Green City Journal

People were pouring into the Convention Center and I suspected I was in the wrong place. The signs for The Home Show and an attendant inside told me as much; the planning meeting was across the street. I had my doubts that people would show up for a city planning meeting in Center City on a cold Tuesday evening. To my surprise there was a sizable turnout of around 140 people. Of course, this wasn't just any planning meeting. The seventh of nine planned community meetings, it was part of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's ambitious Imagine Philadelphia project that aims to create a comprehensive vision for the city's future.

Is your city prepared for global warming and peak oil?

• What will happen to the local economy when oil reaches $150 a barrel?
• How will global warming affect the regional water supply?
• How should we plan for transportation, land use, and public safety while facing huge uncertainties about energy and climate?

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty by Daniel Lerch is the first book that gives a hands-on guide for planners and concerned citizens to translate their concerns into city policy and plan in response to the universal challenges of our era.

The Water Department has generously agreed to host our evening evening event for Daniel Lerch at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, with thanks to Ursula Reed and Ed Grushefski.

The event is set for Thursday evening, November 8, 6:30 to 8:30PM. We will begin with a presentation and Q & A led by Daniel Lerch, continue with refreshments and informal conversation. This will follow Daniel's presentation that day at an event for planning professionals organized by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Since this is an ad hoc event, we need you to forward this notice to your email lists and contacts who are not part of DVS. The attached flyer about the tour can be circulated or downloaded.

Politicians and the lords of the PA Gaming Control Board say that they want to put something on the blighted and underdeveloped Delaware Riverfront. They want something to spur economic growth and to create copious jobs within the city of Philadelphia.

Why not soccer? Why not finally give the people of Philadelphia quality soccer fields? Even better, why not a complex capable of appealing to the plethora of sporting interests that exist within the city of Philadelphia. Such a complex, open all year round, could cater to one's burgeoning technical skills in recreation (scuba, sailing, and rock climbing, for instance) as well as traditional sports. Merchandisers as well as restauranteurs could open up shops. The people moving into the new condos going up on the Delaware as well as everyone else in the city could have a place to play.

Why list this as a casino alternative? Better to have something profitable that also imporves the lives of those within the surrounding community. For all the noise about jobs being created by casinos, such jobs will prove to be empty and meaningless. Casinos on the waterfront is really on ly blight replacing blight. The good thing about going to Atlantic City is that you don't have to live there. Let's not replicate Atlantic City's urban decay within our own city. Besides, the PA Gaming Control Board has shown a complete lack of respect for the democratic process and the citizens of Philadelphia as they have tried their best to keep us out of the decision making process every step of the way.

Chelsea Piers, a vastly popular and profitable sports complex on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, stands as proof that such an alternative is viable. All age groups and sporting interests