Gentrification of Philadelphia (Darby, Penn: how much, construction, school district)

[MikeNigh]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Uh no. 1.5 is a drop in the bucket. Make the people doing this pay more. If there is profit to be made (which there is) they won't stop.

Wouldn't philly have more to gain from the increased real estate tax? This only demotes the idea of renovating etc. Just keep it easy for developers to build up and people will mostly only get out of the flip what they put into it.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Wouldn't philly have more to gain from the increased real estate tax? This only demotes the idea of renovating etc. Just keep it easy for developers to build up and people will mostly only get out of the flip what they put into it.

Nobody true knows for certain, but possibly. This is probably never going to happen anyway.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by pman

Slash and burn? Isn't that the opposite of developing?
Francisville has a lot of long timers, point breeze is run by poverty pimps.

Long timers in Francisville, yes, but there was plenty of blight and neglect.

[the_curious_urbanist]

Some gentrification is OK, since it improves the image of the city over time. What we don't want is Philly turning into a soulless corporate place like New York, Boston, DC, or SF. Philly can have a balance between gentrified and affordable.

[mrkupido]

I honestly think that it boils down to respect. Respect to those who were there before you. I am pro gentrification. What I am against is "outsiders" moving to these neighborhoods and not respecting the culture/tradition that has been there for a long time. If I do move to a certain area, as an outsider, the least thing I could do is respect everyone around me. Or be a good neighbor. If I want to take it further, I would contribute something to the community or get involved in something that is for a good cause.

Watch this video and watch it til the end because the speaker will show a really interesting clip.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzgB...9MZYRS5c6_DpOg

[pman]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Uh no. 1.5 is a drop in the bucket. Make the people doing this pay more. If there is profit to be made (which there is) they won't stop.

uhh, yes. let's set aside the fact that Philadelphia doesn't have a gentrification problem (it does have a problem with poverty and income) you are still wrong. either the tax will be ineffective because it is a drop in the bucket or you are not being honest and it's a huge tax hike. and the people doing what? buying homes, fixing them up, and selling them? what, exactly, is wrong with buying homes, fixing them up, and selling to buyers who want renovated homes?
you need to be honest what this idea actually is, a way to build more subsidized housing at the expense of those who buy non-subsidized housing

The report’s suggested solution is an “anti-speculation fee” – a provision that would penalize developers for buying properties, fixing them up ...them for profit. The fee would collect $12 million for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund, and could be allocated toward more affordable [subsidized] housing units and critical repairs for current property owners.

Tax hike proposed for
the city already has one of the highest transfer taxes in the nation (4%). Adding another 1.5% is a 37.5% increase in the transfer tax. properties transferred between families are exempt. this awful idea is propagated by the poverty pimps whose power stems providing subsidies to the poor and the left who oppose profit. if you want to improve philadelphia and prevent speculation you will hammer the people who sit on land which is dramatically under taxed leaving the burden to for-profit business and residents

[pman]

Originally Posted by the_curious_urbanist

Some gentrification is OK, since it improves the image of the city over time. What we don't want is Philly turning into a soulless corporate place like New York, Boston, DC, or SF. Philly can have a balance between gentrified and affordable.

those places aren't soulless, they are expensive. and what are SF and Boston notorious for? being expensive and difficult to build supply which drives the price up since it produces a shortage. if you don't want to be boston then make it easy to build supply. we are more than a half million people shy of our population high and some neighborhoods have only 2/3's of their peak population, Philadelphia is not on the verge of becoming exclusive. you can still buy homes for less than $20k

[the_curious_urbanist]

Yes, I know Philly is not exclusive. It's with the fast growth we're seeing in the city we should prevent this city from turning into exclusive places like New York and Boston in 10-20 years. Philly is the only major city that still has character and liveable for all types.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by kyb01

We do need more affordable housing here so that person isn't just being an a$$hat. But none of that is your fault.

The median listing price of homes for sale in the city of Philadelphia is $125,000.

That figure means half the houses for sale in this city list for less than that figure.

Do we really have an affordable housing problem? Or is it just that everyone wants to live in certain neighborhoods? (The comfortable 1946 mock-Tudor row home I lived in off Oxford Circle would list for about $128,000 if it were on the market. It's definitely better built than those newer "affordable" homes whose construction costs were subsidized.) If the latter, well, they're not making any more land, so the law of supply and demand forces prices up.

Originally Posted by kyb01

It's a fact that the city's 10 year tax abatement made a lot of the new development possible. Obviously Democrats passed that. Not Republicans. But the winds of change were going on before that when the Center City District was created and Penn's former prez, Judith Rodin(along with her protege, now Drexel prez, John Fry)re-imagined her old neighborhood(s) in W. Phila. as they were when she was growing up there: A place that was safe and attractive for families with children. It worked! At least in the neighborhoods near Penn.

The tension in places like Point Breeze, IMO, is as a direct result of the slash and burn developer there who seems to have little respect for long time residents. By contrast there seems to be very little hostility coming from long time residents of Francisville who seem fine with new people and new housing.

I have as an item on my want-to-write list an interview with Penelope Giles, the head of the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation, the local CDC. Her stated goal is to put the neighborhood "back on the map," and to that end, her organization pretty much rolls out the welcome mat for builders.

As for Point Breeze, some of the critics of that developer are poverty pimps, and others are children of privilege playing revolutionary, but some of it's the developer's style too.

Just ask John Longacre.

[Mimidae]

Originally Posted by pman

we are more than a half million people shy of our population high and some neighborhoods have only 2/3's of their peak population, Philadelphia is not on the verge of becoming exclusive. you can still buy homes for less than $20k

For how long, though? That tipping point could be reached very quickly. Everything seems to be speeding up exponentially.