40th Street Community Forum

Welcome to 40th Street - University City's vibrant link between people and communities - a reflection of the robust and diverse cultures that contribute to the character of this very public place. It's the place where the University of Pennsylvania and West Philadelphia meet. It's a place where local merchants, residents, University students and visitors participate in the time-honored exchange of commerce and culture - an exchange that is the foundation for the great civic spaces of our times.

40th Street is about history and planning, about a multiplicity of visions, uses and users. It is part of an evolving continuum of time and people and place. And it's also about the future - about coming to a common understanding of what makes for a great street in the heart of a neighborhood that holds so many riches - of people, traditions, culture and knowledge.

And so, Praxis of the School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania is hosting a series of community forums about 40th street and its role in the life of our community. These pages offer you the opportunity to be a part of this conversation. Here you will find a wealth of information about this public conversation. The links above, and particularly the forum, offer you a place to add your voice to the many who feel passionately about 40th Street.

Welcome to 40th Street - we hope you come back often.

40th Street, 1964

Online Forum for Community Discussion

Public Meeting:

February 17, 2004
7:00 to 9:00 PM
The Rotunda, Rear
4014 Walnut Street

The Rotunda

Praxis is hosting a 40th Street Community Forum on February 17, 2004 - the first of a series of public meetings to discuss the future of 40th Street and its role as a commercial corridor in University City. The public meeting is being held from 7-9 p.m. in the first floor rear of The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street.

The first forum will give us the information that we need to hold meaningful public dialogue about 40th Street. Experts will present information about University City's history and planning statistics along with ways to think about the revitalization of urban streets and Penn's relationship to 40th Street. Citizens will have ample opportunity in subsequent forums to add their voices, dreams and visions to the discussion.