In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Chapter Two Salesman of Ideas: The Life Experiences That Shaped Edmund Bacon Gregory L. Heller Edmund Bacon wrote ‘‘Philadelphia in the Year 2009’’ just prior to what is generally considered the high point of his career. During the 1960s, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC), which Bacon directed from 1949 to 1970, would become known as one of the most active and effective in the nation. In 1964, Time magazine featured Bacon’s face on its cover—he was one of the very few urban planners of his generation to attain this kind of national recognition.1 In his ‘‘2009’’ essay, Bacon focuses on the problems of repopulating the city, the impacts of suburban white flight, and Philadelphia’s increasing racial and socioeconomic segregation. The essay illuminates a critical juncture in Bacon’s career, exemplifying a hybrid philosophy of his early passion for affordable housing and his emerging obsession with restoring the commercial heart of Philadelphia on a grand scale. This biographical sketch—an introduction to the life and work of Edmund Bacon—traces the evolution of his ideas and career while focusing on a key element of his methodology: the salesmanship of ideas. While Bacon is associated with a number of Philadelphia’s major postWorld War II development projects, he lacked the power, access to funding , or influence to bring these projects to fruition through his actions alone. He always relied on other actors in government or the business community. Bacon’s challenge throughout his career was developing a method for implementing plans in a complex political climate. He learned over his career to market planning ideas effectively to powerful decision-makers, gain buy-in, and make the ideas resonate in the public consciousness. He saw his position heading the relatively independent Planning Commission as the perfect venue for influencing both the public and private sectors. Renowned Philadelphia-based archi- 20 Gregory L. Heller tect Louis Kahn said, ‘‘If your ideas are right, they—the businessmen and the politicians—will come to you.’’2 Bacon, in contrast, believed that an effective planner had to sell his ideas actively in a persuasive way. Kahn called Bacon ‘‘A planner who thinks he is a politician.’’3 Kahn was largely right. Bacon spent his career taking new or existing ideas, filling them out into compelling concepts, and marketing them to key decision makers. One of Bacon’s staff recalled, ‘‘He made a speech to the staff, and in that speech he compared himself to Paul Klee—a great artist. And I said, ‘Ed, you missed it completely. You are a great artist, but you’re an artist in convincing and maneuvering, and doing things cleverly . It’s not the design issue’.’’4 While Bacon was masterful in selling ideas to the business community and political elite, he was less effective at selling them to communities. Throughout his career, Bacon wrote extensively about the need to plan with the public, developing plans through what he termed ‘‘democratic feedback.’’5 However, by the end of his twenty-one-year tenure, segments of the public and the media viewed Bacon as a stubborn and forceful ‘‘top-down’’ type of city planner.6 ‘‘Philadelphia in the Year 2009’’ shows Bacon’s priorities in 1959 and his methods of persuasion as he looked ahead. Through precise argumentation and images, he communicates his ideas as tangible elements of the urban landscape. He shows how these ideas connect as a cohesive, long-term vision for the city. Then, through the notion of hosting a World’s Fair (and an anticipated Bicentennial), he expresses a practical strategy for attracting money, visitors, and national attention to showcase Philadelphia’s fresh image on a national stage. Bacon wrote in ‘‘Philadelphia in the Year 2009’’ that ‘‘a strong idea has a life of its own, and can become a dominant factor if it is clear enough, and if the leadership is stimulated to action.’’ This combination of a strong design idea and the right marketing was the key to Bacon’s success and indeed remains just as important in 2009 as fifty years ago. From Philadelphia to Flint and Back Again Edmund Norwood Bacon was born in Philadelphia on 2 May 1910, the third of four children of Ellis and Helen Comly Bacon. His parents were descendants of prominent Philadelphia Quaker families.7 In 1924 his parents moved the family to the suburb of Wallingford. The Bacons lived down the road from the Rose Valley arts and crafts community, and here...

Share