A Beautiful Vision

Editorial:
A Beautiful Vision

This weekend will see a celebration of the reopening last month of Cresheim Valley Drive and the ongoing restoration of the pergola, the arbor built by the Woodward family 96 years ago on either side of the drive as a gateway to Fairmount Park.

The pergola has featured prominently in the Local over the past year, probably to the mild amusement of some readers, who may see it as a typical example of Chestnut Hill parochialism (“Who cares about a pergola — or even knows what that word means?”). Granted, “pergola” is the kind of word they tell you in journalism school to never put in a headline, but the effort to restore the structure is not about community activists with quirky priorities or futile efforts to reclaim the Hill’s patrician past by polishing up its trappings. Quite the opposite. The people behind the pergola project are quite cognizant of what Chestnut Hill is today and where it needs to go to stay vibrant.

Consider this: the pergola’s restoration is being pursued in conjunction with efforts to create a Cresheim Trail that will link Fairmount Park with the excellent Montgomery County trails system via the abandoned rail line that parallels Cresheim Valley Drive. The restored pergola area, with its new landscaping, crosswalks and walking paths, is envisioned as an attractive way station for trail users, as well as for pedestrians and bicyclists using Germantown Avenue to go between Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill. More generally, the pergola effort is part of an attempt to transform this section of the Hill — long a somewhat shabby, traffic-clogged area that people tend to stay away from — into a place that truly links Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and the park.

There are many working to make this vision of an integrated, seamless border between neighborhoods a reality. There is the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club, who is sponsoring the pergola restoration (and this Saturday’s event). There’s Mt. Airy USA, whose Avenue Project is playing the lead role in attempting to acquire and restore the old railroad trestle over which the trail would go. There’s the Philadelphia Parks Alliance, working to make the trail itself happen, and the Wissahickon East Project, attempting to preserve additional land along the trail. There are businesspeople like Ed Palmer, owner of Trolley Stop Florist, and Ken Weinstein, whose Trolley Car Diner and ice cream shop has given Hillers incentive to regularly cross the “border,” by car, bike and foot, into upper Mt. Airy. There’s the CHCA traffic committee, which has proposed working with the Streets Department to improve traffic flow patterns and perhaps bring a farmer’s market to this part of the Avenue.

In other words, the pergola’s not about tea sandwiches and schist (not that there’s anything wrong with those). It’s cutting edge; hip, if you will. Find out more this Saturday at 3:30 p.m., at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Cresheim Valley Drive.

James Sturdivant

Editorial:
Spotlight on dad

A recent newspaper comic began with a man relaxing on his couch, the proverbial favorite weekend posture of males — when the recliner is not available — a la Dagwood Bumstead. In the frames that follow, a whole family appears, the wife and kids settling around, and on top of, the unruffled lounger. A contented smile creeps over his face as he thinks: “dad gravity.”

Dads like to talk about getting away from the craziness of domestic life for a few hours to go fishing, watch a ball game or drive a Hummer through the mud, but the truth is, we rarely do that sort of thing — and if we do, we usually end up taking the kids along. That’s because we secretly enjoy being at the center of the family whirlwind, and most of us, though we wouldn’t admit it to our unmarried friends, would much rather be chasing our laughing toddler in a circle Saturday morning than hoisting a cold beer by the lake.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge may have said it best in his “Frost at Midnight.” The poet, sitting with his sleeping infant, noted the late-night calm that “disturbs and vexes meditation, with its strange and extreme silentness … This populous village! Sea, and hill, and wood, with all the numberless goings-on of life, inaudible as dreams!” Coleridge probably thought he would enjoy his silent reverie as a break from parental distractions. Instead, he delights in his child, “Whose gentle breathings, heard in this deep calm/Fill up the interspersed vacancies.” It’s a dad thing.

So this Sunday, when dad insists that he doesn’t need a card or any fuss made over him, a speech usually capped with grumblings about manufactured “Hallmark Holidays,” don’t believe him. Make a fuss. Make some noise. He may grimace, but inside, he’ll be wearing that contented smile.

James Sturdivant

Opinion:
Trolleys, the public good, and political will
by MARC STIER

Many of us involved in public transit issues in Northwest Philadelphia are eager to see the return of the 23 Trolley on Germantown Avenue. Indeed, public transit activists around the world are seeking to create or recreate the trolley systems, which now go under the name “light rail.” Trolleys are much more energy efficient than buses. Each trolley can carry far more people than a bus, while at the same time giving each rider a bit more room and a much smoother ride. Most people prefer trolleys to buses and evidence from around the world suggests that transit ridership declines when buses replace trolleys. Ridership has declined on the 23 line by at least a third since the buses started running in place of trolleys on Germantown Avenue in 1992.

Reviving the 23 trolley would be particularly beneficial in Northwest Philadelphia, where the trolley could be an important part of our effort to bring people to the historic sites in Germantown and Mt. Airy. Yet some folks don’t have good memories of our trolleys. Some people remember how unpleasant it was to be caught behind a trolley as it moved up and down the Avenue and realize that it is easier to get around a bus as it pulls over to pick up and discharge passengers. And most of us remember that the trolleys on the 23 line were dilapidated, not air-conditioned, and did not provide a terribly smooth ride.

It is because of these bad memories that trolley advocates were so eager to see the trolley restored on the Girard Avenue 15 line. SEPTA has spent $82 million restoring the tracks and rehabilitating the old PCC trolley cars. The mechanical equipment of the new / old cars have been totally rebuilt. New suspensions will provide a smooth ride and air-conditioning has been installed, along with new, roomier seats. Even more importantly, the new trolley line incorporates “transit-first” technology. With transit-first technology, trolleys approaching a traffic light can stop it from turning red. We did not want to drive behind the old trolleys. But, with these new trolley systems, we will want to be behind them because they will help us get through traffic lights more quickly. Transit-first technology makes it possible to run trolleys much more quickly, which improves service for riders. And, because the throughput is increased, more trolleys can be run in a day.

Unfortunately, we still do not have good examples of transit-first technology in Philadelphia. A year after it was supposed to re-open, we are still waiting for the 15 trolley line to be restored. And, even though transit-first technology has been installed on the existing trolley lines that run through West Philadelphia, that technology remains unused. In both cases, SEPTA has been stymied by local opposition and the failure of our politicians to overcome it.

The Girard Avenue Trolley has been stalled because of the opposition of Fourth Ward leader Carol Campbell. Campbell is, rightly, concerned with protecting three blocks in her ward. The trolley ran down one side of these three blocks. When the trolley closed, people on these blocks took advantage of its absence to park on both sides of the street. Now they don’t want to give up these parking spaces. In order to run the trolley down these three blocks, either the parking spaces have to be removed or the street has to become one way. Another possibility is that SEPTA could spend over a half million dollars to move the trolley tracks into the middle of the street and a city ordinance could be passed that would allow a two-way street and two parking lanes on a slightly narrower street.

SEPTA is willing to accommodate the neighbors. But so far, Campbell has been unwilling to negotiate with SEPTA. There are a number of serious issues this community has had with SEPTA. SEPTA acknowledges that the Callowhill Depot has been a problem for neighbors for many years, not least because SEPTA workers take parking spots on residential streets. However, SEPTA has tried a number of ways to reach out to the neighbors and Campbell to discuss these difficulties and find a way to overcome them. I also tried to contact her on behalf of the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition, with the hopes that our organization could help work out the problems between the neighborhood and SEPTA. But, so far, Ms. Campbell has been unwilling to discuss these issues with SEPTA or the PTC. And no city leader — including Councilman Michael Nutter, whose district includes the Fourth Ward, or Mayor Street — has been willing or able to bring any resolution to this issue.

Similar problems are found on the existing West Philadelphia trolley lines. Transit-first technology has been installed on these lines. Yet, for them to be effective, trolley stops have to be moved from before traffic lights to after them. (There is no use in controlling traffic lights if a trolley has to stop to pick up passengers before a traffic light.) Moving trolley stops has, however, created a great deal of controversy in Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s district. And, once again, no political leaders have been able to resolve these conflicts. So, while transit-first technology has been installed it remains unused.

Thus, those of us who hope to see the 23 trolley restored remain frustrated. Restoring the trolleys has always been a difficult proposition because of the uncoordinated nature of our transit system. Even though trolleys are, all things considered, more efficient than buses, they are not favored by SEPTA. The reason is quite simple. Much of the infrastructure for trolleys — the tracks and overhead wires — has to be paid for and maintained by SEPTA. On the other hand, the infrastructure for buses — our streets — are paid for by the city and PennDOT. Those costs are substantial: the heavy buses that run on Germantown Avenue do substantial damage to our streets, requiring much more frequent repair and replacement. Thus, while the overall costs of buses are higher, SEPTA does not pay all those costs. So, what is sensible from the perspective of the public as a whole is not sensible from SEPTA’s perspective. We can blame SEPTA, of course. But, given that public transit has been so underfunded, it scarcely makes sense to do so before we attain adequate funding from the state. (Perhaps we can make a case for overcoming the constitutional limit on using gas taxes for public transit by showing that trolleys actually reduce the cost of maintaining our roads.)

At any rate, despite the costs, SEPTA was willing to restore the 15 trolley and install transit-first technology on other trolley lines. SEPTA promised then-Mayor Rendell to restore the 23 trolley on Germantown Avenue as well. But unless we can develop the political leadership to get the 15 trolley and transit-first technology running, it will be difficult to get SEPTA to keep that promise.

Mt. Airy resident Marc Stier is a member of the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition.

Opinion:
Lack of real transparency protects status quo politics
by GLENN A. MCCURDY

Every taxpayer in this city should have the experience I have had over the past five years. As a freelance journalist and photographer my beat has been City Hall. Hundreds of council sessions and hearings affecting the lives of everyone who lives and works within the metropolitan area and beyond.

Body language, attitude, interest, disinterest, anger, boredom — the men and women voters have assigned to play critical roles in this political theater reveal themselves over time.

These working sessions in City Hall are not carefully orchestrated press conferences or photo opportunities; they represent the real uncut cloth; windows into the daily, weekly, monthly grind of performing as an elected, publicly paid official. There’s no substitute for being able to watch and evaluate this candid process of democracy in action.

Gradually, given this kind of exposure, these elected men and women reveal themselves; their interests; their willingness to take an unpopular stand, knowing that it is the right thing to do or their willingness to go with the flow; their courage; their lack of preparation or their 'I'm on my cell phone' disinterest. It is all there.

Which brings me to Philadelphia's critical need for public access television. From one election to the next, many of our elected officials simply drop off the radar, disappear from public view, except when that exposure is on their own terms. This lack of transparency is a strategy residents of our City Hall culture have used successfully for decades. Mushrooms grow in darkness; and so does an unaccountable ("I did nothing wrong") political culture fueled by status quo politics that (apparently) is much to often influenced by the corrupt world of “pay-to-play.”

When the original cable franchise agreements went into effect on Nov. 1, 1983, these documents required cable providers to set aside five channels specifically for public access. Acting as agents on behalf of this enormous captive audience, these agreements called for the creation of a citywide network of TV production studios (eight) and training facilities that included all necessary broadcast equipment.

In addition, the bill called for nine vans equipped with the technology for mobile TV transmissions. All of this was to be financed with a portion of franchise fees cable operators pay to the city.

Remember, your city was acting on your behalf. The real bosses (city residents) were not in the room when this deal went down. Taxpayers entrusted the city to work out the best possible deal in exchange for what is termed the public “right of way.”

The agreement gave the cable providers the right to hook up your homes, charge you for that service, and make millions. In exchange for that right of way and the license to become multi-billion dollar companies, the cable giants agreed to provide a specified funding source for the creation and ongoing (annual) support for Public Access Television. They agreed to provide Philadelphia citizens with free access to the airwaves thereby instantly creating a healthier, more creative, more educated, more politically aware metropolitan population.

The companies were to contribute start-up funds of $150,000 per cable district for the citywide public-access facility and $300,000 per district for the neighborhood studios. On top of that, $900,000 more was specified for equipment replacement at the various facilities. Operating funds were to be shared by the cable companies, with each chipping in $75,000 to $125,000 per franchise area. Considering that these deals are nearly two decades old, this was a lot more than chump change.

It is now approximately 22 years later. The city has spent every dime of the taxpayer's funds that should have been set aside for Public Access Television.