Envisioning Francisville's Future

Sue Ann Alleger, Student ASLA; Anna Anisko, Student ASLA; David Bilinski, Student
ASLA;
Holly Bonacum, Student ASLA; Kristen Brown Student ASLA; Cindy Culp, Student
ASLA; Felicia DiPietro, Student ASLA; Nickia Dixon, Student ASLA; Diana Fernandez,
Student ASLA; Josiah Gerhart, Student Affiliate ASLA; Aaron Karnas, Student ASLA;
W. John Keiser, III, Student ASLA; Dennis Murphy, Student ASLA; Matthew Nelson,
Student ASLA; Jeff Oyler, Student ASLA; Leah Purdy Student ASLA; Donna Shumpert,
Student ASLA; John Sloan, Student ASLA; Andrew Slot, Student ASLA; Kelsey
Stanton, Student ASLA; Amy Syverson, Student ASLA; John Tallon, Jr., Student ASLA
and Patrick Whealton, Student ASLA, Undergraduate, Temple University
Faculty Advisors: Pauline Hurley-Kurtz, ASLA and Robert Kuper, ASLA
Project Statement
'Envisioning Francisville's Future' is a comprehensive analysis and planning project
based in the socially, economically, and physically degraded Philadelphia
neighborhood of Francisville. Sophomore landscape architecture students undertook
a unique, thorough process of studying and applying lessons from planning and
design texts, local case studies, an extensive site inventory and analysis;
community aspirations; sustainable initiatives, and the McHargian method of
regional analysis to develop team-based transit-oriented development (TOD) master
plans.
Project Narrative

The level of analysis is amazing! It's informative and environmentally sensitive, and
it provides clear design direction for this community. Very impressive.
2011 Student Awards Jury
Introduction
The 'Envisioning Francisville's Future' project is located within the Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania neighborhood of Francisville, which has experienced a half-century of
social and economic depression including a large residential migration, decay of the
neighborhood's physical form, and the loss of significant commercial activity. In
2001, the City began the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative and created many
empty lots in Francisville by demolishing dilapidated structures. Since 2003, the
Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation (FNDC) has sought to revitalize
the neighborhood by viewing abandoned lots as an opportunity for infill housing,
encouraging commercial ventures, and implementing initiatives that aspire to make
Francisville the greenest neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Project Goal and Objectives

The goal of this project was to teach undergraduate landscape architecture students
the process of developing a sustainable community revitalization plan in an urban
setting. Students were expected to understand the social, cultural, economic, and
ecological aspects of Francisville; acknowledge recent city planning principles and
urban greening initiatives; accomodate residents' needs and desires; and work in a
team to incorporate this knowledge in master plans wherein Francisville's urban
fabric is restored and a diverse, active community may live in the future.
Environmental and Social Inventory & Analysis
Three tasks comprised the inventory and analysis: first, students were required to
read texts that would provide them with theoretical, practical, and site-specific
knowledge. Second, students undertook investigations of local precedents focusing
on dense urban form, a viable commercial corridor, and the integration of a green
network within an urban fabric. Third and finally, students completed an extensive
inventory and analysis of various aspects of Francisville and Philadelphia from
zoning codes to hydrology and land use to architectural style.
Studio Readings
Three texts guided the analysis, inventory, and design efforts of this project. Kevin
Lynch's The Image of the Citypresented students with a framework to understand
residents' image(s) of Francisville in terms of landmarks, edges, districts, nodes, and
paths, and how the image may be improved or enhanced by design. The Next
American Metropolis: Ecology, Community and the American Dream by Peter
Calthorpe provided the historical and theoretical reasoning for encouraging transitoriented development (TOD) as well as the practical guidelines and criteria for
implementing them. A comprehensive master plan produced in 2007 by Interface
Studio, LLC., of Philadelphia, entitled Moving Francisville Forward: A Blueprint for
the Future supplied students a substantial body of work from which to learn and
verify the history and future desires of the community.
Case Studies
Three case studies were performed in separate Philadelphia neighborhoods, each
serving as a model for a specific aspect of design that could be adopted and
adapted to Francisville. First, the neighborhood of Fairmount, adjacent to
Francisville, was chosen as a model of urban density for its closely spaced two- and
three-story row homes that create a solid street wall necessary to making
Francisville a place again. Students were required to field-measure and hand-draft
one neighborhood block to understand its physical dimensions. Chestnut Hill was
chosen as a model for its thriving mixed-use, walkable commercial corridor Germantown Avenue. Continuity there is seen in the scale of buildings, awnings,
facades, ample storefront windows, uniform building setback and street tree
distances, locally-sourced building materials, and on-street parking. Students were
required to document the surrounding context, materials, select dimensions, and
variety and location of uses using photographs, diagrams, and digital or hand

drawings. A similar method was employed when students analyzed Society Hill, a
model of an urban green network within an historic residential neighborhood. Like
Francisville, it was once a strong commercial area that has suffered population
decline, poverty and urban blight, and has been the subject of a redevelopment
plan. Now a sought-after address for upper-middle and upper-class residents, this
community successfully includes open space and greenway corridors, mixed-use
commercial, institutional and residential areas and human-scaled street furniture.
Site Inventory and Analysis
A comprehensive site inventory and analysis was undertaken to understand the
social, ecological, and physical aspects of Francisville. Unless otherwise noted,
students retrieved information via site visits and GIS maps and presented their
findings digitally using a variety of computer programs. Regional, City, and
Neighborhood Context inventory and analyses encapsulated scalar relationships
including but not exclusive of mass transit, open space, community and civic
organizations, land ownership, landmarks, physiographic regions, and surface
waterways. The evolution of the urban fabric traced the fluctuation of building
density within Francisville at eight distinct times using figure-ground drawings
created from maps at the Philadelphia Free Library. Landforms examined
topography, building height, views, and the urban heat-island effect. Data from the
U.S. Census Bureau including poverty status of households, owner occupied
housing, and disability status of residents was mapped to understand where various
types of housing and services might be concentrated in design. The Philadelphia
Zoning Code was investigated to grasp the dimensional parameters within which
the students must design. Land use was examined on scales ranging from the
neighborhood to street showing the large-scale concentrations and patterns of land
uses to the small-scale variety of retail, office, and service-oriented businesses that
exist in Francisville. The architectural style of the buildings within Francisville were
catalogued and examined to identify the various styles and the locations in which
they are concentrated. Using information from Moving Francisville Forward, site
visits, and the City of Philadelphia, the open spaces between buildings were
categorized in terms of various forms of ownership, care, and surface condition. The
artificial and natural hydrology of Philadelphia and Francisville were analyzed in
terms of their need and potential for introducing stormwater BMPs and envisioning
Francisville as the greenest neighborhood in Philadelphia. Finally, some of
Francisville's residents shared their memories and dreams for the neighborhood in
interviews that were recorded and edited into a twenty-minute long audio recording.
Community Involvement
Beyond these recordings, Penelope Giles, Executive Director of the FNDC, gave
students a guided tour of Francisville and later reviewed the above analysis with a
member of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and an Associate of Interface
Studio. Students incorporated the juror's comments into opportunities and
constraints drawings that were used to guide infill design. Students began this

phase of design by applying the McHargian method of regional analysis and site
selection outlined in Design with Nature.
Master Plans
Eight teams comprised of three to four students created master plans that sought to
synthesize the above analysis in the design studio. Two are included within this
submission:

'Living the Dream' is a five-year masterplan comprised of phases that

structurally retrofit commercial and residential buildings to attract new
residents and businesses, preserve green space for passive recreational
parks, and locate training facilities where citizens can be taught and
empowered to sustain the community. More detailed designs of the
Metropolitan plaza area and a gateway to Francisville are also included.

'Creativity, Commerce and Community' places emphasis on public

transportation, the design of pocket parks, and enhancement of pedestrian
circulation through use of crosswalks and consistent sidewalk and street
furniture materials. An Urban Greening Plan will create green streets (street
trees, rain gardens, and curb planters) through the preservation of green
space during development. A welcome center serves as a gateway node for
the revitalized Ridge Avenue commercial corridor along which an open air
market and FNDC Civic Space are proposed.

These master plans and neighborhood designs were presented before members of
the community in Francisville for their feedback. All of the above was made
available to the FNDC in hard copy and digital form at their request, and to maintain
and further the interest in revitalizing Francisville. Students also spent a day
working on two community-service projects that were planned outside of and prior
to the studio: setting posts in a vineyard and installing fence rails and a trellis in the
community garden.
Additional Project Credits
Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation (FNDC)
Penelope Giles, Director;
Tony Giles
City of Philadelphia
David Fecteau, Planner
Interface Studio
Mindy Watts, Planner, Associate