STAFF EDITORIAL: U. needs expansion policy

Putting 4106 Locust Street to academic use is fine, but Penn's long-term vision for the area must be clarified. And it is Penn's implicit but all important commitment to keeping the campus' western boundary at 40th Street that has made the relationship work. Now, with the announcement of plans to use a newly purchased building at 4106 Locust Street for academic purposes, it is time for Penn to make its implicit commitment an explicit one. With a neighborhood to the west of campus and largely abandoned industrial infrastructure to the east, Penn's stated desire to focus on expanding toward the Schuylkill makes perfect sense. And Penn's demonstrated commitment to revitalizing the West Philadelphia community through home-ownership incentives, cleaner streets, new schools and a variety of other measures is laudable. But given the troubled history of University-community relations, neighbors are justified in feeling slightly uneasy at news that Penn is planning to use a building in the middle of the neighborhood for academic purposes. For that reason alone, the University should have known better than to handle the recent announcement in the manner that it did. To assuage those fears -- even if they are entirely groundless -- the University needs to be open with its neighbors, and clearly articulate when and where it will consider westward expansion of academic facilities. But Penn's relationship with the community -- and, ultimately, the success of its revitalization efforts -- will only suffer if the community sees the University as an unpredictable adversary rather than a friend.

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