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old and new on the delaware

The Delaware waterfront plans unveiled on Saturday afternoon all call for the capping of I-95 from Market to South. I reserved a spot at the conference, but was couldn’t make it. According to phillyskyline, some plans called a covering of the highway from Washington to Spring Garden, but don’t get your hopes up. Either way, any burying of I-95 is outstanding news. For a complete and excellent recap, check out phillyskyline. For my observations, continue on.

The reincorporation of the Delaware waterfront into the fabric of the city is emblematic of the economic changes of the past hundred years. Originally cut off from the grid to accommodate train lines and heavy industry, the waterfront has never truly been imagined as part of Philadelphia’s entertainment and leisure space.

Penn’s Landing has always been an isolated afterthought, grossly underutilized and hard to access. If we have to assign blame, we can say with confidence that I-95 has been the primary reason for the eastern waterfront’s neglect and failure.

I can’t tell you how happy I am for this city at the prospect of doing something about that 8-lane gash. A few short years ago, discussion of burying the highway was laughed down as a nice idea, but completely beyond the realm of feasibility.

As industry was the principal force that shaped the waterfront during the first half of the 20th century, vehicle transportation shaped the second half. Highways carried goods and services up and down the east coast and they carried people from their center city jobs to their suburban homes. Believe it or not, the construction of I-95 was once considered to be a good thing.

As we move into the 21st century we see a growing appreciation for cities, green space, public plazas, community and aesthetically pleasing waterfronts. The economic forces driving this new set of ideas are centered around the upper middle and upper classes, their large luxury condos on the Delaware and the services they desire in their new communities. Think Rittenhouse Square on the River. Fortunately for the rest of us, the rich have the combined resources to make sure this will actually happen. That means that while I’ll probably never experience my penthouse view 900 feet above the Delaware in Bridgeman’s View Tower, maybe someday I’ll enjoy the eastern waterfront much like I do Kelly Drive today.

As we imagine the future of the Delaware, here’s a look into the past. Phillyhistory.org is of course, the source.