A team of planners and architects working to revive the city's riverfront recommend mimicking Boston's infamous Big Dig project to tame the I-95 freeway's impact.
"After three days of intensive workshops designed to generate fresh ideas for Philadelphia's languishing Delaware waterfront, five dozen bleary-eyed planners and architects put aside their maps, satellite photos and sketches on Saturday evening, and jointly called on city and state officials to deal with the great highway canyon that cuts off the city from the river of its birth.
Bury it. Narrow it. Put a deck over it. Just get it out of our sight.
Although the recommendations varied in their specifics, the experts who participated in the weekend brainstorming exercise agreed that I-95 was the biggest impediment to redeveloping the seven miles of waterfront property central to Philadelphia."
"Essentially, the planners were proposing a Philadelphia version of Boston's famously expensive and lengthy Big Dig project, which involved building a platform over a highway to create new land for development. One planner, describing his proposal for Philadelphia, called it 'a half-Boston.' "
FULL STORY: City's biggest block: The great I-95 divide
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Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
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San Jose Mayor Takes Dual Approach to Unsheltered Homeless Population
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Atlanta Changes Beltline Rail Plan
City officials say they are committed to building rail connections, but are nixing a prior plan to extend the streetcar network.
Are Black Mayors Being Pushed Out of Office?
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research