If you’ve spent a summer in Philadelphia, it’s likely you’ve ended up at Penn’s Landing at some point, perhaps perusing a flea market, catching a concert, or simply visiting with the purpose of lamenting its inaccessibility, its unfortunate design, and its spectacularly wasted potential. Yes, Penn’s Landing coulda been something special, but it’s instead an unfeeling amphitheater, cut off from most of downtown and lacking the kind of warmth we crave in our outdoor spaces.

Photo credit: Michael Cook

The Master Plan for the Central Delaware seeks to change all of that. Perusing this extremely thick report, you’ll find a section that details plans for Penn’s Landing and its surrounding area. Those plans include a large park extending over I95 and Delaware Ave. replacing the current Penn’s Landing setup, additional pedestrian foot bridges, and several mixed-use development projects springing up along…

Last week, a meeting was hosted at the F.A.C.T. Charter School on the 1000 block of Callowhill Street to discuss big picture planning issues for a large, loosely connected section of the Central District, referred to as the “Chinatown North/Callowhill section.” According to the meeting summary, this area can be separated into five neighborhoods: Poplar, Callowhill, Chinatown North, Superblocks (the area of low-rise buildings and parking lots between Old City and Northern Liberties), and the Waterfront. The results of this meeting, and others like it across town, will be used to inform the larger Phila2035 Central District Plan.

Area map

This area, while underpopulated relative to its size (about 7,000 residents), has still seen a 92% population growth over the last twelve years. We’d imagine that a fair number of newer residents, along with folks who…

Last week, we told you about a 200-unit apartment building being proposed on North Columbus Blvd., between to Sugarhouse casino and Waterfront Square. At the same Planning Commission meeting where these plans were discussed, the same architects, Cope Linder, presented plans for another tower on the same street, just a couple of miles to the south.

The site

This project, which would be located at 735 S. Columbus Blvd., would sit directly to the south of the building that most resembles a cruise ship in the city, the Residences at Dockside. The developers intend to demolish Pier 34-35, which is partially collapsed at this time, and rebuild and reorient the pier in shallower water.

View of the pier

Once this is accomplished, the plan is to…