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The Ratkovich Company in the News Capitalizing on Parkside’s Assets Key to Overcoming Blight Urban Land Archives - March 2002 By Hugh Broadus, ULI communications associate Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace and the fifth-largest city in the United States, is experiencing serious population losses. While the city benefited from the “back to the city” movement of the 1990s, mainly in Center City, it has not benefited to the extent that many others have. New York City, for example, gained more than 650,000 people in the same time period, and Austin, Texas, grew by over 40 percent. Philadelphia’s population declined by more than 68,000 people; only Detroit and Baltimore lost more residents. In mid-October, a ULI panel, by invitation of the Philadelphia Daily News, convened to provide guidance and recommendations for the revitalization of the Parkside neighborhood, located in the northeastern corner of west Philadelphia. Parkside’s blight represents many of the problems affecting Philadelphia’s other neighborhoods, hence the panel’s recommendations could be an applicable blueprint for the revitalization of other neighborhoods in the city—and of other communities across America facing the issue of blight. The panel was asked to make recommendations regarding the following: the neighborhood’s market potential for residential and commercial development; the effects of future planning and design issues for the area as they relate to the introduction of light rail and new train stations; development and marketing strategies for the community; and techniques required to implement the panel’s recommendations, including incentives needed to entice new housing development to the community. Although it was concentrating on the issue of blight in Parkside, the panel was impressed by the community’s many assets. The city was about to begin light-rail service connecting the neighborhood, located only minutes from Center City, to downtown. Parkside is bordered on the east by the Philadelphia Zoo—the nation’s oldest zoo and a major tourist attraction in the city. To the north of Parkside lies Fairmount Park, the largest contiguous park system in the United States and home to the Mann Center, a major performing arts center; and Memorial Hall, the site of the 1876 centennial exhibition. The panel also was impressed with the active and vibrant residents who live in the Parkside neighborhood—noting the work of James L. Brown and the Parkside Historic Preservation Corporation in meticulously renovating several blocks of 19th-century mansions across from West Fairmount Park, converting them to affordable and special-needs housing. In response to the challenge posed by the Philadelphia Daily News, the panel proposed a bold and ambitious plan, one that nonetheless is politically, financially, and socially feasible for Parkside and Philadelphia. The recommendations are divided into two areas: market potential/ urban design, and development and implementation strategy. A few of the primary recommendations presented under market potential/urban design include creating safer streets; selectively demolishing abandoned structures; implementing a “brand marketing” plan for the neighborhood; developing new housing in Parkside; and improving mass transit. A few primary recommendations for the development and implementation strategy include enacting the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) concentrating governmental, foundation, and university resources on Parkside; creating and reinforcing architectural design standards; drawing up a master plan for the revitalization of Parkside; and forging or strengthening partnerships. “We believe that the talent, commitment, and energy exist to make the revitalization of Parkside happen,” noted panel chair Wayne Ratkovich, president, the Ratkovich Company, Los Angeles, California. “What’s required now is action,” he added. Other panel members included John Anderson, president, JH Anderson Holdings, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Richard Farley, Civitas, Denver, Colorado; Marla Newman, program officer, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Kansas City, Kansas; R. Terry Schnadelbach, professor of landscape architecture and urban design, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; Zane Segal, project director, Zane Segal Projects, Houston, Texas; Susan Southon, principal, Strategic Planning Services, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and Katherine Updike, managing partner, Building Solutions LLC, Chicago, Illinois. ‹‹ back |