tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post8091340681746023472..comments2023-11-22T05:26:44.399-05:00Comments on Crossing the Lines: The Great Plains of North PhiladelphiaSteve Stofkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-71546608875096275052013-07-30T14:13:27.802-04:002013-07-30T14:13:27.802-04:00the cost to re-mediate the problem to prepare the ...the cost to re-mediate the problem to prepare the ground for agriculture is about 50 million. the city is broke. where does the money come from?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-63678839883212696632011-12-01T10:55:50.314-05:002011-12-01T10:55:50.314-05:001. Death and Life, Ch. 5. Read this and then tell ...1. Death and Life, Ch. 5. Read this and then tell me again a park here would <i><b>not</b></i> be stupendously bad.<br /><br />2. The idea of agriculture is not the same as houses. The point is hardly hobby farms. The point is farms as businesses, in the same mold as Greensgrow. The point, in other words, is that you are, in fact, offering these people livelihoods. The best way of ensuring it stays the case is to have it operate in concert--or with aid from--other successful local urban ag operations.<br /><br />The Logan Triangle is not fit for building homes. That's why we tore them all down. It's an economically depressed area, so an economically passive use (such as parkland) would not be locally helpful--and in fact, would most likely be actively harmful. <b>It needs to be an economically active use</b>, and hitched into the local economy, and the best way to do that without building anything is--agriculture.Steve Stofkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-84045173216923860962011-12-01T08:54:10.015-05:002011-12-01T08:54:10.015-05:00Steve, it's a bit over the top to say that mak...Steve, it's a bit over the top to say that making the Logan Triangle into "Hunting Park North" is a "stupendously bad" idea on the basis that it would somehow make this area more unlivable because it would worsen crime conditions in the area. One could easily spin economic development in this area as a "crime vector" since it could attract those would would prey on people who are making money in the area.<br /><br />I think that making the area available as farm plots for "qualifying" locals would certainly need to be a plan not created or run by the City. I could only imagine that it would turn into something like the Gift Property catch-22 where near-free houses are made available to people who fix them up. The program sounds like a great idea until one finds out that the only people that qualify for the program are people who have almost no hopes of ever being able to financially make the deal work.<br /><br />I have my doubts about urban agriculture anyway. One, there is nothing urban about agriculture and vice versa. Two, it signals to me that we are giving up on what makes cities great. Sure, this case is different because of the un-usability of the ground and the near-term economic hopes for the area, but that's why I think an urban park should be in this urban area.NickFromGermantownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08260423320053215796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-82244275936441377982011-11-30T18:42:23.774-05:002011-11-30T18:42:23.774-05:00Hey, Steve,
1. You should put an email address on...Hey, Steve,<br /><br />1. You should put an email address on your blog.<br />2. Email me! I have something to share... smithsj-at-gmail<br /><br />- Other SteveStephen Smithhttp://blogs.forbes.com/stephensmith/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-9642046833082371402011-11-28T21:19:33.669-05:002011-11-28T21:19:33.669-05:00Extending Hunting Park--especially with a "na...Extending Hunting Park--especially with a "natural" park--is, given local demographics, a stupendously bad idea. Can anyone say "crime vector"?<br /><br />No, what is needed is a way to (a) rehabilitate the site in such a way so as to be (b) economically productive to the community. There are few better alternatives for this than to lease blocks out as farm plots for (qualifying) locals.<br /><br />Agreed: No retail need exist on the site--except inasmuch as whatever underlying economic activities can generate (farmers markets, for example).Steve Stofkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-18943556266137649782011-11-25T12:39:22.305-05:002011-11-25T12:39:22.305-05:00This ground should become an extension of Hunting ...This ground should become an extension of Hunting Park. There really is no need to overthinking this.<br /><br />What ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT happen is for a retail development to be installed. If the area never needed that commercial infrastructure when there was were higher socioeconomics AND more people, why would it be good now? Of course this kind of idea is hatched by politicians in the name of "economic development".NickFromGermantownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08260423320053215796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-16166355096628997152011-11-24T22:25:02.284-05:002011-11-24T22:25:02.284-05:00What is the ground contaminated with? The NP artic...What is the ground contaminated with? The NP article says it was filled with ash and cinder. That doesn't seem so bad.uwes98https://www.blogger.com/profile/09851182387500129992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-31223607906319906532011-11-24T03:10:15.156-05:002011-11-24T03:10:15.156-05:00If its to be a park, it can be a natural park. Ver...If its to be a park, it can be a natural park. Very little maintenance needed. Just let the plants grow, and maybe maintain a single walking trail.James Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00948509061118072998noreply@blogger.com