We recently held a community design workshop to discuss what could be built on Philadelphia’s Delaware riverfront on two proposed casino sites – other than casinos. Read more »
On Saturday, April 28, 2007, approximately 40 people met to discuss what could be built on Philadelphia’s Delaware riverfront on two proposed casino sites—other than casinos.
In four short hours, local residents, along with architects and planners, discussed the neighborhood values that had been previously identified through the mayor’s Central Delaware Planning Process, and used these values to envision alternative designs for the two sites.
Grassroots planning organization, Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront, will convene a half-day planning charette, or workshop, to develop alternative design proposals for the 2 proposed riverfront casino sites — the “Sugarhouse” site at Delaware and Frankford in Fishtown and the “Foxwoods” site at Columbus and Reed in South Philadelphia.
Many of the ideas that came out of the Penn Praxis design charette weekend are incredibly bold. We allowed ourselves to envision burying I-95 beneath a more pedestrian-friendly Columbus Boulevard with a light rail transit system. We allowed ourselves to consider reconfiguring the port facilities and bulkhead, as well as flooding South Philly’s big-box stores to reclaim the flood plain and the river’s natural edge.
In what was described as a very raucous and intense city council session packed with concerned citizens, Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to allow the casino referendum on the May 15 ballot.
This is a landmark day for the quality of public debate and civic process in Philadelphia. Thanks to the diligent work of hundreds of volunteers and the signatures of 27,000 citizens, City Council has agreed that the citizens of Philadelphia should finally have a say at the polls about the siting of casinos in Philadelphia.
Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront (NABR) today joined with Bella Vista United Civic Association, The Friends of Penn Treaty Park, and numerous individuals in filing an appeal of the PA Gaming Control Board’s decision to put two casinos on the riverfront. The appeal alleges that the PA Gaming Control Board violated the PA Constitution by not considering environmental impacts.
According to Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution:
