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Forget going underground to get your Gordito, Taco Bell is coming to 1035 Chestnut Street.
Meh, right?
Well it's going to be an "upscale" Taco Bell. What's that, you ask? Well Foobooz is speculating a futuristic taco joint. Well, at least what Marco Brambilla thought a futuristic taco joint would look like in 1993 when he directed Demolition Man.
More realistically, and unfortunately, it will probably be a rebranded attempt to compete with Q-doba and Chipotle. But one can hope.
Of all the Hollywood attempts to predict the future, the 90's might be the most fabulous. I mean check out that hat. That's what people in the 21st Century are wearing to Taco Bell? How can one not love it?
I can't remember the movie, let alone it featuring a Taco Bell set in 2023, but I could probably find out with $3.99 and a trip to FYE. And I plan to.
A new Quaker Meeting House being developed on Mermaid Lane in Chestnut Hill was vandalized just before Christmas, and police are speculating the act of arson was a gift on behalf of union members who paid a confrontational visit to the site just days before.
Let's set aside the fact that this is a religious building. That makes it way too easy to garner sympathy. While it may be argued that the Quakers' ethics are in line with union principles, only common thugs are ethically in line with these principles. Protesting is one thing, but arsonists and vandals lack any integrity and in no way represent the principles that unions claim to possess.
Protest. Protest with purpose. If that doesn't work, pick up your dignity and move on.
I didn't torch the University of Virginia when I received the rejection letter. I didn't torch my landlord's house when he upped my rent. I didn't torch the Comcast Tower when I wasn't hired.
I moved on. People move on every day.
I'm not going to challenge the merits of unionization. It's far too divisive and books could be written debating both sides of their relevance. In fact, many have. When administered properly, unions serve a purpose. They keep teachers in our school and police on our streets.
What I'm challenging are the actions directed at the Quaker Meeting House and what these vandals intended to accomplish. It shouldn't need to be said, but apparently some people need to hear it: Developers don't want to hire members of organizations that represent arsonists and vandals.
Whether I was investing millions of dollars in an apartment complex or simply redoing my bathroom, if I was forced to hire the same vandals that torched my property, I would be physically ill every time I walked through the door.
If the union representing these criminals had any credibility, it's lost. This is gang behavior. United in attack, then scatter. While the media is doing a good job portraying these groups as the mobs that they are, the police can't prosecute an organization for the actions of its members, and the unions don't reprimand their members because they seemingly endorse it. They're like bad parents who expect civilized Philadelphia to accept the excuse, "boys will be boys."
For the time being this tactic continues to work in as much as they continue to get away with it. But it does little for the trade unions but destroy their goal, almost as if they've forgotten that goal altogether.
The Quaker construction site was undoubtedly insured. With the media attention this incident received, the community is certainly sending donations. If these vandals are looking for work, they just burned their own cause.
Detached from Center City, it's easy to ignore the construction projects taking place at Temple University. While the economy seems to be recovering, the building boom isn't nearly as exciting as it was six or seven years ago. Nonetheless, universities seem to continue building regardless of the economy.
Penn and Drexel continue to transform University City and Temple might be finally catching up with its long forgotten North Philadelphia, where its skyline is beginning to resemble something of a skyline.
What's even more exciting are the development proposals at key North Broad intersections finally becoming reality. The State Office Building is being converted into luxury apartments at Spring Garden and a casino has been proposed for the neighboring Inquirer Building at Callowhill.
Even the Divine Lorraine and the Metropolitan Opera House near Fairmount may soon see new life. As projects inch their way north on Broad Street, we could soon forget that Temple University isn't so far from Center City.
Piatt Associates proposed Cromwell Tower designed by Agoos Lovera would stand 30 stories in the heart of Temple's North Broad campus, further defining North Broad's skyline, and with continuing North Broad improvements, help eliminate the street's detached relationship with Center City.
The Klein Company of Philadelphia has proposed a residential development at 1601 Vine Street, Logan Place, next door to the new Mormon Temple which is preparing to begin construction.
The residential tower, designed by BLTa, would be 26 stories, have 230 apartments, and 25,000 square feet of retail space.
Whether or not you like Erdy-McHenry Architecture, one thing that can't be denied is that the firm designs interesting buildings and doesn't try to hide their experimental presence.
Their parking garage near Broad and Arch is nearing completion and popular opinion is mixed. With the building's unusual metal curtains draped across the façade, is it a pig in a prom dress or the best way to address a necessary evil?
The architectural merits of parking garages is rarely discussed, and the discussion is a little silly because they typically all look the same. The best thing we usually hope for is some sensible ground floor retail. With construction costs making subterranean parking cost prohibitive, parking garages are everywhere and try their best to hide.
Erdy-McHenry's parking garage won't win any awards, but it's industrial, funky, and weird, and it works just fine amongst several centuries of Center City's eclectic architecture. Often, Erdy-McHenry's designs mix Brutalism and Bauhaus movements, using concrete, metal, and various raw materials with swatches of basic colors thrown in.
Their parking garage easily reflects this signature style, but with the graceful metal curtains signaling their harsh characteristics evolving. More interesting than the parking garage itself is certainly how Erdy-McHenry intends to incorporate their new design experiments into future projects.
Once home to Frank Furness's Morris Building, 1441 Chestnut Street has been the site of broken promises since it was demolished following the devastating fire that ultimately destroyed One Meridian Plaza fire across the street from City Hall. Yesterday, a plan was proposed to finally develop the lot.
Previously the site of a Waldorf Astoria proposal, its potential became a dream come true for architecture and skyscraper nerds, myself included. While the city won't earn a Waldord brand, the latest proposal seems promising and equally exciting.
The proposal calls for a $280M hotel, LEED certifications, and fifty stories on the site. In case you're not keeping track, that would make it the fifth tallest building in Philadelphia. In other words, tall.
The building would house two unique Starwoods brands, one possibly a W Hotel. Vine Street Ventures of Dallas plans to develop the property, owned by Brook Lenfest of Philadelphia.
In a recent Philadelphia Magazine article, Patrick Kerkstra seems to have coined the term "New Philadelphian." The New Philadelphian is a growing demographic made up of upper middle class transplants and recent college graduates that call revitalized neighborhoods like Graduate Hospital, Northern Liberties, and Callowhill their home.
Kerkstra focuses on the New Philadelphian's frustration with local politics, their abysmal voter turnout, and the choice to use community organizations, non-profits, and blogs as the way to voice their opinions and enact change.
While their frustration is understandable, that frustration has always been there. It's been responsible for a terminal outlook amongst many native Philadelphians and a large part of that population's acceptance of the status quo. The frustration has been responsible for the career Council Members that continue to exploit their voters, corrupt dynasties, and now, a lack of mutual understanding between those politicians and the growing number of New Philadelphians.
However, the New Philadelphians' reluctance to engage in local politics is as indicative of an American generation as it is the simple fact that they're new to the city. Kerkstra's article deliberately exempts immigrants because they are actively engaged in politics, somewhat successfully, and the only person he interviewed that seemed to truly go up against any local machine is from Dublin.
The rest of those interviewed are involved in neighborhood organizations and non-profits, and while those organizations work with politicians, they aren't the best examples of the democratic process. It's easy to argue your case in a community meeting or a non-profit, but you have little to lose.
Is this what happens when a generation with shelves full of participation trophies enters the real world?
A generation raised in suburban high schools that have never experienced failure are naturally reluctant to go up against career politicians, to be thrust into the local media and answer to the city instead of their peers, and, even if they manage to win, forced to manage an office steeped in a century of corruption, responsible for a fraction of the population that will never think you're doing enough.
Politics puts you in a tough position that requires motivation and strong character, whether you're a good person or not, and New Philadelphians are largely part of a generation of Americans that never really had to try. Failure is hard enough on its own, but it's even harder to face the inevitable fact that most of your friends won't bother to vote. Is it really any mystery that a generation who doesn't vote has chosen to avoid the traditional path to politics?
Not that these watchdogs involved in community organizations and non-profits haven't served their vital roles in the revitalization of our city. They serve a purpose and their actions should be commended.
But City Hall won't change until someone in this growing demographic of idealists is willing to risk public humiliation, criticism, and failure on behalf of their peers. The fact that City Council harbors a bunch of cronies doesn't mean that the system that put them there is broken. In fact it's the only system Philadelphia has to elect our leaders, and opting out won't change that.
