Philadelphia, PA: The City of Brotherly Love

 

A general picture of the Philadelphia map.

Seen above is a 2ft by 3ft map of Philadelphia, PA. This map took around three months to create. Beginning with a single sheet of paper I began drawing lightly in pencil. From here I erased the pencil to a faint outline, then using colored pencil to bring the map to life, coloring it twice. The colors represent different land-uses from residential to commercial, mixed-use to civic, and so on.

And the finished product showcases many parts of the city such as Center City Philadelphia below.

When you think of Philadelphia most people think of Center City. City Hall, The Liberty Bell, Old City, and Rittenhouse Square make up only a small portion of what this dense urban core has to offer. With easy train access you can avoid the traffic and be dropped off to explore Philly!

Philadelphia International Airport and its many runways.

Philadelphia International Airport. Located in the southwest corner of the city it has easy access to the sports complex, center city, and Interstate 95. And if you have some extra time before your flight the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum on the left of the image is a beautiful spot to check out!

Manayunk and the Wissahickon Valley Park with it’s many trails (a favorite place of mine to go for a run in the city).

Manayunk is located in the Northwest portion of the city, known as more of a “college town” it is full of many shops, restaurants, and easy access to recreation with the Schuylkill River Trail and the Wissahickon Valley Park’s Forbidden Drive.

Fairmout Park with the Schuylkill Expressway to the right (And yes even now it’s jammed with traffic).

Cris-crossing Fairmount Park are many roads, trails, and train lines. Escape from Center City and take a breath of fresh air here. Maybe even stop by the Please Touch museum, zoo, or the Mann Center for a concert.

A map legend describing what the different colors mean.

The map legend highlights the color classification scheme I’ve used for most maps I’ve drawn.

And a “Did you know?” section with fun facts about the city.

Did you know these facts about Philadelphia?

But why exactly did I make it? The personal message at the bottom of the map helps to explain this more.

“I hope that you enjoy this map of Philadelphia. It is a labor of love which took three months to make. We can see how styles of development have changed over time from the traditional mixed-use town plan to the suburban sprawl of today. But we need to look even beyond that and think about the people living here. Poverty, Racism, Addiction, or Violence? These are only a few of the issues in the world today. It is my prayer that God would heal the city of all the issues it faces by transforming hearts through Jesus. This is the city of brotherly love which has people full of Christ’s love working for the welfare of the city. I love it and I hope you do too!”

When looking at the map we need to see the people in the place, understanding what they go through, working to care for all their needs. Personally, this is motivated by my love for Jesus, working to create places that point people to the heavenly New Jerusalem. And ultimately Jesus who laid down his life to free us from the sin we were entrapped in, giving us the perfect life with Him in the eternal city. The evil in the world is magnified in the city, but even more so the good of those working for it’s good. So whether you are a Christian or not I hope that this map will change how you look at the city, make you question how it has developed, and work towards making changes that benefit the people in these places.

© 2017 Michael Sutherland, Sutherland Maps, aplaceforpeople.wordpress.com

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Thoughts on PennDOT’s Water Street Bridge Replacement Plans

PennDOT’s $2.5 million dollar replacement of the Water St. Bridge across the Saucon Creek is now scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2019.

The current sidewalk, evelated above the bridge’s roadway

New plans though have no sidewalk which the bridge currently includes, instead adding an eight foot wide shoulder to that side of the bridge.

Why is this an issue? Isn’t it more space for people on the bridge?

The sidewalk being elevated above the roadway, even though having less space than a wider shoulder gives a clear split between the space for people and cars. Having that little bit of separation gives a comfort level which does not exist when a car could easily move over a painted white line and hit you.

It is a small change in the design plans. Even if you put in a five foot sidewalk a three foot shoulder would exist, mirroring what is planned for the opposite side of the roadway.

But why stop there? If you elevated the entire eight foot shoulder it could then connect to the planned shared-use path through Water Street Park. This slight design change puts in jeopardy a very important pedestrian connection for the area.

PennDOT’s current plans are rather short-sighted, thinking very little about the long-term implications for local residents traveling across the creek in something other than a car.

A Plan for People: Walking and Biking in Saucon Valley, speaks about the issue of a well maintained, interconnected sidewalk network to allow for safe travel of people walking. And if it is not safe for the most vulnerable people in society, then it truly is not safe at all.

If you feel similar please write to the leaders of this project found below:

A Plan for People: Walking and Biking in Saucon Valley Revised

After receiving public feedback I have revised the content in the plan by adding in more images of what the proposed ideas look like in the plan. I have also added in possible funding sources along with modifications to a few of the maps.

I will be presenting the plan this Monday, June 6th at 7pm during Hellertown’s Borough Council meeting. Please feel free to show up and hear the plan described in more detail.

If you have any last minute feedback related to the plan please let me know as I am always looking for ways to improve it! Thank you again for everyone who gave input to the plan along with Saucon Source and RenewLV for helping spread word of it to the public.

The link to the plan is listed to the right: Hellertown_Plan_for_People_Revised

A Plan for People: Walking and Biking in Saucon Valley

I am excited to release a draft of A Plan for People: Walking and Biking in Saucon Valley! I am hoping to receive feedback on the plan so feel free to let me know what I can improve. Enjoy!  Hellertown_Bike_Ped_Plan_Draft

My thoughts on a Pedestrian Bridge across the Lehigh River

In the news today was talk of the possibility of a new pedestrian bridge across the Lehigh River in Bethlehem. As a proponent of walkable cities, I was very intrigued by this idea. The public meeting is tomorrow evening at 7pm at the Charles A. Brown Ice House on Sand Island. Here is where the non-profits, local governmental officials and everyday citizens can have a voice in whether or not this should happen.
Because I am currently finishing up college at Penn State I will not be able to be at the meeting but here are some of my thoughts on the project.
Overall, it sounds like a great project firsthand. The current routes of the Hill to Hill, Fahy, and Minsi Trail Bridges provide very small sidewalks that are meant only for people, not also cyclists. But when you have no choice other than mixing in with high speed vehicle traffic, the separated sidewalk is a good option.
My question though is how would this be funded?
And could we accomplish the goal of safe pedestrian and cyclist access across the Lehigh, slowing down vehicle traffic, lowering air pollution all from using what already exists?
In my opinion yes.
Let’s take the Fahy Bridge for example. According to PennDot’s State Road GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data, the bridge experiences a current annual average daily traffic of 10,350 vehicles traveling northward over the bridge and 9,919 vehicles traveling southward. It is also designed as a highway with a large turning radius’ allowing for high speeds along with the 35 mile per hour speed limit (which very few people actually obey). All of this creates a bridge designed to kill.
What if a travel lane was taken away northbound on the bridge to make space for a two-way protected bike lane paralleling the sidewalk? Protected bike lanes are becoming the standard in many cities across the nation. In Portland, their DOT just made them the city standard for new bike infrastructure.

This is a one example of a protected bike lane in Portland, Oregon.

This is another example of a two-way protected bike lane in Washington D.C. created by using paint and bollards.

And it could be done rather cheaply with planter boxes, bollards or even the giant concrete barrier that has been used for the temporary sidewalk for years. That would create a safe space for people while also slowing down vehicle traffic, all for a relatively low amount of money compared to building a new pedestrian bridge.
As nice as a new bridge would be, as Chuck Marohn at StrongTowns hits on often is the theme of No New Roads. Currently many of our nation’s bridges are structurally deficient and before we go building any new roads or bridges, whether for cars or for people, we need to fix what we already have. The idea of using extra space on the Fahy Bridge could be a lower cost way of providing a safe space for people without digging ourselves into a deep financial deficit.
Now even though the bridge is owned by PennDOT (which would make this hard to accomplish), the city could ask to do a trial run of this protected bike lane with traffic barriers and a small amount of signage which the city would already have. Pittsburgh did this to gather data quickly on if it would be good to implement as a permanent solution.

I still believe that it is good to plan for a pedestrian bridge across the Lehigh. The Sierra Club and Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L for short) are great organizations. I worked for the D&L this past summer and their vision of the trail connecting communities is great! I support them wholeheartedly in their work. If they can make it happen that is great. For now though, a goal should be to make the Fahy Bridge safer for people through using low cost methods.

I don’t have all of the engineering schematics of what this would look like, or the total costs, but I do have a vision for creating great places for people. Let’s take this vision and run with it!

Connecting the Saucon Rail Trail to Main Street’s Businesses

Many Hellertown residents enjoy the Saucon Rail Trail as a public resource for recreation. It is personally one of my favorite places to go a run in the area. But it seldom used for anything else but recreation. What if we could link it to the surrounding businesses on Main Street?

The Borough of Hellertown has thought about this to. When Tuminello Park was built, the plans called for a small pedestrian bridge over the mill race to connect to the Saucon Rail Trail.

The proposed site for the pedestrian bridge connecting to the Saucon Rail Trail.

From here, people can travel through the park by foot or bicycle over to Main Street.

Tuminello Park

From here though, crossing Main Street. to connect to the Hellertown Diner, DiMaio’s, True Value and many other businesses is a challenge. Currently there is no crosswalk for people to travel along. What I would suggest to solve this issue is a pedestrian island. I know that I have used the example of the Foster Avenue/Atherton Street pedestrian island before.

This example of a median to help pedestrians cross the street from State College, PA would be a great idea for Main Street in Hellertown in certain spots.

The design in the center turn lane of Main Street would allow people to cross one lane of traffic much easier than the current situation of trying to cross three lanes at once. This design could be implemented rather easily, provide a higher level of safety for pedestrians while allowing the large trucks that travel this route to move through.

Connecting to Giant

With Giant being the main grocery store around Hellertown, many people travel to it often. Often I have traveled down to it by bike but currently it is rather unsafe for most people. And I have often seen high school employee’s of these places bikes locked up at the shopping center.

The current area has very little sidewalk after the American Family Services.

The proposed site for the pedestrian bridge connecting to the Saucon Rail Trail.

A gap in the grass filled with garbage which could hold a sidewalk or shared path.

If parking isn’t allowed, then can we put up some posts for protection to create a safe path to Giant?

The Meadows Road/Route 412 intersection. It is rather harrowing to cross with large amounts of traffic. Shortening the road crossing and marking it well with paint would help to create the connection to the Giant.

The drain doesn’t help but the shoulder is wide enough to create a sidewalk or shared path.

As the service entrance widens, the space to add in a sidewalk or shared path grows. A marked crossing would be helpful here also.

And apparently people already travel down here by foot. This path through the grass shows exactly where a sidewalk or shared path would go.

Below is a Google Map of the proposed location for the sidewalk/shared path.

From all of this, the Saucon Rail Trail can become a useful resource for connecting people to the surrounding businesses. It will take some work, but I believe that it can continue to help make Hellertown a great place for people.

Water Street Park Improvements

This past fall the borough of Hellertown reopened Water Street Park after having it closed for improvements over the last few months.

This park is an important gateway for people entering town along with being a community gathering spot for entering the Saucon Rail Trail and for the Farmers Market.

Today, I decided to take a look around and check out all of the improvements.

What exists today is a mixture of old and new. The former park structures still remain including the playground, sand volleyball courts, and bmx bike jumps to name a few.

BMX Bike Jumps

Sand Volleyball Courts

These park features are enhanced by a new basketball court, indoor restrooms, water fountain, parking lot, farmers market space, refurbished pavilion and ADA sidewalks.

Indoor restrooms

The new Basketball Court

The dog friendly water fountain

The water fountain also allows for water bottles to be filled easily.

The refurbished, ADA accessible pavilion.

The new farmers market space serves a dual purpose of extra parking lot space. The surface is actually stabilized turf, allowing for less storm runoff that would normally be produced by a parking lot space  due to the permeable surface.

And on this colder winter day a few people were using the park. A family with their kids were playing on the playground. A few high school kids were playing basketball. One woman was walking in the park. Another man was fishing down by the creek. And a few people were riding their bikes along the rail trail. The improved park is being used well by the community.

The question that I ask myself now is how do we better connect people to the park by walking and biking?

With the park being a major trail head for the rail trail and the center of the farmers market, it can be rather busy at times. With so much activity taking place, thinking through this question can help reduce traffic congestion into the park, draw people to Hellertown’s downtown businesses along with encouraging people to walk or bike to this destination.

The park improvements provided a new ADA crosswalk at the corner of Water and Front Street.

The crosswalk at the corner of Water and Front Street.

Improving the sidewalks along Water Street makes it easier for people to travel to many of the downtown’s businesses as can be seen below in the map.

This distance is rather short at under a quarter mile to the intersection of Main and Water Streets. This is easily under a five minute walk to Roma Pizza, Cafe Erica, Trendz, Yeagers Pharmacy, Vapemeister and Sagra Bistro to name a few places.

Currently though, there is a missing link in the ADA accessibility at Harwi Street.

Harwi and Water Street intersection

Of course people can still walk along here but it is rather inconvenient for young families with strollers or the elderly. In my opinion, this is the next place where the borough of Hellertown should invest in a new ADA sidewalk.

Overall, I was very pleased with the park improvements. Hellertown is striving to improve it’s park system which continues to help it become a great place for people!

 

Lessons Learned from an Interactive Business Map of Hellertown, PA

A few weeks ago I published a new interactive business map for my hometown of Hellertown, PA through a local news outlet called Saucon Source.

At first this map only included bicycle parking for Hellertown but quickly spread into a business map for the borough.

Some fun facts about the businesses in Hellertown

• 14 auto sales/services businesses(ex. car repair shops, auto parts stores)
• 11 chain stores (ex. Giant food stores)
• 4 dental practices
• 6 hair salons/barber shops
• 7 medical offices
• 4 legal offices
• 5 pizza parlors
• 17 restaurants

This list breaks down a few of the 142 businesses in town (and many more shall be added in the future).

What does this map tell us?

First and foremost, I believe that this map signifies that Hellertown is doing relatively well economically.

Most of these businesses are located in the downtown core of Hellertown. Sure the shopping centers at the southern end of town house many stores, but downtown is not vacant by any means.

And even though big box stores appear to generate large amounts of wealth to the tax base even though they create long term liabilities. A friend of mine named Chuck Marohn over at Strong Towns points this out to local governments across America. Another friend of mine named Ron Beitler did this analysis for his home area of Lover Macungie township. By determining the Return on Investment (ROI) he was able to show the benefits of directing growth to denser urban areas to adequately provide the services to the townships residents.

Hellertown town though has been doing this quite naturally for many years and is even seeing new development take up vacant land at the center of town.

And people have noticed. Even the Morning Call noticed back in May of this year with a piece entitled Hellertown’s Main Street makes quiet revival.

Secondly, we can gain a better understanding of what smart growth is.

I have talked about smart growth many times on this blog. In a nutshell it refers to directing development to our urban cores to keep our cities vibrant while preserving the countryside. Walkable, human-scaled development is key with people not being dependent on a car for everything in their daily life.

The Lehigh Valley has many quote on quote “smart growth developments” which are nothing more than suburban sprawl. One recent example is the Madison Farms development. Does this development look like a traditional city or the typical suburban sprawl to you?

Madison Farms: Is this really smart growth?

Hellertown though by nature is an example of smart growth in being a traditional town. It’s walkable urban core can be accessed by most residents on a daily basis within a 15 minute walk. Sure it would be nice if Giant food stores was closer to the center of town and easy to walk to, but the many restaurants, pharmacies and other stores all close together contribute to the long time success of Hellertown.

Thirdly, we can see that Hellertown is rooted in a sense of place. What I mean by this is that it is a feeling that you get when you know that you are in Hellertown.

This might mean seeing the Crossroads Hotel and thinking about their amazing cheese steaks, sitting by the fountain in Detweiller Plaza, or visiting the towns main attraction of Lost River Caverns. These places are all distinct to Hellertown. They make it unique compared to other places.

A few of the places that let you know that you are in Hellertown: The Crossroads Hotel (above) and Detweiller Plaza

These are the places that set Hellertown apart on the map. They give this great borough a sense of place. And for the most part they are locally owned businesses which I am thankful to be able to represent in this map.

Fourthly and finally, for me personally I enjoy creating and drawing maps of traditional towns.

For myself as a Geography major at Penn State who creates maps as a hobby, my main works have been of traditional towns. As I finished up high school in Hellertown into my freshman year at Penn State I drew a map of Hellertown.

My hand drawn map of Hellertown, PA.

It incorporated everything that I enjoyed about growing up their. Where the beautiful views were, my favorite businesses in town to go to, favorite pizza parlor and many other things. It was a labor of love that I always remember when I return home from college.

Hellertown is far from perfect but the hand drawn map and interactive business map point me to a thankfulness for growing up in a traditional town, that has a sense of place that will continued to be improved upon in the future due to the dedication of it’s residents and businesses.

What I see in a map: A Hand-drawn map of State College, PA

A few months ago I wrote a blog post entitled What I see in a map. In it I talked about how when I see a map, I see where God has worked deeply in my heart along with the many friends who bring the map to life and make it meaningful.

And just recently I finished drawing a new map of State College, PA

My handrawn map of State College, PA

This labor of love took about a year to draw and it encompasses most of where I have spent my last three years of college living life. It is far from perfect and has many errors. And even though it is imperfect, the same has been true for the last few years at Penn State.

You see, when I look at this map I see many places. I see places where good memories with friends but also the places where I have let people down.

In all of this I am thankful that when I see this map, I see the place where God chose to radically transform my heart. I see where I first became involved in DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship. I see the places where friends of mine have called me out on sin in my life. It is a great place that I hope to savor living in for one more year.

That is what I see in my map of State College. What do you see?

What I see in a Map: A Hand-drawn map of State College, PA

A few months ago I wrote a blog post entitled What I see in a map. In it I talked about how when I see a map, I see where God has worked deeply in my heart along with the many friends who bring the map to life and make it meaningful.

And just recently I finished drawing a new map of State College, PA

My handrawn map of State College, PA

This labor of love took about a year to draw and it encompasses most of where I have spent my last three years of college living life. It is far from perfect and has many errors. And even though it is imperfect, the same has been true for the last few years at Penn State.

You see, when I look at this map I see many places. I see places where good memories with friends but also the places where I have let people down.

In all of this I am thankful that when I see this map, I see the place where God chose to radically transform my heart. I see where I first became involved in DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship. I see the places where friends of mine have called me out on sin in my life. It is a great place that I hope to savor living in for one more year.

That is what I see in my map of State College. What do you see?