September 29: Gallery getting long-awaited RACP funds | Judge invalidates DRPA contract | Parking demand

After a budget logjam, Governor Wolf’s office is expected to announce $10 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) for the overhaul of the Gallery, reports Jacob Adelman. “It’s critical because tenants have been forced to look at alternatives just because they weren’t real sure what the future would hold over there,” Larry Steinberg of CBRE told Adelman. PREIT and Macerich, the team behind the project, had hoped for $30 million in RACP funding.

A federal judge rejected a $17.8 million contract awarded by the Delaware River Port Authority to paint the Commodore Barry Bridge through a process that was arbitrary and opaque. “The only thing clear about DRPA’s process is that it is deeply and dramatically flawed, Kafkaesque, and in need of substantial reform,” Judge Noel Hillman wrote.

Cities worldwide are walking back from parking requirements. Nate Berg looks at why a 21st century city might need less parking spaces, not more. In Philly, the Guardian piece reminds us, demand in Center City parking lots is going down even as employment and retail grows.

A NewsWorks op-ed contends, “By limiting funding streams for SEPTA, the state is effectively promoting state-sanctioned discrimination against citizens who are among the most vulnerable in the area. An unreliable transit system prevents them from attaining the same opportunities available to other Pennsylvanians.

As we mentioned last week, our colleagues at Keystone Crossroads have launched a new podcast all about the struggles of once-strong Pennsylvania cities adjusting to new realities. Grapple’s first four episodes cover Mahanoy City and coal, Chester and urban distress. Have a listen.