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Carpenter Green

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Carpenter Green: A Fleeting Opportunity

A decade-long building boom in Southwest Center City (“SWCC”) has claimed almost all the neighborhood’s vacant property. The NW corner of 17th and Carpenter Streets is the last opportunity to create meaningful green space in SWCC.

Passive green space in SWCC is extremely limited and concentrated on the western half of the neighborhood. SWCC stretches from Broad Street to the Schuylkill River (13 blocks wide) and South Street to Washington Avenue (6 blocks long). This area is served by only two green spaces. One of which, Marian Anderson Recreation Center, is dedicated to youth baseball and is not generally open to the public for usage. The combined neighborhoods of Hawthorne, Bella Vista and Queen Village stretch from Broad Street to the Delaware River (13 blocks wide) and Washintgon Avenue to South Street. By comparison, these combined neighborhoods have 10+ passive park spaces in only a slightly larger footprint.

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We Need More Green

The Greenest Neighborhood in the Greenest City
Through the Greenworks program, Mayor Nutter wants to make Philadelphia the greenest city in America. The South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA) wants to make SWCC the greenest neighborhoodinthecity. The creation of Carpenter Green will help accomplish these ambitious goals. In addition to the economic benefitsdiscussed below, preservation of open space will: help the city manage stormwater (Greenworks target #8) in a neighborhood plagued by basement flooding during heavy rains; increase access to park and recreation resources (Greenworks target #9) in a neighborhood underserved by passive green space; and, increase tree coverage in the city (Greenworks target #11).

Thinking Outside the Redevelopment Box
When considering redevelopment opportunities, we must think beyond “bricks and mortar.” The City and neighborhood’s long term interests would be better served by maintaining the NW corner of 17th and Carpenter as passive green space. A report commissioned by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, “The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Southeast Pennsylvania” found that Philadelphia parks add $6.4 billion in value to homes in Philadelphia. Open space adds approximately $10,000 to the value of a near homes which means higher property tax revenues for the City.
 
Community Support
When polled, residents identified the creation of new green space as one the top priorities for the neighborhood. Community members understand that these are trying financial times for the City and that open space costs money to maintain. The community is firmly committed to identifying third-party funding sources for park maintenance and improvements. The SWCC neighborhood is an extremely passionate and active community. The community has a proven track record of leveraging private dollars for public projects, such as for the purchase of Big Belly trash cans on residential blocks. With your help, we can take this vacant lot and transform it into an urban oasis -- the perfect place to read a book, play catch with your children or simply catch up with neighbors. Help make this community dream a reality.
 
Want to learn more?
Visit www.SouthofSouth.org or e-mail AndrewD@southofsouth.org Attend a SOSNA Clean and Green Meeting 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7pm - 1901 Christian Street