Day 1 of Philadelphia's Riverfront Planning

It was quite a sight for 8 a.m. on a Monday morning. Some 60 or 70 city policy wonks and neighborhood activists crammed into the big meeting room in Philadelphia's One Parkway building - all of them free associating about their "hopes and dreams" for the seven-mile stretch of the central Delaware River. There were three state reps - Marie Lederer, John Taylor and William Keller - managing director Pedro Ramos, Center City's Paul Levy, the RDA's Johnny Doc, Councilman Frank DiCiccio, PennDot's Rina Cutler, city planning director Janice Woodcock, and representatives from at least 15 river ward neighborhood groups.

But unlike the typical meeting attended by such muckety-mucks, these people were being participants - rather than deciders - at the Central Delaware Riverfront Planning Advisory Group's first meeting. With the help of MC Harris Sokoloff who did a similiar job facillitating for the Penn's Landing Forums, the group was asked to imagine the kind of waterfront environment where they would like to spend time. The brainstorming was the first step in a year-long planning process being overseen by Penn Praxis, the U of Penn group that has been assigned the task of rethinking Philadelphia's long-neglected central waterfront.

Although the participants obviously have their own agendas, it was nice to see them in the role of ordinary citizens. The "hopes," which were typed into a computer by Janice Woodcock and projected on a screen, included what you might expect from anyone: a clean, safe, accessible waterfront with recreation paths, public amenities, housing development and room for the remaining waterfront industry to thrive.

There will be several more brainstorming sessions, all open to the public, before Penn Praxis hires professional planners and designers in January. But these sessions are crucial to articulating the assignment that will be given to the experts.