Penn Ave Redesign for Economic Success

N. Penn Ave:

Reinventing N. Penn Ave as an economic engine and a recreation corridor

+Current Conditions The current condition of N. Penn Ave is POOR to say the least. This is a major thoroughfare through our downtown core and yet you rarely see people walking down this stretch and there are very few businesses, despite having some terrific structures. The Thomas C. Thomas buildings are underutilized, and the nearby Steam Heat building is vacant and a VAST amount of land is wasted with surface parking.

Terrible

Boring

Penn Ave Facts + Why do we need to reinvest in N. Penn Ave? - N. Penn Ave from Market to Scott/North St is 2041’ long - 4,082 LF of street frontage - Of this, surface parking takes up 1,804 LF of frontage - 44% of the frontage is wasted and is dead space - ~285,500 SF of space is dedicated to parking - This is 6.55 Acres of DEAD SPACE in our downtown core Currently Penn Ave is not walkable, serves no ecomic value, and is just a throughway when it should be a lively, vibrant street that is complimentary of our downtown core.

Why does nobody spend time here?

+ The Proposal Turning N. Penn Ave into a recreation corridor for all.

A streetscape project that will take N. Penn Ave from 4 travel lanes down to 2 with a turn lane where necessary, as well as a convenience parking lane. Wide 13’ sidewalks allow for future café seating (a max of 8’ into the right of way) that still allows for a 5’ wide pedestrian corridor at minimum. A 5’ tree lawn (trenched) will allow for street trees to gow big and healthy and establish a good urban canopy. Two 12’ wide shared lanes will allow for bikes to travel in the travel lanes and will provide enough room for a car to safely pass cyclists on the road, and a 10’ wide parking lane that will turn into turn into a turning lane Street Section where necessary (70’ right of way total).

Site Plan

This streetscape will be anchored by a traditional, Northeast corridor style urban square (think Rittenhouse Square in Philly) the entire block of Penn to Washington and North to Jackson Streets. This will serve as a complimentary, but juxtaposing open space to the existing Scott St. Playground and solidifies this as a place to recreate both the body and spirit.

Anchor Park

+ Benefits -New opportunities for local businesses -New opportunities for developers -Increase housing stock -Increase property taxes with new development -Increase foot traffic (making this area safer) -Reducing urban heat island effect -Increasing on street parking -Making the city a more interesting place -Slowing traffic speeds making this area safer (there have been several accidents at Market and Penn Ave recently

Site Rendering

Hollenback + The benefits of this plan are many and inaction and maintaining the status quo CANNOT be acceptable any longer. This is a project that will pay for itself very quickly and will be a shot of adrenaline for a section of town that has largely been neglected. The citizens deserve a project like this!

Proposed (top), Existing (bottom)