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 bring welcome green space to a part of the city (the Loft District < I think we’re still using that designation), that currently has no worthwhile parkspace. But let’s be clear, while the High Line has it’s merits…say the $4 billion of private investment to the surrounding area, it does not come without its recurring operational challenges. The New York Post covered the proposed new taxes for surrounding buildings and landowners to contribute to the park’s upkeep- a price per acre expenditure that exceeds the ever-versatile Bryant Park.
At a cost of around $175 million, The High Line is not a “let’s put some lamp posts, sod, and benches up and call it a day” park by any means. But to export these financial and organizational challenges to just any city’s industrial relics would be foolish. Learning from the High Line’s situation could benefit Philadelphia and positively influence their decision to re-invigorate the Reading Viaduct. Crowd control, safety, access, and upkeep are aspects that differ for an elevated park, and are details that planners and park managers need be cognizant of. The added expense may very well be justified, but is something that could be addressed earlier in the development process, so as not to inspire similar Post articles (or in Philadelphia’s case, Daily News hystrionics).
BUT, if we can figure out ALL of those logistics (easy, right?), there is an awesome passenger terminal at the Viaduct’s Spring Garden Street overpass that could easily be the coolest restaurant/bar/commune/Sneaker Villa store in the whole city- an adjacent structure that the precious High Line lacks. I’m sure a certain someone would relish in adding a potential high-profile location to add to his empire…
