One Great Idea: Mike Jerrick, “Good Day Philadelphia,” Fox 29
"Imagine strolling from the Callowhill neighborhood, West Poplar, through Chinatown over to North Broad, about a mile long, 30-foot-wide [park]. We'd take that dilapidated, ugly eyesore of an elevated railroad track, get all the weeds off of it, start planting flowers, put grass in, put walkways in. You could have a fantastic time with your friends and family walking along. It would provide over 300,000 square feet of new green space to the city.
"Think it's far-fetched? I know another city that pulled it off, very successfully: New York City. They took their ugly, dilapidated, nasty-looking elevated that runs through the meat-packing district of New York and turned it into a park. They call it the High Line — and it's highly successful. Over 2 million people have walked along the High Line in its very first 12 months.
"We can do it here. Let's get it done: Reading Viaduct Park."
Response to Last Week's Idea
One reader's idea:
"I have noticed an increase in dirt bikes and ATVs in the city. The Philadelphia police face a difficult quandary of developing a comprehensive strategy to deal with these extremely loud and illegal street cycles without harming anyone in the process.
"My suggestion is to have the citydevelop and cosponsor an off-road terrain, motocross/TV course in Fairmount Park, one of the nation's largest parks. Our kids and bike enthusiasts could ride motocross bikes and ATVs in a safe and professional environment, and we can solicit support from motorbike and other bike-related manufacturing companies who would love to advertise and sell their merchandise to a new demographic group."
Ideas can be e-mailed to onegreatidea@phillynews.com
The Inquirer and Philly.com have launched a 45-week project to inspire Philadelphians to suggest great ideas for the city and region.
In our "One Great Idea" project, we're asking well-known and less-known people of our region to tell us their single great idea to change Philadelphia. These video interviews will run on Philly.com each Tuesday and The Inquirer's Wednesday commentary pages.
Post comments, vote on this idea, or share your one great idea at www.philly.com/OneGreatIdea, or write to inquirer.letters@phillynews.com