A new proposal to rename ‘30th Street Station’

You know, I tend to like descriptive names for places. There’s nothing wrong with renaming West River Drive after Martin Luther King, but something about West River Drive had a sort of nice ring to it, especially since it told you where the drive was (along the Schuylkill River) and which side of the river it was on (the West side).

And, okay, this city renames things for people all the time, and it’s all good. Who’s really going to argue with, say, renaming 30th Street Station “Ben Station”, as proposed by Pew Charitable Trusts and endorsed yesterday by Mayor Street?

Well, lots of people. I detailed the stupidity of this idea before, but let’s reiterate: This is the stupidest idea since the Sixers traded Charles Barkley. Let’s do a little imaginary conversation, shall we?

30th Street Station

Out-of-town visitor: “Boy, I know that 30th Street Station is at Market Street, but what cross street is it at?”
Native Philadelphian: “You’re an idiot.”

Ben Station
Out-of-town visitor: “Boy, I have no idea where Ben Station is. Do you?”
Native Philadelphian: “What the hell is Ben Station?”

Inga Saffron’s article in today’s Inquirer essentially makes it known that this is a done deal, and they’re just waiting to make the announcement that 30th Street Station is now named Ben Station. John Street’s rebuttal to the critics? Oh, he has a rebuttal: “I say to those people, this is a great idea, and I wish they would get on board.” Whoo!

Some people have said that this idea is confusing, because it would be too similar to Penn Station in New York. And others have said that we should name it Judge Higginbotham Station instead.

Well, I say no to Higginbotham Station, and certainly no to Ben Station. I don’t think either goes far enough.

My proposal is to take the confusion of “Ben Station” one step further: We should rename 30th Street Station “Philadelphia International Airport.” Then we’ll truly be a world class city.

Street fires up momentum for ‘Ben Station’ [Inky]
Street Wants 30th Street Station to Become “Benj. Franklin Station” [KYW 1060]
Say NO to “Ben Station.” Say YES to Judge Higginbotham instead. [Young Philly Politics]
Dec. 28, 2005: All about the Benjamin

All about the Benjamin

An editorial in the Inquirer notes today that there’s a possibility that 30th Street Station will be renamed Ben Station.

Look, I like Ben Franklin and all: He founded the college I went to, he did something with a kite and key, he invented about a million different things and he wasn’t a player — he just crushed a lot. But do we really need to name every single thing in the city after him just because he was born 300 years ago? Franklin Field, Franklin Square, the Ben Franklin Parkway, the Franklin Institute, the Franklin Building and that stupid statue near Pine Street aren’t enough?

A guy on Livejournal notes that Amtrak doesn’t like the idea, especially due to its similarness to Penn Station — and there are already two of those, in Newark and Manhattan. (Another guy on LJ says “I think it is great. It reminds me of Ben Franklin, famous intellectual and world-class pimp,” which is the most compelling argument in favor of the renaming I’ve heard yet.)

Anyway, even if they renamed the station in favor of Ben Franklin, everyone would just call it 30th Street Station anyway. (See: West River Drive, Delaware Avenue, etc.) And that’s the way it should be. The Inky editorial board is all nice about it, and that’s all well and good, but let’s say it like it is: This is the stupidest idea since, well, putting a Planet Hollywood at Penn’s Landing.

Uh oh.

Editorial | Name of the game is leave it the same [Inky]
Ben Station? [Livejournal Philadelphia Community]