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Source: Philadelphia Daily News
Date: October 17, 2005
Byline: Editorial

Edmund Bacon: The First Citizen

Giving Thanks To The Father Of Modern Philadelphia

The last few weeks have been tough ones for Philadelphia, as a number of civic leaders have passed away.

First, local ACLU head Stefan Presser, who devoted his life to the protection of civil rights. Then C. DeLores Tucker, the flamboyant advocate for equal rights for women and minorities. A few days later, Robert Montgomery Scott, the Main Line philanthropist and devoted exponent of the arts.

It's as if an entire generation of Philadelphia's most impassioned leadership is disappearing before our eyes.

Last week's loss just deepens the sense of deprivation.

Edmund Bacon was the father of modern-day Philadelphia. As the city's chief planning director for 21 years, he left his mark on this city like no politician or captain of industry ever could.

He took a city that, through its haphazard growth, was betraying William Penn's plan for a town in harmony with nature and with the nature of man. Bacon dragged Philadelphia kicking and screaming into the 20th century, rescuing it from its own worst instincts.

Just take a walking tour of the city and behold his works.

From the office high-rises of Penn Center, to the retail magnet that is Market East and the Gallery, to the charm of Society Hill that brought a vibrant middle- and upper-class to Center City, to the vastness of Independence Mall, Bacon had a hand in creating all the modern spaces that now define Philadelphia – for good and for ill.

Any honest assessment would have to conclude that Bacon's vision for the city had its imperfections. While grand on paper, some of his projects ended up austere and lifeless. Even bland.

And in his later years, crotchety and acerbic, he spent more time standing in the way of progress than promoting it. Philadelphia would not have a skyline if Bacon had had his way. Independence Mall would have remained an empty expanse.

Yet Bacon, by way of his brilliance, ego and force of will, changed the face of Philadelphia and made it a vibrant force among American cities.

Sadly, no one has emerged with the same vigor to reshape this city for the 21st century. Since Bacon stepped down as planning director in 1970, Philadelphia has been somewhat at a loss on what to do next. After decades of Bacon's strong leadership, the city has been timid about its future, as we endlessly debate what to do with the Parkway or Penn's Landing or even the Gallery.

Bacon had his faults. But he had a brawny and bold vision and the energy to make that vision a reality. His departure just underscores how much Philadelphia needs an Edmund Bacon right now.

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