PennPraxis Unveils New Riverfront Plan

PHILADELPHIA-A plan for the Delaware Riverfront, mandated a year ago by an executive order from Mayor John Street, was unveiled at a public meeting on Nov. 14, led by Harris Steinberg, director of PennPraxis. The mayor’s order designated PennPraxis, a nonprofit associated with the University of Pennsylvania’s department of architecture’s school of design, to lead an advisory group.

True to its name, “The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware,” the plan lacks specific development details, but sets forth a “vision,” based on “planning principles.” PennPraxis worked with the city planning commission, consultant Wallace Roberts Todd LLC, representatives of city and state agencies, and citizens, who participated in public forums, which were dispersed among neighborhoods that border the seven-mile riverfront stretch.

The plan is based on three “interlocking networks that establish a framework for growth.” They are movement systems that encompass streets, public transit and trails; parks and open space, and a mix of land development uses. A chief goal is to connect the city with the riverfront, now effectively separated by I-95. The plan calls for an extension of the city’s traditional grid street-design under and over I-95 and creation of a new boulevard that accommodates mass transportation to the riverfront.