Notwithstanding the trend toward increased citizen participation in planning, many city governments, even those led by avowedly progressive regimes, are ambivalent about popular empowerment in practice. This case study of waterfront planning in Philadelphia explores how a progressive administration responded to earlier initiatives to expand participatory planning by scaling back outreach efforts, co-opting citizen advocacy, and managing public forums in ways that dampened critical reflection and deliberation. The article documents the limitations of relying on the good intentions of progressive administrations and the need for firm rules and mandates for citizen participation through the duration of a planning process.