Letter to UC Review:
I wonder about this "parklet". If the area needs extra pedestrian
sitting space--why put it across the street from a park?
Let's be real here, and call it what it really is - an additional
revenue source for the Green Line (financed by taxpayers).
Sure wish the City would help boost my business for free.
Why not additional seating for Fiesta, or a place to relax in front of
VIX? Why was the neighborhood not consulted?
Cindy Miller,
48th St.
On Aug 11, 2011, at 8:31 AM, krf...@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 8/10/2011 6:27:51 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, glen...@earthlink.net
writes:
"University City, like much of Philadelphia, has an unmet demand for
pedestrian amenities," said Bergheiser. "Our pedestrian counts
throughout the neighborhood grow and grow and we must keep pace. We
are pleased to demonstrate that there are simple and low cost
solutions to this growing demand for the infrastructure of
walkability."
What a crock of "green" bullshit. Parklets are an expansion of
seating for an upscale eatery on the taxpayer's dime. Local
eateries have long known that they must stay loyal and serve the
district to get their upscale cookies. Where oh where will the next
parklet appear?
I have to agree:
What's increased outdoors spacing for a private enterprise have to
do with "unmet demand for pedestrian amenities?"
The article in the UCReview conveyed the impression that the people
in the vicinity of 43rd and Baltimore endorsed this "parklet," Who
was asked and in what way? What were the actual counts and
percentages of a) the people in the area, b) the people actually
asked.
If a "real" parklet -- as opposed to extra outdoor seating for a
private enterprise -- is desirable, I can think of a huge number of
locations where it would make more sense, as opposed to a stone's
throw from Clark Park where there's plenty of greenery, outdoor
seating, and other pedestrian amenities.
The fact that the parklet is on the east side of 43rd Street where
it affords extra seating for The Green Line rather than on the west
side where the patrons of The Best House could use it speaks loud
and clear of UCD's (and others') apparent continuing attitude about
the anointed who sip their lattes and tap-tap-tap away on their
laptops versus the benighted who wolf down pizza and hoagies while
guzzling beer -- and probably burp and pass gas, occasionally, too.
If parking spaces on the street are going to be taken away, some
fresh thinking about permit parking and a way to discourage people
who drive into West Philly from the 'burbs, park here, then walk or
take Septa into Penn. If Penn stopped thinking of its parking
facilities as a money-making proposition and started thinking about
the burden their high parking prices place on the rest of us, it
might show they were actually thinking in terms of a partnership
with the community rather than hegemony over it.
How does this "parklet" reconcile with the hoops the beaneries on
Baltimore Ave have to jump through to get a few tables on the
sidewalks outside their establishments?
An article the other day in the Inquirer told of the huge increase
in fees the city has now imposed on restaurants that buy reserved
parking spaces on the public streets. If the Green Line really wants
to use what amounts to two parking spaces, whether they park there
or use it for patron seating, at least they should go through the
process of getting those spaces reserved and paying for them at the
going rate.
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Alan Krigman
KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc
211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918
215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502
krf...@aol.com or al.krig...@krf.icodat.com
