Whooooooooooooooooo doggie, summer's over! Well, sorta. It's the same thing every year, trying to figure out which designation makes better sense: summer
proper (June 20 to September 22) or summer popular (Memorial Day to Labor Day). Why not have both? The Summer of the Delaware didn't officially launch on
yr Skyline until after the solstice, so we'll give ourselves until the equinox to enjoy it. Besides, even if we did a feature on the Delaware River every day
of the year, it would still feel incomplete. It's quite a river, that 360 mile meanderer which spends 23 of those with us in Philadelphia.
But in the back-to-school spirit, it's worth a moment to reflect on the summer that was.
Comcast Center officially opened in June, so Philly Skyline's construction section of it
officially closed. (The general Comcast Center section was recently tidied up, with better
access to features like the plaza and marketplace, in addition to the construction photos, which are still the second-most viewed pages on the site after
the homepage.) Murano also moved in residents, so we retired that construction section as well.
Residences at the Ritz-Carlton is itself nearing
completion, so we'll be wrapping that section up soon too, leaving 10 Rittenhouse all by
its lonesome in terms of dedicated construction updates. Cira Centre South will get one, as with the rest, once it starts to rise out of the ground.
Summertime, summertime . . . we had a chat with Deputy Mayor for Commerce and Development Andy Altman with the guys from Onion Flats. (Thanks, PlanPhilly, for being there!) Nathaniel Popkin, when not cavorting through Istanbul and Nicaragua, published his second book. (We will be celebrating with a book launch at Johnny Brenda's on the last
full day of summer, September 21st -- details are coming.)
What else, what else . . . The War On Drugs released a spectacular debut album and took it on
tour, including two legs through Europe. They're playing tonight at JB's, in between their European vacations. Dr Dog also released a spectacular album and took it on tour, including a full lineup across the States and Europe later this
fall.
Hmmm, let's see . . . Penn Praxis released their 10 year, 10 point action plan for
developing the Central Delaware Riverfront, early action items of which include a dedicated bike trail and the transformation of Pier 11 under the Ben Franklin Bridge into a park.
American Commerce Center moved closer to reality with presentations at the Planning Commission and overwhelming support from the community. Stamper Square also moved forward. The Planning Commission finally got itself a new executive director in
the inimitable Alan Greenberger. The ZBA rightfully, and unanimously,
rejected Unisys proposal to add its logo to the east and west sides of Two Liberty Place.
Oh! I got married too.
So yeah, all in all a pretty good summer popular. Before we switch into fall mode, in which we'll get back into the long neglected neighborhoods, contemporize some more old penny postcards, and find Joe Minardi's head in the toilet, yr Skyline is going to ride out the summer proper with focus on the
Delaware River. Get your life preserver!
–B Love
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