Also this issue: Ballpark Frank OK, so the stadiums were built in the wrong place. The Phillies and Eagles should lead the way in making the best of a bad situation. -Steve Conn

November 27-December 3, 2002

cityspace

Stink Town

by Daniel Brook

Philadelphia has never been a city known for its fresh air. In earlier times, the smoke-belching factories along the Delaware were the source of the problem. Today it’s the cars on the Delaware Expressway. The air quality has gotten so bad that our region was recently singled out by the EPA for a pilot program to reduce car exhaust.

Through a program called the Commuter Choice Initiative, the EPA tries to get employers to sign on to offer their employees $30 or more towards transit fares or carpooling. The incentive for carpooling is given by paying employees not to park -- paying them to give up their free parking spaces. Employers who sign up for the program receive tax benefits.

Philadelphia was chosen because of its commuting patterns -- more and more people driving alone to work despite other viable options. The other two cities the EPA chose are Denver and San Francisco. Philly has worse air than either of them -- the 14th worst in the nation, and the worst air in the northern half of the United States.

According to EPA administrators, one of the obstacles to increased commuting options in Philly is the lack of a "guaranteed ride home" program. By pooling resources, employers in most other major cities offer their employees a free ride home if an emergency arises, such as a child becoming ill at school. According to Patricia Klavon of the EPA, emergency rides home are rarely used but they provide people the peace of mind needed to abandon their automobile.

Still, Klavon has her work cut out for her in a city where the largest downtown employer, Jefferson Hospital, is planning to build a 700-car garage.

On Nov. 20, architect Peter Eisenman delivered the second annual PSFS lecture on modern architecture, held in the landmark PSFS building.

Eisenman had just come from New York, where he had presented his vision for the World Trade Center site. Sept. 11 was very much on his mind and he used his time in Philly to ruminate on the role of architecture in the post-9/11 world.

Eisenman, who is perhaps best-known for his Berlin Holocaust memorial, currently under construction, argued that the modern media, which sent images of 9/11 around the world in an instant, dulls our imagination and "de-energizes" our bodies. The solution is imaginative modern architecture.

Judge for yourself: Models of two current Eisenman projects are currently on display at the Temple Gallery on North Second Street in Old City.