Southwest Philadelphia

Neighborhood Open Space Planning Profile for Southwest Philadelphia

Neighborhoods Included: Kingsessing/West Shore/Elmwood/Mount Moriah/Paschallville/Eastwick

1) Open space concerns, issues or challenges:

  • Illegal dumping
  • Flooding
  • Lack of attention to overgrown grass

2) Community open space interests and desires:

  • 'Tame' parkland, used for recreational activities, is well used
  • 'Wild' land is tolerated, but not as actively valued as 'tame' parkland

3) Compliance or regulatory issues:

  • Oil refineries set their own regulations regarding fumes and other dangers
  • L & I enforcement unit and the Police Department are responsible for illegal dumping enforcement, but neighbors are skeptical about their responses
  • Cemetery-friends group formed at Mount Moriah Cemetery to control vandalism and illegal dumping
  • Brownfield development
  • Clean Water Act regulations regarding pollutant discharge into waterways
  • 100-year floodplain requirement for regulating land and property damage, as well as safety
  • PA stormwater management and sediment erosion control
  • Philadelphia Zoning Code, landscape buffer requirements: need for improved enforcement

4) Demographic trends or changes:

  • Increasing older populations in some communities
  • Decreased demand for active recreation

5) Market demands or pressures:

  • Upward pressure in Northeast and Southwest of PAS C (effect of University City and suburbs,respectively)
  • 'Vacuum' of market demand in Kingsessing and Elmwood

6) Specific environmental issues:

  • Abandoned industrial sites along the Schuylkill River and near Bartram's Garden
  • Oil plume from refinery runs under the Schuylkill River to South Philadelphia
  • EPA superfund sites in Delaware County, including Heller's dump

7) Major developments and/or open space opportunities:

  • New Eastwick Corporation vacant land below S. 48th Street, which could potentially be re-designed to create view corridors to the Heinz Wildlife Refuge
  • Transmontaigne site (abandoned industrial use) located south of Bartram's Garden
  • Two sites in Angora, each 3+ acres at 58th and Baltimore Sts. and 58th and Thomas Sts.

8) Other important information that should be noted?

  • Has existing conventional open space: Heinz Wildlife Refuge, elements of Fairmount Park
  • Has conventional open space opportunities: i.e., along the Schuylkill River
  • Has un-conventional open space: community vegetable gardens, cemetery, airport

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