Disston Precision

Hi everyone! Just wanted to update you on something lucky that happened to us yesterday when we went out to the industrial site. Pierson and I were again mistaken for the sculptors who are putting an exhibit inside Disston Precision, so we asked if we could see inside, and this guy went and got his boss, Ring Lardner, who proceeded to show us around ALL of the DP buildings. They essentially own the entire blue block (from the birdseye) that is very intact and dense.

The factories are sooo cool (at least to me, an engineering nerd). They are actually still using machinery that is over 100 years old, and are employing some decendents of Disston workers! There is also a lot of old Disston drawings/paperwork/furniture/etc throughout the buildings, including the "dispensary" which is basically the old company clinic, complete with creepy old hospital bed.

Anyway, it was fantastic to go inside and get a tour from someone who is so pro-history, and I definitely think it gave us a better perspective on recommending that Disston Precision stays onsite. Also, I invited Ring Lardner to our final presentation because he was so nice and interested, so I'll be sending him the details soon.

I'll be putting all my pictures up on the server next week, but here are a few of the best! (Sorry I suck at formating blogs...)

Tacony Walk Score

Hi everyone! Just for fun (and maybe this will be helpful for someone's individual/small group project), here is the Walk Score for an address that is at about the intersection of Torresdale and Longshore Avenues. It scored "very walkable" yay! And what may be most useful about Walk Score is that it pulls from what is basically Google's yellow-page-type directory and then gives you a drop down listing of each type of business/service the scoring system takes into account. So hopefully it's helpful (and fun to play with when procrastinating...entering in different addresses...my parents house, my college apartments in Manhattan, my current apartment, places I'd like to live...) and somewhat informative (although it is not a scientific accurate score because of some flaws in the system - see "How It Doesn't Work" on the Walk Score website).

Before I forget!

Some recollections from last night's meeting: 

• One man brought in a deed for one of Disston's model homes, located at 7008 Keystone.  He told me he got it at the City Archives, so I will venture down to get a copy.  It has a lot of information on who lived in the surrounding houses and where they worked.  Maybe we can see some of those deed restrictions first-hand.
  

• One Tacony resident said that Curran's (sp?) was the original firehouse for Disston.  Not sure if this is true, but I'm just putting it out there as something to check up on.
  

Anyone else?  I know Elise got some info on the Baptist Church/Post Office (?)

Tacony Civic Meeting

Annotated Aerial w/Disston/Tacony Boundaries

You'll find a copy in the Aerial Maps folder as a .jpg and .psd. The resolution will take zooming

Industrial Survey Posted to the Server

The excel file is located in the "Industrial Site" folder under "Survey"...

Slide Master posted to Course Folder

You can start adding your material to the master posted to the Disston subfolder '3 November Mid Term Presentation'

Disston GIS

There was some discussion yesterday about the need to use a consistent map base across all maps (aside from historic) for the midterm and final submissions. I've uploaded the basic GIS files for Philadelphia to the server, if we'd like to use it for this purpose. Included are the rivers, streetlines, city boundaries and building shapefiles.

Would this work for everyone's needs or do we need to look for a new format?

Who, What, Why, Where & How?

Why Tacony? (Location, history, strengths)
Why a preservation plan? (Threats, opportunities)
What data were used to make the recommendations? (Surveys, Maps, Plans, Archives, Comparables, Demographics)
What you/they said: (Survey results)
What options have been considered?
What's the plan?

Answering these questions might be the best way to format for the midterm presentation. Any more questions we should be answering?

How will recommendations be implemented?

Tacony SWOT

SWOT ANALYSIS RESULTS
27 October 2008

STRENGTHS
Historic Fabric & Continuity of Fabric (10 +1)
Urban form, Neighborhood character, Walkability (6+2+3)
Industrial infrastructure (7)
Transportation access and Proximity to Philadelphia (4+2)
also: Parks, Green spaces, Tree lined streets

WEAKNESSES
Lack of local employment and Population loss (8+2)
Inappropriate building alterations (6)
Absentee landlords (6)
Lack of police presence; non-violent crime& prostitution) (4+3+1)
Underutilized and Vacant industrial buildings (3+2)
also: Underutilized waterfront

OPPORTUNITIES
Branding Disston neighborhood as historic company town (12)
Developable space in waterfront industrial area (11)
Commercial development for Torresdale, Longshore & unmet needs (5+2+3)
Adaptability of industrial buildings on waterfront (7)
Variety of building stock – small spaces for new businesses (4+1)
also: Waterfront location

THREATS
Demolition of industrial, property Speculation, waterfront development (8+3+3)
Deferred maintenance of industrial properties (6)
Deferred maintenance of residential properties, lack of code enforcement (3+3)
Lack of preservation education (6)
Challenges to commercial dev.:econ. incentive, stability, evening hrs (2+2+2)