West Philadelphia

Neighborhood Open Space Planning Profile for West Philadelphia

Neighborhoods Included: Mantua/West Powelton/Cobbs Creek/Wynnefield/Mill Creek/Carroll Park/Haddington/Overbrook/East and West Parkside/University City

1) Open space concerns, issues or challenges:
- Illegal dumping
- Trash
- Rodents
- Crime, including drug use & sales
- Productive use of vacant lots created by NTI demolitions
- Lack of trees and greenery in schoolyards, parking lots, streetscapes,new developments, vacant lots
- Lack of stormwater control features
- Maintenance needs of recently planted trees

2) Community open space interests and desires:
- Open spaces cleaned and maintained
- Increased safety
- More green space & grass areas
- Open space development for community use (e.g., small parks, tot-lots, alternatives for vacant lots beyond community gardens)
- Where vacancy & demolitions result in gap-toothed blocks, planning for some kind of
consolidation of properties or acquisition of open lots by remaining neighbors
- Stormwater management features along Mill Creek Trail
- Completion of river trails (West Side, Botanic, etc.)
- Bicycle routes
- Greening commercial corridors & gateways in University City

3) Compliance or regulatory issues:
- Clean Water Act regulations regarding pollutant discharge into waterways
- 100-year floodplain requirements for regulating land & property damage, as well as safety
- PA stormwater management & sediment erosion control
- Philadelphia Zoning Code, landscape buffer requirements: need for improved enforcement

4) Demographic trends or changes:
- Increasingly older population in some neighborhoods
- Development pressure & gentrification concerns expanding south & west from the University
of Pennsylvania
- Increased investment & new residents in new areas of University City
- Many university students use bicycles
- Cobb's Creek, Overbrook, & Wynnefield shifted from predominantly white to predominantly African American neighborhoods
- Reduced Philadelphia population over past 50 years

5) Market demands or pressures:
- High-quality, affordable commercial areas
- Expansion of area's trolley lines

6) Specific environmental issues:
- Sloping/subsidence in some West Philadelphia areas due to buried streams
- Possible contamination at old rail yards (i.e., 50th and Parkside Sts.)
- Industrial sites along Schuylkill River
- Need for expanded use of environmentally friendly transportation (pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, Philly Car Share, trolleys)

7) Major developments and/or open space opportunities:
- Along the Amtrak rail line, mainly near Lancaster Avenue
- Creation and maintenance of neighborhood vacant lots
- Improvements in West Fairmount Park
- Enhancement of City-owned squares or parks
- Recreation centers with open space areas
- University of Pennsylvania's plan for "eastern lands"
- Schuylkill River Trails

8) Other important information that should be noted?
- Philadelphia school curriculum should address & integrate health,ecological appreciation, art, music, home economics/practical arts