Classic Towns : In The News

Philadelphia's rich landscape heritage makes for a city painted in shades of green, according to The Huffington Post.

The transformation of the urban core, as I've written before, is hot, hot, hot. Currently, there's a great deal of attention focused (justifiably) on the much-talked-about opening of the second phase of the much-talked-about High Line in New York, which has put yet more vim into that city's vigor. But if you want to see some serious va-va-voom, set your sites on Philadelphia (and don't get all snarky quoting W. C. Fields now). Philadelphia's exceptional array of parks and open spaces, and the visionary, entrepreneurial and civic-minded people behind them, is where to really see a city center in high gear (and the BYOB restaurant scene is taste bud nirvana).

For more than three centuries, city planning, landscape architecture and a unique civic ambition that emphasizes horticulture as much as the pedestrian experience in its public spaces and streetscapes, have made Philadelphia a fascinating city. From the five squares that were at the core of William Penn's 1683 plan to Dan Kiley's mid-20th-century design for Independence Mall, which connected Franklin Square to the north and Washington Square to the south, the city has a landscape heritage that few others can boast.

Source: The Huffington Post
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Last week we told you about the four suburban Philadelphia communities named to Money magazine's 100 Best Places to Live in America list. The New Republic looks at those same four hotspots as evidence of a shift in the way we live in post-recession America.

But Money is still wedded to the notion that our best places are “small towns,” without acknowledging the regional metropolitan economies--with distinctive economic clusters and amenities, unified housing and labor markets, and modern transportation networks--that determine their economic prosperity and popular appeal.

The magazine does implicitly recognize these metropolitan connections. Take the four new communities in this year’s list within in the resilient Philadelphia metro: West Goshen “gives residents a rural feel, yet good access to jobs,” given its proximity to Philadelphia; Horsham “lies with easy commuting distance of Philadelphia,” Ardmore is “just a few minutes from the city by rail,” and commuters from West Norriton “appreciate that it is 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia.”

It is time to acknowledge that these “small towns,” really suburbs and exurbs, are part of highly-connected and seamlessly-integrated metropolitan economies. The notion promoted by these kinds of “best places” lists--that “small towns” or “small cities” are self-sufficient islands--is fundamentally misguided. Families and firms choose these communities precisely because they benefit from the assets, attributes, and advantages of their broader metros.

Original source: The New Republic
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A new ranking of America's best small towns names Ardmore, West Goshen, West Norriton and Horsham in the top 60, according to Money Magazine.

Ardmore

Source: CNN Money Magazine
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The increasingly famous punk rockers from Lansdale, The Wonder Years, filmed their new music video in Philadelphia, which provided much inspiration for their newest full-length release Suburbia, according to Glasswerk National.

The Wonder Years have unveiled their new video for track "Local Man Ruins Everything". Filmed in the band's hometown of Philadelphia, PA, it includes locations that were inspired by and mentioned in their newest full-length Suburbia, I've Given You All And Now I'm Nothing. The band are heading to the UK this September for a headline tour, following their stint earlier this year on the Kerrang! Tour. Dan "Soupy" Campbell of the band comments: "We're stoked to announce that, in support of our new record Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing, we'll be coming back to the UK! Even more exciting than that, we'll be bringing Such Gold and Valencia with us! It's going to be awesome and we hope to see you all there!"

Source: Glasswerk National (UK)
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Walk Score ranks Philadelphia fifth in its listing of the most walkable cities in America.

Philadelphia's most walkable neighborhoods are Center City West, Center City East, University City. Philadelphia's least walkable neighborhoods are Byberry, Torresdale, Fox Chase.

Source: Walk Score
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La Rose Nightclub in Germantown welcomes teen musicians who want to play jazz, according to Jazz Times.

The Sunday evening jam sessions led by drummer Rob Henderson and jazz promoter Kim Tucker at the La Rose Jazz Club on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia for the past two years are the epitome of this playful re-enactment of traditional rites of passage between the young and the old, the neophyte and the old head, the apprentice and the master, the eager and the cautious.

Many of the "young ones" come from Cheltenham High School, University of the Arts, Temple University, and the Kimmel Center and Clef Club youth jazz ensembles. Some of the standouts are 19-year-old saxophonist Dahi Divine; 16-year-old pianist Jordan Williams; 11-year-old drummer Nazir Zbo, the little brother of Philly phenom Justin Faulkner; 17-year-old bassist Bruce Ketterer (whose father drives him in from Reading); drummer Ben Singer; and 17-year-old violinist Ben Sutin, whose band has appeared at Chris' Jazz Caf�, one of the few remaining jazz clubs in Philadelphia. Photographers L. David Hinton and Anthony Dean make it a point to be present to document these early moments of what could be the next generation of young lions.

Source: Jazz Times
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The New York Times takes a tourist's road less traveled into Northwest Philly, where visitors get a heaping helping of Philly's quirks and charms in Germantown.

The No. 23 city bus running along the cobblestones is still known as the "trolley,"and you can take it to visit the house where a young Benjamin Franklin stopped for advice on books or to other homes where Revolutionary War battles left powder marks and bloodstains. George Washington slept here, a lot, and decades later so did runaway slaves at a well-preserved stop on the Underground Railroad. There's also a homey lunch spot known for its veggie burger.

Historic sites in Philadelphia (and restaurants that serve veggie burgers) may not seem so notable, but visitors don't often make it to Germantown Avenue, where the trolley runs, preferring instead to brave the crowds at Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center in Center City.

Source: The New York Times
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The Natural Resources Defense Council blog applauds and captures the spirit of Philadelphia's plan to convert vacant lots and asphalt yards into small neighborhood parks throughout the city.

According to the executive summary, more than half of Philadelphia's residents currently do not have access to a park within convenient walking distance. But there are 558 acres of publicly owned, vacant land located in underserved neighborhoods, and a larger inventory citywide of over 1,000 acres of publicly owned vacant land, over 1,000 additional acres of schoolyards that could be multi-purposed, and over 3,000 acres of additional vacant land currently in private ownership, identified in the map below left as "opportunity areas." The map on the right shows proposed new trails, bike lanes, and "creek walks" in the city.

Original source: Natural Resources Defense Council
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The month-old Museum Without Walls audio program uses technology to give many of Philadelphia's outdoor sculptures museum-quality perspective, reports the Associated Press.

Its self-guided audio tours are available 24-7 in several different formats: You can call phone numbers listed with each sculpture, use a free smart phone app, download the audio at http://museumwithoutwallsaudio.org to an MP3 player, or scan a special bar code (known as a QR or quick response code) on the free "Museum Without Walls" map at locations around the city.

The project's first phase includes 51 outdoor sculptures at 35 stops along a three-mile stretch of the bustling Benjamin Franklin Parkway from downtown to leafy Fairmount Park, a route popular with bicyclists, runners and walkers.

Original source: Associated Press
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Richard Woodward, currently working on University City Science Center startup Vascular Magnetics, Inc., and a veteran of 16 other startups, has been named Rowan University's VenturePreneur in Residence, reports the Courier-Post.

Bringing in mentors with hands-on experience makes education more meaningful, says Niranjan Pati, dean of the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan.

"His (Woodward's) interaction will immensely benefit our students in terms of gaining practical insights to make great business plans even better."

Woodward holds a Ph.D. in molecular cell biology. His father worked for the phone company and his mother studied nursing while yearning to be a flight attendant.

Original source: The Courier-Post
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The Wall Street Journal breaks down the movie madness in Philadelphia, where the 19th annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicked off last week with a visit from Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky.

Festival organizers were clearly hoping to open the festival with a bang and overshadow the confusion over Philly's cinematic scene that sprouted two years ago. Originally, TLA Entertainment and the Philadelphia Film Society (PFS) sponsored the Festival. In late 2008, creative differences arose between PFS founder Ray Murray and PFS members. There were also arguments over how to approach fundraising.

According to Claire Kohler, the director of production of Philadelphia Cinema Alliance, when the "personality clashes" and differences became "pronounced," Murray and TLA formed the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance (PCA), a competing organization that would also produce its own film festival called CineFest. In short, PFS puts on the Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs in the fall, and PCA puts on CineFest, which took a break in 2010 but which will run in spring 2011.

Original source: Wall Street Journal
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A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts indicates an encouraging trend of more people moving into Philadelphia since 1993, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to the Pew report, the number of people moving into the city has increased steadily, up from 31,837 in 1993 to 42,250 in 2008.

Overall, the number of people moving out of the city is growing less rapidly, increasing slightly from 47,291 in 1993 to 52,096 in 2008.

"I would say the trend is looking as if we may be seeing a reversal of long-term decline in city population," said David Elesh, sociologist and demography expert with the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch travel section mentions booing Santa Claus but quickly moves on, digging deeper than most national media last week to reveal the insider's view of Philadelphia.

Once you get beyond the fighting fa�ade, Philadelphia is a city of tiny secret gardens, a diverse art and theater scene, a crazy diverse food/pub scene and a thousand walkable historical monuments and museums. Also, it's cheap as can be. You've got to work to spend $15 on a martini.

I moved here six years ago from St. Louis. The things I loved about St. Louis are the same things I love about Philadelphia--people are friendly, the streets have the same names (you copycats!) and there's no need to go to any chain restaurant ever.

Original source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Members of the Norfolk Arts Commission visited Philadelphia last week to get a close-up look at some of the thousands of works of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs, reports The Hour.

"I was blown away by how these community murals in Philadelphia brightened the neighborhoods. It's inspiring to hear the stories of how these murals got made, and how it brought the community together," Becker said. "This is how to revitalize neighborhoods and instill a sense of pride, something I see Norwalk needs help with."

Launched in 1984 to combat graffiti, the city of Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs now bills itself as the largest public art program in the United States.

Original source: The Hour
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The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on two online news publications that have launched recently, including yours truly.

As the market for news fragments, new models for journalism are emerging. Two of those experiments, Flying Kite and Patch, launched in Philadelphia last month.

"This is a fresh way to get fresh content about all the innovative things happening in our city," said Danielle Cohn, (Philadelphia Convention and Visitors) bureau spokeswoman.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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