A Final Entry

I must apologize in advance for the somewhat cryptic and esoteric references which appear in this final entry of Brick Canyon Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the time has come to abandon this small, modest platform and leave it to the omnipotent Gods of Blogger.com to dispose of during some distant, unforeseen date.

To the pageviewers, the image googlers, the site linkers, the loyal occasional peruser, friends, family and to those who once viewed this blog and never returned, I thank you for your mild interest. I intended to capture the zeitgeist of the Philadelphia urban landscape and reveal the unknown happenings between its past and future. Whether or not I failed in my intent may ultimately be irrelevant in an age when anything mammoth and blue is preferred to a cornice, a pediment or a Corinthian column. Perhaps the pictures were uninspiring, the rhetoric opaque, the stories hackneyed, the style unimaginative or perhaps I know better words instead of using four letter words when writing prose, but then again anything goes.

As I abandon this platform, I also depart the city to which I surveyed. A man cannot stand at Speaker's Corner without being in London and so I must move on. Finally, I leave you with an image of an urban planner's vision of a more beautiful Philadelphia and a quote which forewarns of a paradise lost.

Jacques Greber's original 1917 design of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Logan Square and what is now Love Park.

"Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes."
 -- Jacqueline Kennedy's response to the planned demolition of Grand Central Station in 1968