Part One:
The Plan for West Philadelphia

A plan is set forth for the development and beautification of an important new district -- the Schuylkill West Bank.

The Philadelphia Civic Center will be sold and redeveloped. The 19.5-acre site is expected to become part of the City's largest health care complex.

Targeted action is recommended for the most blighted neighborhoods. Recommendations will guide the use of CD-funded housing programs.

A festive Town Center will be created in Mantua.

An Open Space Strategy is proposed for Mantua, Belmont and Mill Creek.

The campuses of the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University will expand in an easterly direction, toward the Schuylkill.

The blighted highway corridors will be revitalized. These major corridors tie the neighborhoods together and shape the image of West Philadelphia.

A district Plan guides future decisions about how a section of the city can change and develop over the long term.

Citizen participation has been a major element of this planning process. The staff held formal meetings about the Plan with 23 community groups and hosted five Town Meetings which were open to the public and advertised in local newspapers.

The Plan for West Philadelphia continues in Part Two, which describes existing conditions in the planning area. The Plan recommendations are contained in Parts Three, Four and Five of this report.

West Philadelphia is a vital, richly textured community. Today, 220,000 people, or 13.9 percent of the City's population, live, shop, and in many cases work in West Philadelphia. These residents share many experiences, some of them unique to West Philadelphia: riding the trolleys into Center City, shopping at 52nd Street (West Philly's Main Street), picnicking and playing ball in Fairmount Park, driving between the support columns of the Market-Frankford El, tending neighborhood garden plots, participating in community meetings or school functions, attending the annual May Fair at Clark Park, and keeping up their houses.

For residents of other parts of the region and for visitors, West Philadelphia is experienced as a drive along West River Drive, a concert at the Mann Music Center, a move into a dormitory room by a college freshman, a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, visiting a relative at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, enjoying the annual Flower Show at the Civic Center, or taking an AMTRAK train from 30th Street Station.

Notwithstanding the many positives, some West Philadelphia neighborhoods suffer the same ills that affect other older urban areas. Over the last several decades there has been a substantial loss of middle class population, widespread poverty, property deterioration and abandonment, main streets that have declined and don't present the best face of the community, deteriorating infrastructure, and too many incidents of crime against people and property that have had devastating impacts in certain neighborhoods. These trends, although not pervasive, are persistent and have affected the quality and the perception of life in the larger West Philadelphia community. The trends that contribute to these negative perceptions must be halted and reversed if West Philadelphia is to sustain itself as a viable urban community.

West Philadelphia's place in the city today is characterized by its role as a residential community. Ever since significant portions of the area were developed, West Philadelphia has functioned mostly as a place to live. It was one of the city's first bedroom communities. This makes West Philadelphia different than North Philadelphia, where the development of major industrial centers created a need for nearby worker housing.

A related function of West Philadelphia is to supply labor for the city's myriad businesses. The area originally was an important housing resource for workers employed in the city's thriving industrial centers. Today, workers living in West Philadelphia increasingly reflect white collar occupations (managerial, professional, technical, sales and clerical) and public service employment.

West Philadelphia abounds in educational and health care institutions. The University City section of West Philadelphia is a remarkable concentration of universities, colleges, schools, major hospitals and research facilities. Among the many benefits that the city derives from these institutions are accessible health care, enhanced culture and entertainment opportunities, and a diverse and international population mix. The employment opportunities generated by these institutions are substantial. The universities' 23,000+ employees and 40,000+ students contribute residents, shoppers and taxpayers to the city, as do the more than 4,000 hospital employees of University City. Most importantly, as our economy becomes increasingly based in technology and information, and as the health care industry continues to grow, West Philadelphia's institutions have become crucial to Philadelphia's future economic competitiveness.

An outstanding transportation system is another of West Philadelphia's important assets. In addition to the network of trains, buses and light rail vehicles that serve the area, West Philadelphia's most prominent public transportation facility is 30th Street Station, which is a center for inter-city, regional/commuter and rapid transit rail lines. This is the nation's second busiest train station (behind New York's Penn Station), and its beautifully restored waiting room welcomes visitors to our city in grand style.

West Philadelphia makes a major contribution to recreation resources of both the city and the region. The largest and most intensely developed section of Fairmount Park is located here. West Park, at 1,276 acres, contains two of the park's most popular destinations: the Philadelphia Zoo and the Mann Music Center. Cobbs Creek Park, a linear park at the western edge of the district, serves many residents from West Philadelphia and nearby Delaware County and Montgomery County neighborhoods.

Yet despite all of its assets, West Philadelphia also reflects some of the most serious problems facing the City. There are severely deteriorated neighborhoods in West Philadelphia, along with declining commercial strips, poorly maintained playgrounds, and streets and bridges that need repair. Some of West Philadelphia's neighborhoods are devoid of major private investment, and unemployment is extremely high in certain areas. Underlying these weaknesses are social problems that are even more difficult to deal with, such as poverty, drugs, lack of education, crime and domestic abuse.

In some neighborhoods, West Philadelphia's problems can seem so overwhelming that the observer wonders which trend will prevail: deterioration and abandonment, or stability and growth. This plan is based on the premise that the many strengths in the West Philadelphia of today can serve as a foundation for a much brighter future.