5.1 Activity One - Inventory and Analysis
Work
on Activity One began in November 1998 with the project kick-off meeting. In attendance
were members of the Design Team, Steering Committee, Greening Committee, and PG.
Community concerns and the definition of Early Action Projects were topics of discussion
at the kick-off meeting. The Early Action Projects were designated in the grant
as 'small greening projects, easily implemented, and low in cost. Although these
projects had a separate budget from the priority projects, it was the Committees'
desire that they be closely linked to the final greening plan. Also at the first
meeting, a cognitive
mapping exercise was assigned to the Greening Committee
to help the Design Team become familiar with community issues. Each member was sent
two plans of Powelton Village and asked to annotate one plan with information about
personal interests and the second plan with community concerns. Members were requested
to use notes, symbols, pictures, and words as necessary to explain their plans.
On December 12, 1998, members of the Design Team along
with members of the Greening and Steering Committees and PG convened in Powelton
Village for a site walk-through. The walk gave the Design Team a chance to travel
through the neighborhood with residents and learn first hand about issues important
to the community. The walk was scheduled in late afternoon to enable the Design
Team to observe both day and nighttime neighborhood conditions. The tour ended with
a comprehensive view of the project area from the top floor of Drexel's Van Rensselear
Hall.
Concurrent with the mapping exercise and walk-through
the Design Team began its in-depth inventory and analysis of the project area by
traversing the site several times by foot and car. Photographs, sketches, and notes
were made. Previously prepared data such as reports, articles, master plans, city
plans, and aerial photographs, obtained from the Greening and Steering Committees
and Drexel University, were studied. A preliminary investigation into the physical,
geographical, and historical context of the community was also undertaken and property
ownership and future intentions
on the part of Drexel for vacant and non-vacant land
in the community were identified.
The cognitive maps and notes the Design Team gathered
during the site walk-through were compiled into a preliminary synthesis plan that
was presented to the Greening Committee at their December meeting. Site elements
such as existing green open space, vacant lots, parking lots, potential gateways,
important intersections, nodes of activity, vehicular and pedestrian circulation,
and Powelton/Drexel interface, were identified on the preliminary synthesis plan.
The plan generated discussion about safety issues including
lighting and landscape, the desired future use and possible temporary use for the
Consolidated Laundry site (32nd Street and Powelton Avenue), the largest
open parcel in the community, and view points/vistas from the community towards Center
City that would be important to preserve or enhance. The variety of reactions and
responses to the preliminary synthesis plan led the Design Team to ask each committee
member to write on a note card his/her objective for the Community Greening Project.
Each objective was written on a board and members were given four stickers and asked
to vote on the objectives. The two objectives that received the most votes were,
"to enhance the eastern edge of the project area," and "the preservation of existing
trees, green spaces, and open spaces."
During ongoing site visits, the Design Team identified
the location of street trees, street lights, overhead wires, open space, parking
lots, vehicular and pedestrian movement through the site, community, institutional
and civic buildings, and gardens. The Design Team also noted the general health
and condition of the trees. A progress plan depicting these items was presented
to the Greening and Steering Committees at their January 1999 meeting.
During the same meeting, a discussion about the early
action projects took place. It was the Greening Committee's desire to install several
easily identifiable and prominent Early Action Projects as soon as possible in order
to generate broader interest in the Community Greening Project. Several potential
projects were identified; updating the 1994 Street Tree Inventory, tree planting
and sidewalk repair on the north side of the 3200 block of Race Street outside the
community garden, and tree planting on the north side of the 3200 and 3500 blocks
of Powelton Avenue and on the east side of 31st Street between Powelton Avenue
and Spring Garden Street. A general community clean-up was also suggested with the
removal of debris and vines from the chain link fence that runs on the east side
of 31st Street as a first priority.
Early Action Project locations were selected for both
their immediate and continued impact on the environment. Several of the selected
sites were associated with community institutions such as the Powel School and community
garden, others were designated for formerly treeless areas in need of greening.
Aside from these site-specific projects, beginning a community-wide tree maintenance
and pruning effort was a stated interest. At the March 1999 Greening Committee meeting,
five Early Action Projects (Appendix 9.2) were agreed on and individual Committee
members volunteered to work on specific projects.
Other Stakeholder Involvement
During Activity One the Design Team, with the help of
PG and the Greening and Steering Committees, sought to identify other important community
stakeholders not presently represented on the Greening Committee but who would be
affected by the plan and who therefore should be part of the process. The Design
Team felt that these stakeholders could be partners in the Community Greening Project
and would possibly be able to help identify funding sources for future projects.
A discussion of who these other stakeholders were was held at the January 1999 Greening
Committee meeting, and at the February meeting, the list of additional stakeholders
was confirmed. Members of the Greening Committee expressed ambivalence about whether
or not it was necessary to include additional stakeholders in the process. Most
members felt that the people sitting on the Committee sufficiently represented the
diversity and interests of community stakeholders.
A further discussion of how to bring other parties into
the process was held at the February 1999 meeting which was not attended by the Design
Team. At that meeting the Greening Committee decided to hold a public community
meeting in early May 1999 to disseminate information about and to generate interest
in the Community Greening Project. It was also decided that, prior to the public
meeting, community members would be asked to participate in a cognitive mapping exercise
similar to the one completed by the Steering and Greening Committees in December.
Input from the community at large was solicited by letters sent to neighborhood
groups and an insert printed in the March issue of the Powelton Post. A press release
about the public meeting was printed in the April issue of the Powelton Post and
The Triangle, Drexel's campus newspaper. In addition, Greening Project information
was posted on the Drexel University Web Site.
Contents:
5.1.1
Observations from Activity One