Best Practice Briefing

The Best Practices session will begin with breakfast and registration at 8 a.m. at the Independence Seaport Museum, with the program beginning at 9. For the panelists, breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. in the Green Room so you can meet other panelists and respondents and be briefed on the objectives and structure for the day by Praxis Executive Director Harris Steinberg.

After we welcome everyone, we have three panels on the agenda, simply titled “The River,” “The City,” and “The Road Ahead.” “The River” will address the unique challenges that come with balancing ecology, development and a variety of uses. “The City” will delve into particular issues of the real estate market, infrastructure development and urban design challenges facing Philadelphia; and the “Road Ahead” will focus on civic design implementation strategies and possible roles for advocates, political officials, and public-private partnerships.

Each of the three panel sessions will last 90 minutes. Each session includes three 15-minutes presentations given sequentially. These presentations will be followed by a talk-show-style response in the form of a moderated conversation amongst the three panelists and the three local respondents. There will also be a short question-and-answer period with written questions from the floor. Harris Steinberg will moderate the program including facilitating the post presentation discussion and fielding written questions from the floor.

There will be a break between each panel session, with two panels in the morning and one after lunch.

Click for an updated agenda for the day
Reminder: Featured speakers must email to Praxis:
- A short biography
- Writing submission
- Presentation submission

Section 3: Existing Conditions

Casino Licensing
- The primary news on the waterfront is the licensing of two 5,000-slot casinos to be sited on the waterfront by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: one at the north end of our project area and one at the south end. Though legislation has already been written to speed up the permit and development process, community opposition remains vocal.
Click here for a column that questions the Planning Process’ approach to casino development.
The following maps were created by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and give us more insight on the competing uses on the waterfront and other development challenges. Click on the PDF links at the bottom of this article:
- Building Footprints
  - Zoning
  - Open Space
  - Working Port
  - Environmental Jurisdictions
  - Recent & Proposed Development
  - Neighborhoods and proposed casinos
  - Transitways
- A PDF that outlines some general constraints and opportunities along this seven-mile section of the Delaware River
- Click here for a satellite map with local cultural and historical points of interest along the waterfront that will help you learn about the built environment.

Section 4: Useful Links

For more information on the Central Delaware, please check out the following websites for news, studies, and other data collection.
- Philadelphia City Planning Commission
- Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (www.dvrpc.org)
- City of Philadelphia (www.phila.gov)
- Center City District (www.centercityphila.org)
- 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania (10000friends.org)
- American Institute of Architects Philadelphia (www.aiaphila.org)
- Delaware River Port Authority (www.drpa.org)
- Fairmount Park Commission (www.fairmountpark.org)
- Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (www.septa.org)
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov)
- SugarHouse Casino (www.sugarhousecasino.com)
- Foxwoods Casino (www.foxwoods.com)
- Penn’s Landing Corporation (www.delawareriverwaterfront.com)
- Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront (www.nabrhood.org)
- www.casinofreephila.org
- www.democracyguard.org

File Attachments

Constraints and opportunities.pdf
Recent and proposed development.pdf
Best Practices_Agenda (5).pdf
Building footprints.pdf
Environmental Jurisdictions.pdf
Neighborhoods and Casinos.pdf
Open Space.pdf
Transit ways.pdf

Best Practice Session Participants

Speakers and respondents for the Praxis Best Practice session Feb. 3 at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street (invited)
Philadelphia Planning Commission Director Janice Woodcock
PennPraxis Direcor Harris Steinberg
Howard Neukrug, Philadelphia Water Department
Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper
Gil Kelley, Director of Planning, Portland, Ore.
James H. Paylor, Jr., VP International Longshoremen's Association (invited)
José M. Almiñana, RLA, ASLA, Principal with Andropogon Associates
Patrick Starr, Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Alan Greenberger, MGA Partners, member Design Advocacy Group
Antonio Di Mambro, founder Antonio Di Mambro + Associates, Inc.
Rina Cutler, Deputy Secretary for Administration, PennDOT
Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design at the GSD, founding principal of Chan Krieger & Associates
Michael Larice, Weitzman School
Connie Fishman, President, Hudson River Park
Paul R. Levy, President and CEO of the Center City District
Peter Steinbrueck, FAIA, Seattle City Council
John Grady, senior vice president of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation
Thomas Corcoran, president, Cooper's Ferry
Michael DiBerardinis, secretary, Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Thomas Lavash, Vice President, Economic Research Associates

Planning, Design and Advocacy Links

Local Organizations:
Green Plan Philadelphia

NeighborhoodsNow

Fels Institute of Government

Philadelphia City Planning Commission

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
www.dvrpc.org

City of Philadelphia
www.phila.gov

Center City District
www.centercityphila.org

10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
http://www.10000friends.org/

American Institute of Architects Philadelphia
www.aiaphila.org

Delaware River Port Authority
www.drpa.org

Fairmount Park Commission
http://www.fairmountpark.org/

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
www.septa.org

East of Broad Improvement Association

AASHTO – The Voice of Transportation
http://www.transportation.org

American Architectural Foundation
http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/aaf/index.htm

American Bar Association (ABA)
http://www.abanet.org

ABA Land Use and Zoning Committee
http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP230000

American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington, DC
http://www.aia.org/

AIA List of Committees

AIA Pennsylvania
http://www.aiapa.org/

Philadelphia Chapter AIA
http://www.aiaphila.org

Urban Design Committee & Housing Committee

American Planning Association -- NEW!
http://www.planning.org/

APA Planning Advisory Service
http://www.planning.org/pas/

APA Planning Books

APA List of Committees
http://www.planning.org/divisions/

American Society of Landscape Architects
http://www.asla.org/

Avencia Geographic Analysis (GIS) Company

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia -- NEW!
http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/

Blueprint for American Prosperity (Brookings Institution) -- NEW!
http://www.brookings.edu/projects/blueprint.aspx

Building Smart Alliance
http://www.nibs.org/buildingsmart3.html

CEOs for Cities
http://www.ceosforcities.org

Campaign for Affordable Housing
http://www.tcah.org

Center for Community Partnerships (U of Penn)
http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/index.php