That states the case of "scale " against the Hilton pretty fairly, I think.
Of course, cropping is vital when it comes to telling truth with pictures -- that's what "framing" really is.
Note the proposed Hilton, though, is only 40% as long as the Radian, whereas the string of intact three-story mansions and twins west of the property along Pine St. is about as long as the Radian. So instead of a huge, long blade squishing a tiny remnant, you'd have a stubbier blade adjoining the long, truly intact low-rise part of the neighborhood.
That's the effect you get if you start at 400 S. 40th and look west. If you center the proposed Hilton and run your axis southwest-to-northeast, the whole scene looks different.
From 41st & Baltimore northeast to 400 S. 40th is about 250 yds. Here you have solid low-rise buildings, a few of which are weighty, multi-unit, four-story residential affairs. But from the Hilton northeast another 250 yds. is a 25-story Highrise! That's not much farther away than the length of the Radian itself. Other buildings on that side of 400 S. 40th are a mishmosh of long-converted old twins-turned-frathouses, rowhouses, mid-sized apartment buildings and rather massy lumps like the Dental School, the Vet School and the dorm at 40th & Chancellor. taken as a whole, the esthetic "scale" of this chunk of turf is hard to describe, much less injure.
So the proposal lies in a border zone. That's the only reason Penn could even consider it in the first place, I figure. Border zones are ragged and tend to be esthetically untidy; "scale" is hard to define in them. That's what makes the debate debatable.
Mind you, borders can be worth fighting for. In fact, most territorial disputes take place along borders.
-- Tony West
The Radian extends away from those dinky properties where non-owner-occupants dare to live -- and presents its elongated towering facade along the already unattractive Walnut and Sansom Streets. Lussenhop's Folly runs along the building on Pine Street and across the backs of those on Baltimore Avenue, doing much more damage in both cases to the visual aesthetics for pedestrians and the people who live in its figurative and sometimes literal shadow. Al Krigman -- 36-year local resident, housing provider, and -- even my opponents admit -- bon vivant
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