Project Summary: The East Parkside Revitalization Project intends to revitalize a historically significant, yet blighted urban community in Philadelphia and become one of the first sustainable communities in America.
East Parkside is considered the first suburban community in the United States and was host to the 1876 Centennial Worlds Fair that marked America's transition from being a developing nation to an established industrial super power.
The revitalization of East Parkside as a sustainable 21st Century urban community will create over 700 permanent jobs, 600 housing units and will generate over 260 million dollars of construction revenue for the City of Philadelphia.
There are five major components that the project addresses: the creation of a vibrant culturally diverse community that serves both existing and new residents, the creation of a successful commercial district and tourist destination that creates permanent jobs and business opportunities, improved educational opportunities for children and adults to help raise the standard of living within the community, attracting and retaining much needed social and medical services and facilities, and the creation of a mixture of affordable and market rate housing through innovative environmental design guidelines and standards.
We intend this project to serve as a model for holistic, sustainable and energy efficient urban redevelopment that will serve as a great example of how communities can work with the private sector and the Government to bring back once-great urban centers.
Sustainable aspects of the East Parkside Revitalization Project.
The East Parkside Project is a great candidate to win the Sustainability Award because it addresses many of the core element criteria and is in the forefront of the high performance community models that are being explored today. The project demonstrates creative partnership building with the community partnering with a major chemical company, Habitat for Humanity, other non-profits and governmental agencies to not only design a sustainable urban community, but also to implement it and document the process for other communities to benefit from as well.
Green building elements such as insulated concrete forms (ICF's) and structurally insulated panels (SIP's) have been adopted for all new construction and spray on expandable polystyrene (EPS) will be used to insulate existing buildings in the community.
The project also address sustainable issues relating to storm water management, education and leadership in the promotion of a true urban revitalization model that does not gentrify a community.
The impact of the East Parkside Project in the world of sustainable projects will be significant and immediately measurable. The creative partnerships that were created are poised to document and publicize the entire process and report successes and or failures to the sustainable community in hopes that it can learn either way from the experiences of this project.
The first project to receive media attention is the Habitat for Humanity project located on the 4200 Block of Stiles St. EPCRC has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build seven high performance sustainable affordable homes in the Philadelphia Area. In addition EPCRC is preparing to start construction on an additional 40 properties, 23 rehabs and 17 new construction in the community that will be Energy Star certified for rehabs and will participate in the LEED for ND pilot program for new construction.
The East Parkside Revitalization Project is truly a unique project in being one of the first communities to require new construction, residential and commercial and rehabs be certified energy efficient sustainable buildings. The project will have a significant impact on the progress of Philadelphia becoming recognized as the most sustainable city in America
