Project Profile
The Temple Station Area Redevelopment Plan is centered around the Temple Regional Rail Station in North Philadelphia. The station and elevated rail line strongly separate Temple University from the Asociacion de Puertorriqueos en Marcha (APM) community to the east, which has long struggled to revitalize after widespread population loss and physical decline. Conditions on either side of the rail corridor could not be more distinct. The west side of the tracks contains a number of old manufacturing buildings and Temple facilities buildings. Essentially, it acts as the Universityís ëback of house.í The main campus entry is just two blocks from the station, accessed along either Berks or Norris Streets. Although the station has the fourth largest ridership in the entire SEPTA transit system, many of the adjacent sites remain underutilized. Recently, however, there has been a push to provide student housing near campus. There are three projects underway, all on the west-side of the tracks, that will add over 200 residential units to the area.
As students, workers and faculty wait for their trains on the platform they are afforded a clear view of the APM area. The physical decay is evident. Parking lots for the station and a stretch of housing in major disrepair form the major first impressions. With the location of APM's recently completed housing only two blocks from the station, this area represents the best opportunity to infuse APM with a mix of incomes, uses and services. To address the potential opportunities, WRT worked closely with Temple faculty and APM to develop a comprehensive revitalization program. We sought an urban approach that would emphasize linkages perpendicular to the railroad - transforming the viaduct from an instrument of separation to one that bridges different communities.† We explored these linkages in as many ways as possible - through built form, infrastructure improvements and information technology.
The end result is a strategic plan that concentrates development, investment and activity around the rail station. Sites surrounding the station are proposed from six to ten stories to include retail, housing and office uses. Extending from the station, the density is designed to provide a seamless transition from the high-rise buildings on the Temple campus to the neighborhood fabric within APM.. In sum, the transit-oriented development plan includes space for over 1,000 new units of affordable and student housing, over 30,000 sq. ft. of retail, 20,000 sq. ft. of office and a 20,000 sq. ft. community center focused on new technology. These are nested within a number of new public open spaces including the reuse of the vacant portions of the viaduct for a tree nursery, a recreational park that will replace a block of vacant and dilapidated structures and new courtyards and roof gardens integrated into the development.
Project Merits
Location: The project seeks to reinforce public transportation by adding new uses, density and activities on vacant and underutilized land. It is a critical location in North Philadelphia where a busy rail station, major university and distressed community intersect.
Site Planning: The proposed program draws upon the local opportunities and activities integrating both student housing and affordable units for families and elderly residents. An art store is proposed to serve the new Tyler School of Art on campus. Additionally, other retail, university office space and a technology center are proposed to encourage use of the area by different groups of people.
Building Design: The plan includes both the reuse and preservation of existing residential and manufacturing buildings as well as new buildings of varying densities. The new buildings are designed to retain views, provide for open space and hide parking facilities both from the rail platform and the neighborhood.
Site and Landscape Design: The project seeks to improve the management of storm-water and increase the amount and quality of open space for the community. The program includes a new recreation park and facility, courtyards and a proposed tree nursery on the vacant and elevated portion of the rail viaduct.
Collaborative Process: As a community driven vision, the plan was completed as a joint process between the local non-profit organization, Temple University faculty and a private developer. This process has been fully integrated with other efforts by Temple University faculty including a technology initiative to improve local education and community building.
The Temple Station Area Redevelopment Plan is an innovative and proactive approach to leverage both public transportation and the resources of large institutions. The plan provides a framework for building a mixed-income and mixed-use community by strengthening the local market with strategic investments in new housing, civic uses, open space and retail.
The plan builds upon changes in the City of Philadelphia to revitalize and clear blighted structures in Mayor Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI). NTI efforts are included in the plan, and the City, with the assistance of APM, has already identified blighted structures for demolition and acquisition. Further, the plan binds the objectives of the NTI to the need to improve the use of SEPTAís public transportation system by encouraging less automobile use, increasing ridership and providing a safe and attractive environment around stations. The plan is an extension of the local Revitalization Plan for APM, completed in 2001, and is an excellent example of smart growth policies advocated in regional plans and policy documents, such as 'Fight or Flight' by the Metropolitan Philadelphia Policy Center. The plan also reinforces the aforementioned technology initiative undertaken by APM, WRT and Temple University faculty that seeks to reinforce and expand the social and economic vitality of the area. A ìmedia stationî is proposed at the station entry on Berks Street with a public plaza that directly links the two. The facility is envisioned as a technology center dedicated to educating and empowering local residents through programs operated by Temple University and other regional non-profits. Workforce training, after school activities and creative applications, such as film and music production, are proposed to ensure that the media station acts as a central gathering space for the area and reinforces use of the station as individuals from other neighborhoods would have ready access to the facility. An early technology initiative is further proposed to enhance the presence of the station by using off the shelf technology to create a point to point link between the two main public spaces in the area ñ the station and the local supermarket. A digital computer screen in each location will act as a community bulletin board and market the areaís local assets and activities. A Neighborhood Technology Plan is nearing completion to coordinate these activities and Temple University faculty has already submitted a National Science Foundation grant to fund operations.
By focusing development within underutilized areas around the station, the plan inherently makes optimal use of infrastructure and public transportation. The recent interest in student housing near the station provides a strong impetus for the scheme by extending these positive trends to the APM side of the tracts ñ an area that has long prevented active use of the station by local residents due to poor perceptions of safety and a lack of street activity. Supporting proposals to enhance the use of the rail infrastructure includes changing Berks Street from one-way to twoway between Temple University and the American Street Corridor. This change will enable the relocation of two bus routes to directly serve the train station, creating a multi-modal transit node. These improvements plus the integration of plantings and new open space will reduce local traffic congestion as well as air and, most significantly, water pollution, which is most often caused locally by poor storm-water management.
The program is designed to encourage activity and bring together families and individuals from very different backgrounds. The total plan includes over 1,000 units of new housing to be phased in over time. The sites immediately adjacent to the station accommodate over 700 housing units comprised of a mix of affordable housing for families, affordable elderly housing and student housing. This will help to encourage greater use of the station and open commercial opportunities that serve the neighborhood and the university.
By reducing the divisive presence of the rail corridor with focused investment, the plan also encourages the redevelopment of sites not within this plan. Until now, the majority of the revitalization activity within APM has centered on areas to the east around Germantown Avenue. This initiative directly addresses one the key issues that has long isolated the area and builds a stronger market for sites along the rail corridor to be revitalized as an extension of the mixed-income approach advocated here.
To fully capitalize on infrastructure and bring about long-term community revitalization, the plan addresses the challenges many urban projects face in terms of implementation. By bringing together a broad array of stakeholders from the outset of the planning and design process, there is a broad commitment to push the initiative forward.
