South Philly’s “Central Park”

So the culmination of this extensive South Philly bike ride is the lovely FDR Park.  The park was designed by the successors of the famed landscape architect, Fredrick Law Olmsted; the Olmsted bothers (the son and step son of Big Daddy Olmsted). Created as a recreation and fairground area for the 1926 National Sesquicentennial, the same fair that brought the giant Liberty Bell to South Broad Street, the park has many defining features of the Olmsted clan:

•  A sinuous drive around the park
•  Many meticulously placed trees that are appropriate in scale of the drive and the park
• A large amount of water features, namely  lakes and lagoons that have a plethora of stone bridge crossings

Additionally there is an oversized beaux arts gazebo and a boathouse still standing, remnants of the fair.  However, along with the structures, much of the park’s landscaping and trails they show signs of years of neglect. 

The southern edge of the park has been co-opted by I-95.  While many times the interstate system has cut through urban neighborhoods and desecrated waterfronts, I’d like to argue in this case that I-95 adds a certain element to this park.  Yes the interstate isn’t a glowing example of architecture that the rest of the park has quasi-maintained. As a planner and urban enthusiast it’d be great to not have large freeways cutting through masterfully-planned, serene park settings. However the space underneath for the most part is pretty unimpeded as from east to west the freeway begins its ascent to bridge the Schuylkill and the industrial wasteland below.  It provides a rare example of a large civil engineering project that has not destroyed a neighborhood or where people are forced to live near (i.e. I-676).  While the underside of the bridge is not magnificent and it doesn’t have the same ornamentation as say the Ben Franklin Bridge or even the sleekness of the Walt Whitman Bridge, it is a testament to current standards for such large scale projects.   

 Additionally some the space underneath has been re-appropriated on the east side of the park as a skate park, so it’s not totally desolate.

So with this ride finished I figured I’d buffer out the ride and show the amount of the city I’ve ridden through on the past two rides.  Here it is: 

Voila!  Not that exciting yet – I know.  However, I have biked through 2.64% of the city so far. 

I’ve been toying with the idea of showing neighborhoods and maybe have cool infographics depicting the neighborhoods I’ve been in, the percent of each, how many times I’ve been in each, etc.  I have run into a few issues, mostly stemming from that the City of Philadelphia doesn’t have distinct neighborhood boundaries.  For example I’ve found a shapefile that shows Center City divided into 2 neighborhoods (Center City East and Center City West) and then I’ve found a shapefile that shows all the neighborhoods you’d expect to find in Center City (i.e. Chinatown, Society Hill, Logan Circle, etc.)

Additionally the neighborhoods in the rest of the city sometimes have very different boundaries. Here is an example of two Girard Estates boundaries.  Note the fact that one of the shapefiles does not even cover the entire city.

I’m leaning towards the more general neighborhood map (where Girard Estates is bigger and the file cover the entire city).  I’ll keep you all posted.