Mayor Street Finally Names New Head Planner

Philadelphia's civic leaders, foundations and politicians have been clamoring for months to get Mayor Street to pay attention to planning, and now he's finally done something: Today, he appointed Center City architect and planner Janice Woodcock as the city's head planner - taking over from Maxine Griffith, who resigned 19 months ago! Woodcock comes to the job with excellent credentials. She served as president of the local chapter of the American institute of Architects, and started her architectural career in Cecil Baker's office. She was one of the people who helped produce a well-regarded plan for Chestnut Street, called "Turning the Lights Back On," which advocated converting the upper stories of buildings into apartments. More recently, she has worked in the city's Capital Projects Office, overseeing construction projects.

The big question, of course, is whether she can hope to accomplish anything with just a year left on Street's term. Most observers (ie. chatty architects and planners) say it's a difficult position to step into at this point. Although the condo market appears to be cooling, the city still faces the big issue of how best to accommodate skyscrapers. Then there's gambling, which could land two boxy casinos on the Delaware Waterfront, along with lots of traffic and other headaches. Meanwhile, Mayor Street has just outsourced the city's waterfront planning to Penn Praxis. If Woodcock simply serves as an aggressive advocate for the public good over the next year, her appointment won't be for naught.