The latest development in pie-in-the-sky urban planning for the city of Philadelphia is coming from Drexel University: they want to see if they can build over the 30th Street Station rail yard. Though those involved predict that they'll find that "it can be done, but will be enormously expensive", they're gonna do a study, just in case.
The plans would involve creating a "cap" over the railyards, upon which structures could be built, and would create 80 to 90 new acres of development-ready real estate. Drexel's placemaking plans for the area around 30th Street are to make it into a "transit oriented Innovation Neighborhood."
It appears that, in layman's terms, an "Innovation Neighborhood" would closely resemble a business district, peppered with academic buildings and student involvement. However, Drexel's plans are far from finished, and even if they don't manage to build this particular pie located literally in the sky, it's clear that they're thinking big.
· Drexel, Amtrak to study expanding university and other development over rail yard airspace [Plan Philly]
· Drexel's 'Campus' Plans: Redevelopment or Penntrification? [Curbed Philly]
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