPhan2013]

Originally Posted by rainrock

A death blow in the context that Inga shouldnt be surprised in the least that Philadelphia's industrial/post industrial grittyness completely overpowers its relatively small upscale modern millennial vibe.


When you come over the airport bridges and then see places like SW Philly,Kensington,N Philly,W Philly you have no leg to stand on in regards to your city being portrayed as gritty.

It is what it is Inga. Deal with it or do something to improve the situation .Stop whining.

Kensington is actually looking pretty good nowadays. Gentrification is spreading from Northern Liberties and Fishtown into Kensington. I was actually there yesterday. I decided to explore areas of Philly I have never visited before. The areas around Berks and York-Dauphin stations seemed safe. I did not feel threatened once (Somerton was a different story). Also, West Philly? West Philly isn't even that bad. I feel like mostly everything east of 52nd Street, south of Market Street, and north of Baltimore Avenue is pretty safe.

Since when is anyone crossing the "airport bridges" going to see North Philly or Kensington anyway? They would have to make the effort to head that way in order to see those areas.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by kyb01

First of all many seniors will never hear about, or understand the need for, new cards. So they won't do anything until they're refused being able to ride on vehicles. Second, the idea of swiping driver's licenses/ state-issued IDs could be a recipe for identity theft. I can't believe Septa is serious about it.

I'm with you that SEPTA appears to be doing a lousy job of getting the word out to seniors about what the new payment technology will require them to do, but I don't get your objection to swiping a state ID through a mag-stripe reader. Bouncers at bars now do this regularly to verify that would-be patrons are of legal drinking age. I know it's possible, but I seriously doubt that anyone in SEPTA IT would set something up to capture personally identifiable information about a patron who swipes a card through a turnstile reader and fence it to someone.

Originally Posted by rainrock

Ive been to Bartrams Garden once. Once!

The immediate surroundings makes it a No Go to 99.9 % of outsiders.

BG is a stellar example of what I am talking about. A garden treasure that is lost and forgotten mainly because its location next to the oil refineries and its toxic aftermath.

This will change once the "Bartram's Mile" segment of the Schuylkill River Trail/East Coast Greenway bike/walking path is completed sometime this year.

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan2013

Kensington is actually looking pretty good nowadays. Gentrification is spreading from Northern Liberties and Fishtown into Kensington. I was actually there yesterday. I decided to explore areas of Philly I have never visited before. The areas around Berks and York-Dauphin stations seemed safe. I did not feel threatened once (Somerton was a different story). Also, West Philly? West Philly isn't even that bad. I feel like mostly everything east of 52nd Street, south of Market Street, and north of Baltimore Avenue is pretty safe.

Since when is anyone crossing the "airport bridges" going to see North Philly or Kensington anyway? They would have to make the effort to head that way in order to see those areas.

Somerton?

You felt threatened in Somerton?

Or did you mean Somerset?

I've never felt threatened walking around any part of West Philly south of Market Street, from the Schuylkill to Cobbs Creek. But your walking impressions still validate the opinion of my friend who owns several properties in the 5400 block of Chancellor Street: He told his neighbors who owned property on the block to hang on to it, for it was going to be much more valuable within the foreseeable future. Some blocks look frayed while others are in good shape, but none IMO are dangerous.

[PhilliesPhan2013]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Somerton?

You felt threatened in Somerton?

Or did you mean Somerset?

I've never felt threatened walking around any part of West Philly south of Market Street, from the Schuylkill to Cobbs Creek. But your walking impressions still validate the opinion of my friend who owns several properties in the 5400 block of Chancellor Street: He told his neighbors who owned property on the block to hang on to it, for it was going to be much more valuable within the foreseeable future. Some blocks look frayed while others are in good shape, but none IMO are dangerous.

Hahaha, yes! I meant to say Somerset, not Somerton. I traveled there to see if it was as bad as people say it is. I have been doing this in order to expand the scope of my knowledge and understanding of Philadelphia. Turns out it is pretty terrible over there; however, I walked down Kensington Avenue from Somerset to York-Dauphin without incident.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan2013

Hahaha, yes! I meant to say Somerset, not Somerton. I traveled there to see if it was as bad as people say it is. I have been doing this in order to expand the scope of my knowledge and understanding of Philadelphia. Turns out it is pretty terrible over there; however, I walked down Kensington Avenue from Somerset to York-Dauphin without incident.

I don't think Philadelphia is a gritty and rundown as rainrock is describing it as, but it still is not as "lavish" as New York City.

Center City and surrounding is heading in that direction, but that is only about 10-15% of the cities land area, depending on how you measure it.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by cpomp

I don't think Philadelphia is a gritty and rundown as rainrock is describing it as, but it still is not as "lavish" as New York City.

Center City and surrounding is heading in that direction, but that is only about 10-15% of the cities land area, depending on how you measure it.

All true. And while it's true that at least 35-45% of Philly (by land area) is in significant need of more revitalization and more local investment (by a rough estimation), and the post-industrial and current industrial landscape in some areas does not help the city's image (although the refinery is very self-contained, and despite unsavory views from a couple of highways [which, in my view, is no worse than the eyesore of megahighways in most other cities that Philly lacks], it's inconsequential to the vast majority of the city, so long as air quality is kept in check), at least Philly is starting with a very strong core and working outward.

Property values are increasing across the city, which means Philadelphia's stage of revitalization has reached a key tipping point. That slow and steady march of investment reaching more neighborhoods moving in all directions from Center City/University City is the most promising strategy for broadening the economically healthy parts of the city. And the stronger and more robust Center City is, the greater that trend will be.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan2013

Kensington is actually looking pretty good nowadays. Gentrification is spreading from Northern Liberties and Fishtown into Kensington. I was actually there yesterday. I decided to explore areas of Philly I have never visited before. The areas around Berks and York-Dauphin stations seemed safe. I did not feel threatened once (Somerton was a different story). Also, West Philly? West Philly isn't even that bad. I feel like mostly everything east of 52nd Street, south of Market Street, and north of Baltimore Avenue is pretty safe.

Since when is anyone crossing the "airport bridges" going to see North Philly or Kensington anyway? They would have to make the effort to head that way in order to see those areas.

Actually one could push that boundary to Cobbs Creek Pwy, south of Market and north of Baltimore Ave.