Following the overwhelming success of New York's High Line, cities across the country, including Chicago most recently, are advancing plans to reuse abandoned railroad infrastructure as public amenities. Philadelphia's first tentative steps in that direction were given more definition recently with the release of tantalizing renderings of the SEPTA Spur design, the proposed first phase of the larger Reading Viaduct project.

According to Silvestro, "As a development teaser, the Spur will serve as a crucial component of fundraising efforts by park advocates, Viaduct Greene and the Reading Viaduct Project, and the design's reception could represent a make-or-break opportunity to complete the larger project."