The Central Delaware Advocacy Group(CDAG), a volunteer group representing community groups along the Delaware riverfront, recently released a report commenting on the progress of Philadelphia’s efforts to revive the Central Delaware riverfront. The report assesses the work the City has accomplished so far in meeting the goals outlined in the Action Plan for the Central Delaware 2008-2018, a 10-step, 10-year strategic plan for the riverfront. High marks were given towards efforts to adopt zoning policies and work on the Central Delaware Master Plan, which include development and investment guidelines consistent with the Civic Vision.  CDAG also praised the work that is being done to develop new parks and make improvements to existing parks along the river.

The group was less impressed with the lack of action that has been taken in extending the City street grid to the riverfront. Adding streets like Tasker, Reed, Pier 70 Boulevard, Washington, and Brown, to the city plan would help connect existing neighborhoods to the riverfront. 

The future of a riverfront greenway system in Philadelphia got a tremendous boost recently. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program awarded $23 million to Philadelphia and Camden to help complete a network of biking and walking trails throughout the region.  This funding will fill in vital gaps in the East Coast Greenway and Schuylkill River Trail systems along the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, which will not only bring new recreational and transportation opportunities to trail users, but will also help revitalize our communities by creating shovel-ready trail construction jobs and attracting private investment to the region.

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation recently released a Request for Proposals for another design/build project, this time for Pier 53 at Washington Ave. This release comes on top of existing projects for a Master Plan for the Central Delaware and the redesign of the Race Street Pier as a riverfront park.

On the Schuylkill, the Complete the Schuylkill River Trail coalition has launched their new website: http://completethetrail.org/. The site includes information about trail segments, the online petition to complete the Schuylkill River Trail & East Coast Greenway, and other important information about the campaign.  
 
Consultant Selected for Central Delaware Master Plan

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) has selected a team of consultants to develop the Master Plan for the Central Delaware Waterfront.  The team includes Cooper Robertson & Partners, master planners; the OLIN Partnership, landscape architects; and KieranTimberlake, architects; and HR&A Advisors, who will prepare the economic analysis of both public and private projects and who will be integrated into every phase of the master planning assignment; as well as several other subconsultants in the fields of transportation, traffic engineering, planning and zoning law, ecology and historic preservation.

The Master Plan is tasked with taking the values and principles set forth in the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware and translating them into concrete land use, zoning, and transportation plans.  As part of that assignment, the master planners must address public access to the river's edge for the project area, between Oregon and Allegheny Avenues.  Next Great City, the Coalition for Philadelphia’s Riverfronts (CPR), and our partner groups look forward to seeing the planning process unfold and engaging with the DRWC and the master planning consultants regarding public riverfront access. 

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and the City of Philadelphia are working to create a new riverfront park at Pier 11/the Race Street Pier.  This action is one of the initial early action recommendations that PennPraxis and the Central Delaware Advocacy Group recommended in the Action Plan for the Central Delaware in order to support the Civic Vision that thousands of Philadelphians created.  Field Operations has been selected to design the new park. 

The Coalition for Philadelphia's Riverfronts', the riverfront advocacy campaign that grew out of the Next Great City riverfronts recommendation, has officially launched.  The launch event was a great success! Thoughtful speeches from Katherine Gajewski, Director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, Alan Greenberger, acting Deputy Mayor for Commerce and Planning, Mark Focht, Executive Director of Fairmount Park, and Dr. John Elliott Churchville, CEO of Liberation Fellowship Community Development Corporation, as well as beautiful weather for post-launch kayaking provided a great start for the campaign. 

Next Great City is very pleased to see that the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware is continuing to move forward.  The interim zoning overlay ordinance that we advocated for is now out of Committee and is only a short step away from becoming law.  NGC would like to thank Councilman DiCicco and his staff for all their hard work on this legislation.  We believe that the ordinance is an excellent first step towards establishing the publicly accessible riverfront greenways that Philadelphia needs.

Greenworks nods to NGC public riverfronts recommendation by calling for  the development of parkland and open space connections along the city’s creeks and rivers

The Coalition for Philadelphia’s Riverfronts (CPR) is looking for endorsing organizations to join our call for continuous, connecting greenways along all of Philadelphia’s riverfronts. If you are interested in joining the campaign please contact Rachel for more information or to fill out an endorsement form to show your organization’s support.

Progress for Greenways along the Schuylkill & the Delaware

A lot of exciting progress has been made in reaching our goal of creating public riverfronts in Philadelphia.  During the week of May 18, not only did the Fairmount Park Commission approve the acquisition of 12 acres - two parcels that will be carved from a bank of the Schuylkill south of Center City to form the next sections of the Schuylkill River Trail, but the Planning Commission also approved the North Delaware Conservation District and an interim zoning overlay for the Central Delaware, both of which require development to be set back from the river. 

The Planning Commission accepts the Civic Vision as Framework

On April 21, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission met to consider adopting the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware as the framework for future development along the stretch of land between Oregon and Allegheny Avenues, and I-95 and the Delaware River. After an overwhelming show of public support, both at the meeting and through your emails, the Planning Commission decided to accept the Vision. 

Action Plan for Central Delaware

On June 26, 2008 Penn Praxis released An Action Plan for the Central Delaware- an ambitious plan to implement the civic vision put forth to transform the Delaware into a vibrant, green and connected riverfront.