March 2011
1 post
“During my car-free week I realized that if you live in a city and drive back and...”
– Mark V. (study participant). Why public transit in cities is important on a relational basis.
November 2010
3 posts
3 tags
“Large population centers with strong business travel markets, concentrated...”
– Ingredients for a successful HSR network. Sounds like the East Coast, no? [PB Consult, EFR]
3 tags
Putting the PARK back in Willow Grove Park, Pt. II
This is the second part of a two-part series on Willow Grove Park Mall Redevelopment started last month. [Pt. I]
Apocalyptic as it may sound, but Willow Grove Park’s future desirability will hinge on its ability to evolve its built environment. As a private property, I anticipate any inclusion of recommended public space to not be completely public, which is a shame because truly public spaces are...
3 tags
Amtrak, I Barely Recognize You
Apparently new train fleets are de riguer- and that’s fine with me. First my beloved SEPTA gets their new Silverliner V’s, and now Amtrak decides to get all hopey-changey and contracts Siemens for a gorgeous new train-set.
If Amtrak can muster up the funds and agency savvy to leverage ARC’s canceled tunnels in New Jersey, perhaps true high-speed rail can come to the United...
October 2010
5 posts
3 tags
2 tags
“…we supported highways to the detriment of transit and cities, mainly...”
– Norman Garrick, PhD
2 tags
5 tags
BREAKING: ARC Tunnel Stopped In Its Tracks
News of THE the ARC Tunnel being halted this morning is concerning as an engineer and burgeoning transportation planner, but more importantly as a citizen of the United States! I’ve lamented the lack of transportation options and funding that saddles too many American cities and suburbs with precarious transportation predicaments: crumbling roads and bridges; expensive, uncomfortable,...
3 tags
Putting the PARK back in Willow Grove Park
The realization came to me after commuting home from Center City and taking the dreary walk (or bike ride) home every evening during the winter of ’09-’10—blizzards included: The Willow Grove shopping district is great! It really put all of my needs (Wawa, Starbucks, bank, J.Crew) and aspirations (Bloomingdale’s, J.Crew) within perfectly easy reach. But, as an engineer and pseudo-real estate...
August 2010
2 posts
2 tags
300 Miles, 4 Flat Tires, & 1 Hip Realignment...
My 3rd annual bike trip, dubbed…The Amazing Bike Trip (or in some circles, The Keystone-Empire-Constitution Iditarod), undertaken by me and a host of friends, was completed without (much) incident this past Sunday. Our journey from Philadelphia to New London, CT on, yes, bicycles is part young-adult camaraderie, part physical badge of honor, part great-opening-line-at-a-bar, and a partial...
2 tags
Limestone Jesus: Redux
So, as of August 2010, Drexel’s new College of Business has gone through, shall we say, a significant architectural iteration to include what looks to be (thankfully) evenmore limestone! Some handy overlooks focusing the vista to Center City and reinforcing the campus quad are, again, some great design features. The elongated, perforated window articulation looks to be a new motif for new...
July 2010
1 post
2 tags
Limestone Jesus: The Second Coming
Now, no one is saying that this building is in any way better than the original Limestone Jesus- that would be sacrilege, but one can only assume that the non-glass surfaces in this rendering of the Robert A.M. Stern juggernaut— that will house Drexel University’s new LeBow College of Business— will indeed be the natural stone of choice for commanding facades: limestone....
June 2010
3 posts
2 tags
3 tags
The Town That Snooki Built
So, I just returned from the quintessential Philadelphia Memorial Day pastime of going “downa shore”. I had never really been much of a shore person save for the odd summer day at one of the many beach towns or a sojourn to Rehoboth in Delaware, so I was thrilled to be going to Sea Isle City, NJ. The town was quite wonderful and it sparked a serious internal conversation (I regularly talk to...
1 tag
“While it would be inappropriate for the federal government to micromanage state...”
– Road Work Ahead by U.S. PIRG
May 2010
1 post
2 tags
“Wait, so AECOM is like the Goldman Sachs of engineering?
[Basically]”
– A shall-remain-nameless UPenn City Planning Master’s Candidate at Tria on 5.7.10
April 2010
1 post
Never Enough $$
I apologize to all of my blog fans out there (all 2.5 of you) as I have not kept you abreast of the goings on in the transportation and development arenas. A partial excuse for the absence was my preparation for the FE Exam this past weekend, but other than that, it is unacceptable to keep my massive audience waiting! So let’s get down to some business…
Locally, Pennsylvania is...
February 2010
3 posts
1 tag
“Dubai has been an unbridled orgy in arbitrary excess…”
– Christopher Steiner, $20 Per Gallon
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Modernism Revisited, Not In Good Way
The new design unveiled for the Family Courthouse in Center City, Philadelphia this past week brought much vitriol on the head of Ewing Cole EwingCole architect, John Chase, from Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron: article here. Citing Mr. Chase’s apologetic presentation to the Art Commission, it appeared even he was not content with the final product- what artist is? So it begs the...
January 2010
2 posts
2 tags
Baby Steps
Wow. So, some things happened recently. Stuff like the State of the Union address and the doling out of $8 million dollars to start high-speed rail (HSR) in North America, and the (amazing) Presidential Question Time, that set the tone of political discourse for the coming year, imo- just to name a few.
And about the State of our Union- it sucks! What can be seen, however, is the groundwork being...
3 tags
Fountains of Wayne Junction- "SEPTA's Mom"
So, this post is definitely about SEPTA’s Wayne Junction, but oh so much more. Be sure to get the full, and well-written article from The Mount Airy Independent’s Patrick Cobbs here.
Like everything in the transportation industry, many projects in jeopardy today aren’t on the chopping block due to lack of engineering knowledge or public support, but from politics. Truthfully, that’s...
December 2009
3 posts
2 tags
NEWSFLASH: Automobile-Dependency Is Bad $$$
You’re Welcome. I read ~75 pages of academic writing to gift-wrap you this 4 paragraph summary stunner- Merry Christmas!
Transportation planners, like many engineers, can be a zealous bunch (guilty!). If you were educated under the Old Guard and don’t embrace new ideas, you could very well still be advocating for 6-lane superhighways- so 1999! The evolution of the field is evidenced in pieces...
Less Jersey Shore, More Greenwich, CT
Richard Branson is at it again. Yes, the same Richard Branson that brought us Virgin Airlines, Virgin Trains, and Virgin Galactic- favorite company name. Ever. Suffice it to say that a forward-thinking company that takes advantage of railway privatization and space tourism, plunking down such terrestrial roots as to create a luxe resort seems (ironically) unconventional. Nevermind its New...
November 2009
6 posts
2 tags
Freight Traffic? Blame Oprah.
So, this post is homage to Chicago. No, I’m not going to go the expected route and wax poetic about the mind-boggling beauty of Millennium Park or the Oprah Mecca’s myriad green roofs. No, this post is getting real. We’re going to shine a light on the freight rail industry of America, of which Chicago is critical. Called CREATE // Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency...
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NIMBY Attrition
The community meeting starts 30 minutes late. I’m in my high school alma mater’s cafeteria- I can still smell the mozzarella sticks… I am the minority (age and otherwise) as the audience was mostly senior citizens. It kicks off with PA State Representative, of the 153rd Legislative District, Josh Shapiro working the room briefly before introducing planners from McCormick Taylor, who...
“Next-generation projects will orient to infill, urbanizing suburbs, and...”
– Emerging Trends In Real Estate 2010
Urban Land Institute & PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Policy in the USA!
I’m going to attempt to make this vomitacious thought explosion be marginally more coherent than a simple stream of conshy. Perhaps I’ll even raise interesting questions along the way. Btw, the title of the post is supposed to be sung like the hook in the “smash hit” Miley Cyrus song “Party in the USA”. And yes, I realize how ashamed I should feel for saying...
October 2009
3 posts
Drexel Shaft! (Shut your mouth!)
A play on the original shaft lyrics…(probably not nearly as clever as I think it is upon this writing). In any case, Philadelphia’s phallic relic of the industrial age is coming down! Long the inanimate object with which Drexel students could thrust their college-related frustrations upon, the Shaft will be demolished in what is sure to be a scintillating display of dramatic...
The URBN Center (No vowels!)
Thanks to an “anonymous donor”, Drexel is expanding their CoMAD programs and facilities by embarking on the re-imagining of one of Robert Venturi’s early architectural forays. Aside from the gaily tiled exterior mosaic, this otherwise nondescript building is an example of Venturi’s “decorated shed” architectural aesthetic and part of the tapestry that makes...
The Magnificent Mile it is not...
…but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a less-debaucherous South Street (Philadelphia).
As part of my Powelton Village Series, this post tackles the topic of RETAIL.
Currently, there is a disproportionate amount of money being spent away from Powelton’s immediate neighborhood. Ironically, countless city neighborhoods would kill for the type of unique character and...
September 2009
1 post
Powelton: The Little Hamlet That Could
So, the hamlet of Powelton Village is in the midst of a transformation. Located in West Philadelphia adjacent to Drexel University, it finds itself in a unique growth phase. It no longer looks like a completely disinvested urban slum, doesn’t want to become a version of Penn State Philadelphia, and desires thoughtful growth that will contribute to Philadelphia’s heritage as being a...
August 2009
4 posts
I love you, Bixi!
Whoever thought of these things should be set ablaze for fear that they may one day use their genius to discover a way to create deplorable weapons using energy from something as harmless as subatomic particles … Seriously, these bixi bikes (which I affectionately referred to as bixi-trains) were not only pleasant traveling vehicles, but a product that said much about Montreal’s commitment to the...
Bonjour!
I am here, but a complete wrap up on Montreal’s stunning urbanity when I return…
AND, I just ate this:
Cooler Name than "The High Line"? Check.
The Reading Viaduct, the now-defunct elevated rail line meandering through Philadelphia, could be the city’s own version of the now-renowned High Line in New York City. And because Philadelphia has an undue inferiority complex to Gotham, the urgency for turning it’s own forgotten rail infrastructure into a scintillating elevated park is all but de rigueur.
Personally, the feat would...
It is now "later"
Jumping off from the previous comical quote (Thanks Dave!), it is clear that as traffic planners begin to amend the built environment, opposition will continue to be a constant obstacle that must be dealt with in a responsible and sympathetic manner. Press releases from transit departments & firms acknowledging the public’s concern are commonplace. At some point, however, planners assert...
July 2009
5 posts
“They should’ve used someone less educated to make this decision.”
– David Graber, Contractor, 61
NY DAILY NEWS (more on this later…)
Motivation
Self-motivation is a hell of thing. My motivation for starting Conscious Soliloquies is amorphous at best: selling myself, ranting, sharing, occupying time, avoiding bored (internet) clicking sessions, cultivating a strong work ethic and knowledge of all things, etc. Yet for this blog to be meaningful, an underlying thread need connect the posts, no?
As a graduate of Drexel University with a...
