The el already runs under Market St. from Front St. to 43rd St with the last subway station at 40th St. It makes the transition from subway to elevated between 43rd and 45th with the first elevated station at 46th St.

So it would’ve been a two mile tunnel extension from the current underground alignment to where the line leaves Market St. and travels in its own ROW out to 69th St.

There could be good reason for the rebuild effort. I’m not sure. Were tunneling costs really that much more expensive when this project started?

I’m guessing there is more guys because a lot of them are probably drawn to the more technical parts like the type of trains. I don’t really know anything about that stuff. I am just strongly interested in making our country more livable and more sustainable. I have lived all my life living an hour outside of Philadelphia. We used to have a train line done until 1981 which my dad’s one friend talked about taking but then SEPTA stopped running it in 1981 and they just tore up the tracks this past year to make another bike path. But yea Philly just seems like it could be great but makes a bunch of bad decisions. Doesn’t really seem to be improving much either. It just seems odd how most other cities have stabilized population wise and Philly has not. During the same time SEPTA has shrunk its offerings and this seems to be maybe mroe than coincidence. It is a shame Philly has two large highways cutting its downtown off from its water fronts. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put in a few more freeways in the future like you said. Yea I guess i’m not sure why there aren’t more girls. I guess maybe its a continuation of the ewwww math ewww science thing. Not sure really, what’s your theory?

Oh, now I’m thinking that your name may be a gender-free play on Brandywine. Well, you can still opine about the relative absence of females. Everybody can.

Anyway, nice observation about SEPTA retrenching while most other East Coast cities have stabilized. Gee, I think even Newark may have bottomed. Philly didn’t build another bleeding freeway to slice into the living tissue of the city, did they?

I was actually referring more to the way this city is run, and how people move around this fair city of ours. But yes, I can definitely agree that there are some areas in our city that have really seen an uptick. I’ve been to the Water Works many times, and taking my bicycle out onto the Drives have been great experiences.

I grew up in Northeast Philly (St. Jerome’s Parish), live in West Philly (46th and Chester), and work in the City (PWD). You are right, but you are also wrong. Philadelphia is one giant mess that continues to fester, but is festering less day by day. come out to the Clark Park Farmer’s Market every saturday to see how nice West Pgilly is; head down to the Headhouse Farmer’s Market on 2nd and South to see how vibrant that area has become. Head to Mill Creek Farm at 49th and Brown (http://www.millcreekurbanfarm.org/directions.html) to see how urban farming is changing West Powellton and Mill Creek. Oh, have you ridden along the new Schuykill River Park? Or been to the Fairmount Water Works museum?

From time to time I miss Northeast Philly, but I definitely realize there’s a ton going on that Northeat Philadelphians never hear about.

Tom

Philadelphia is one giant mess that continues to fester due to poor governance and just sheer stupidity, and for someone who has lived in Northeast Philadelphia, I’m no longer surprised by the constant disappointments.

You have some GREAT ideas for changing our city, Yonah. I wish you were the one in charge instead of the retards we have now.

Thanks for continuing to cover my city. It’s needs all the prodding and jabbing it can get. I’ve forwarded several of your write-ups to Rina Cutler and others in the administration, and received one or two comments back form them, mostly always positive or impressed. But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything will happen. For good local coverage of the city, there’s a blog called septawatch, run by someone in my neighborhood of West Philly. He just profiled a group who’s been trying to get one of our commuter lines extended, or sections of the service returned (depending on how you look at it). Do you have any advice on how to start a general group whose main goal is to push Septa to expand service? Have any groups that could be used as examples?

Thanks so much for all your thoughtful analysis,

Tom Taggart