Philadelphia 2035 (Meridian: insure, apartments, lease)

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by cpomp

now now. Maybe one day I'll come back. I have a few friends who were campaigning for Ori Feibush a few years back against Kenyetta, I hope he runs again.

He really isn't temperamentally suited for a Council seat. He's too thin-skinned to be an effective politician.

But at least his ego's not Trumpian. That would have been a deadly one-two combination.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

He really isn't temperamentally suited for a Council seat. He's too thin-skinned to be an effective politician.

But at least his ego's not Trumpian. That would have been a deadly one-two combination.

Were you around when John Street got into at least one physical altercation with Fran Rafferty and
Jimmy Tayoun in council chambers?

Also I recall some shouting matches between Jannie B and Anna Verna when Verna was council president.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

This stuck out to me the most. How do you propose doing that? If you think Lower Merion residents went nuts over the Target, just imagine what they would do if this were proposed.

I'm sure you will explain this more, but if a family making lets say 75k a year (middle class) can't afford Radnor, why should the bottom rung be given a pass? I believe in opportunities for all, but I also believe in the social pyramid. Radnor is the cream of the crop on a national level, call me crazy, but I don't think housing choice for Radnor should be given, it should be striven for.

I'm sure I'll get some backlash for that comment, but it's an open discussion so people are allowed to agree/disagree.

And as you said before, I think the poverty problem should be targeted at its epicenter in the cities poorest neighborhoods, giving out passes and spreading it around does nothing to decrease poverty. Neither does eminent domain.

Are you aware that was a viable working class living, and, frequently, doing pretty well, on the Main Line for decades? Some of those people are still there. So your vision is that others like that should be locked out entirely? Or not have the opportunities that past generations did to go to better schools, etc?

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Are you aware that was a viable working class living, and, frequently, doing pretty well, on the Main Line for decades? Some of those people are still there. So your vision is that others like that should be locked out entirely? Or not have the opportunities that past generations did to go to better schools, etc?

He said Radnor not the entire Main Line. Radnor is almost exclusively wealthy. And I didn't suggest that. But we were talking about poverty in Philadelphia and affordable housing within certain council districts, I wouldn't quality them as working class. Working class/ lower middle class housing is often overlooked, the emphasis has been on those in poverty/ deep poverty, so no I do not think those in poverty should be given vouchers for a place like Radnor. Maybe a little classist, but feel free to debate.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

He really isn't temperamentally suited for a Council seat. He's too thin-skinned to be an effective politician.

Still . . . he’s a better pick than Johnson.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by cpomp

This stuck out to me the most. How do you propose doing that? If you think Lower Merion residents went nuts over the Target, just imagine what they would do if this were proposed.

I'm sure you will explain this more, but if a family making lets say 75k a year (middle class) can't afford Radnor, why should the bottom rung be given a pass? I believe in opportunities for all, but I also believe in the social pyramid. Radnor is the cream of the crop on a national level, call me crazy, but I don't think housing choice for Radnor should be given, it should be striven for.

I'm sure I'll get some backlash for that comment, but it's an open discussion so people are allowed to agree/disagree.

And as you said before, I think the poverty problem should be targeted at its epicenter in the cities poorest neighborhoods, giving out passes and spreading it around does nothing to decrease poverty. Neither does eminent domain.

Eminent domain certainly doesn't do anything to decrease poverty, but deconcentrating it does.

Here's why: Since we absolutely refuse to devote a disproportionate share of society's resources to the institutions that might promote upward mobility in poor neighborhoods, having poor people in better-off ones improves their life chances. There's been several studies on how low-income people fare in neighborhoods that have gentrified that bear out this observation.

That's the argument for "Housing Choice in Radnor" in a nutshell. (By the way, I got a good chuckle out of Councilman Allan Domb, who's by far the best addition to Council in the last election, when I laid that phrase on him at an event recently. He was laughing with me, not at me.)

There's a book that came out from Brookings this year called "Dream Hoarders" that argues that the root of the problem of our increasingly less socially mobile society is not the One Percent but the Twenty - the bottom segment of the richest Americans who still consider themselves middle class. As the title should tip you off to, this book claims that they engineer things so that all the things that promote entry into the upper reaches of the middle class remain in their hands - and not within reach of the poor.

It may take radical surgery - social dynamite if you will - to remove the blockage.

I haven't read the book yet but want to.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by cpomp

He said Radnor not the entire Main Line. Radnor is almost exclusively wealthy. And I didn't suggest that. But we were talking about poverty in Philadelphia and affordable housing within certain council districts, I wouldn't quality them as working class. Working class/ lower middle class housing is often overlooked, the emphasis has been on those in poverty/ deep poverty, so no I do not think those in poverty should be given vouchers for a place like Radnor. Maybe a little classist, but feel free to debate.

You need to come back for an extended visit.

"Workforce housing" is the flavor of the month when it comes to policy. Council President Clarke announced an initiative to produce more of this stuff in the fall of 2016, and several local developers signed up to build projects under it.

I know several developers who either build or want to build in that space. One such developer also builds market-rate housing.

The upper limit for sale prices under the city initiative is $239k. The program works by disposing of city-owned vacant land for a song. That gives the builder the subsidy needed to make the numbers work on building the new housing.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Still . . . he’s a better pick than Johnson.

Johnson is way worse than Anna Verna who held that seat for ages before him. Wasn't expecting him to be such a disappointment. Sigh.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Eminent domain certainly doesn't do anything to decrease poverty, but deconcentrating it does.

Here's why: Since we absolutely refuse to devote a disproportionate share of society's resources to the institutions that might promote upward mobility in poor neighborhoods, having poor people in better-off ones improves their life chances. There's been several studies on how low-income people fare in neighborhoods that have gentrified that bear out this observation.

That's the argument for "Housing Choice in Radnor" in a nutshell.

This makes sense. Plus, the children of these low income families would be educated in Radnor schools.

[Pine to Vine]

A mixed-use project at 59th and Market in West Philly has received a $5M grant during this cycle of development grants: Affordable developer's West Philly project is city's biggest recipient of state development grant.

Down the page, you’ll find Dranoff has received another $1.4M for the SLS project at Broad and Spruce. He’s now received $2.4M of his total of $20M he’s been seeking. If he’s not ready to begin development, I’d sure like to see that ugly hole filled in and turned into a pocket park until Dranoff has received enough of our tax dollars to line his pocket.