Watching the Philadelphia Land Bank gain traction has been a tad like witnessing the slow and seemingly-aimless meander of a toddler down a city sidewalk. There's been a first RFP, and the subsequent withdrawal of said RFP. Then another RFP emerged, this time requesting an agency go over the some 40,000 parcels of land held by the Land Bank and re-calculate their value.
But now, the first thing you notice when visiting the new Philadelphia Land Bank website (the original website sits unchanged) is not a new RFP (incidentally there is one, just not for land development), but the arrival of yet another new website, still in beta.
Let's review. There's Land Bank website #1, located at phillylandbank.org. This site, a representative from the Office of Housing and Community Development told Curbed, "is not associated with the Philadelphia Land Bank. It is a site that was set up several years ago by activists who were advocating for a land bank." So, moving on. Once on that page, you're invited to check out the new (real) Land Bank website, up and running, at philadelphialandbank.org. Still with us? Once there, a cursory glance at the screen alerts you to the existence of yet another new website, still in beta. The new new website promises to offer all sorts of information and tools, including an interactive map of the Land Bank's 2015 strategic plan.
· Development Watch: Philly Land Bank Solicits First RFPs [Curbed Philly]
· The Nay-Sayers Were Right: Land Bank Withdraws First RFP [Curbed Philly]
· New Land Bank RFP Puts Horse Back in Front of Cart [Curbed Philly]
· The new Philadelphia Land Bank website
· The new new Philadelphia Land Bank website, beta