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Crime - since 2013 - is at 40-50 year lows in Philadelphia. Were you complaining about crime the past 50 years? Why are you complaining about it now that it's at it's lowest point in half-a-century. Of course crime could be even lower, but it's not going to change over night. So many things need to change, like public schools, poverty, etc. - this isn't something where you can snap your fingers and it's gone overnight.
Maybe someone should re-post the actual comparison stats from the PPD for homicides, robbery, burglary, violent crime and property crime. All are at record lows.
I too love the city and spend a considerable amount of time in CC and use Septa/El etc-. My original post was simply meant to ask if anyone else is bothered by these recent assaults ? and to ask peoples opinions as to whether or not the city would continue to enjoy growth or stagnate. Some people have given supporting facts that some growth has stagnated but its not just limited to Philly. Others have agreed that the assaults and such are an issue with them too. All I would say is citizens need to be aware of safety risks and if they become problematic (which I think they were atleast staring in October) that citizens should demand change whether that be increased policing, better education but either way (we) shouldnt sit back and ignore the elephant in the room.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA
What do you suggest people do? We have a weak, institution-based mayor. We have a lousy city council, with built in "prerogative" (aka making decisions they don't own and should have no right making), and we have the standard US of A urban problems that most other countries don't have because they value their urban centers.
I did not vote for Kenney, stay informed and vote against corrupt city councilmen/women, shop/eat locally, ride transit/support SEPTA, help clean my neighborhood, work and live in the city and pay taxes, vote for positive school change, etc. Most importantly, I enjoy living in this city, love my neighborhood, my downtown, and the cool and beautiful things that happen here. I also try to report crimes and fortify my neighborhood to keep the reduced crime out alongside my neighbors.
Only thing you're doing is arguing that the good things that have occurred over the past 10 years (e.g. booming downtown and neighborhoods, REDUCED CRIME, etc.) aren't enough, and then you're telling us we're all in denial. Please, tell us what your brilliant plan is. And please don't tell me it's "not living in the city". Because that does NOTHING to help...
I too love the city and spend a considerable amount of time in CC and use Septa/El etc-. My original post was simply meant to ask if anyone else is bothered by these recent assaults ? and to ask peoples opinions as to whether or not the city would continue to enjoy growth or stagnate. Some people have given supporting facts that some growth has stagnated but its not just limited to Philly. Others have agreed that the assaults and such are an issue with them too. All I would say is citizens need to be aware of safety risks and if they become problematic (which I think they were atleast staring in October) that citizens should demand change whether that be increased policing, better education but either way (we) shouldnt sit back and ignore the elephant in the room.
I am certainly bothered by these attacks. Don't have the answers other then more cops on the street. I have lived in the Midtown Village section of center city since 2005. A few years ago there was a flash mob attack here causing the business and restaurant owners too lobby Mayor Nutter for a stronger police presence. Not one of those attacks here since. A few years before that there was one on South Street. Do not believe there has been any there since. In a big city is seems there just are not enough cops to spread around as needed.
Maybe someone should re-post the actual comparison stats from the PPD for homicides, robbery, burglary, violent crime and property crime. All are at record lows.
Just because crime is 'down,' it doesn't mean there isn't still a lot of crime in Philadelphia - there is. We have a lot of angry maniacs and mental cases walking our streets. Best to be aware of your surroundings and to watch your mouth ... even more so than in, say, Downingtown or Jenkintown.
I too love the city and spend a considerable amount of time in CC and use Septa/El etc-. My original post was simply meant to ask if anyone else is bothered by these recent assaults ? and to ask peoples opinions as to whether or not the city would continue to enjoy growth or stagnate. Some people have given supporting facts that some growth has stagnated but its not just limited to Philly. Others have agreed that the assaults and such are an issue with them too. All I would say is citizens need to be aware of safety risks and if they become problematic (which I think they were atleast staring in October) that citizens should demand change whether that be increased policing, better education but either way (we) shouldnt sit back and ignore the elephant in the room.
Of course the people in this forum who live here are bothered and concerned about the safety risks of life in Philadelphia. But in context, it's less of a problem to the average person than the news would have you believe. I go back to the fact that suburbanites or other frequent drivers never talk about or consider the incredible risks of driving. Nearly 40,000 deaths a year.
More police on the streets would be great in some areas. Other areas, it probably wouldn't make a difference. Plus it takes tax dollars to send more cops on the streets. Especially when crime has reduced so much.
You make good points and I appreciate being able to have dialogue without accusations of lying about stats, being racist, lying about having a son (that was laughable) etc- I'm not sure (as someone else stated) if some of the flash mobs were a result of election anger or what, but as that these events dont involve stealing or any personal gain for the attackers, in my mind its just brutality for the fun of doing it and at some point I'd like to know what we (people in general) can do to stop this. More police enforcement I suppose is a bandaid because the underlying resentment that causes groups to attack innocent people will still be there, I just hope that it stops because even one incident a year is too much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA
Of course the people in this forum who live here are bothered and concerned about the safety risks of life in Philadelphia. But in context, it's less of a problem to the average person than the news would have you believe. I go back to the fact that suburbanites or other frequent drivers never talk about or consider the incredible risks of driving. Nearly 40,000 deaths a year.
More police on the streets would be great in some areas. Other areas, it probably wouldn't make a difference. Plus it takes tax dollars to send more cops on the streets. Especially when crime has reduced so much.
This is the theory behind having "set asides" in the large residential developments for lower income people. While I believe the theory and support the practice, it has just a small impact in the grand scheme of things, except for those fortunate few who have been chosen. I think it can have more wide spread benefit if implemented in the ring neighborhhods as they undergo gentrification.
So two questions for you if you would be so kind to answer them:
- I believe I read the first project approved by the city under this policy ended up copping out and trading the set asides for cash back to the city? And the city accepted this! (I kinda recall the project was in Old City.) That irritated me. Is my memory correct?
- Are there genuine efforts in place to help a portion of the existing residents in gentrifying neighborhoods to stay in their homes? I certainly seems like something I could see coming from the Kelly administration.
Thank you.
The city doesn't have an active policy requiring developers to set aside units in multifamily projects as affordable units. The developer of 205 Race in Old City managed to make the numbers for his project work in such a way that he could make 10 percent of the building's units affordable after getting a density bonus for the site. I think he agreed to this as part of getting the density bonus, though. He's following through on that pledge.
The Kenney administration hasn't put forth any formal strategy towards that end. Some existing city programs, in particular the PHL Tax LOOP program, are designed to help keep longtime homeowners from being taxed out of their homes when values rise with gentrification.
You make good points and I appreciate being able to have dialogue without accusations of lying about stats, being racist, lying about having a son (that was laughable) etc- I'm not sure (as someone else stated) if some of the flash mobs were a result of election anger or what, but as that these events dont involve stealing or any personal gain for the attackers, in my mind its just brutality for the fun of doing it and at some point I'd like to know what we (people in general) can do to stop this. More police enforcement I suppose is a bandaid because the underlying resentment that causes groups to attack innocent people will still be there, I just hope that it stops because even one incident a year is too much.
My sarcastic comment above notwithstanding, of course outbreaks of random acts of violence are worrisome. But as a resident of an actual, honest-to-God, poor high-crime neighborhood, I've come to the conclusion that people often worry overmuch when such things happen.
Maybe it's a natural response in an effort to avoid risks that can be avoided. But I've traveled around my own neighborhood fairly regularly, including late at night, and have even witnessed a fight erupt once while waiting for a bus to the subway. So far, I haven't had any problems at all - and then there was the time when I managed to drop my card wallet on the bus, not discover it until I got to Philadelphia International Airport, returned home in a panic, couldn't find it there, then, as I went downstairs to try to figure out something and start canceling my cards, found the wallet nestled at the bottom of the banister.
I learned on Monday from my downstairs neighbor that someone had found it on the bus and came to his door to deliver it (one of the cards in it was my driver's license with my address).
Basically, all of this, including the fact that neither I nor the friends and acquaintances who have visited me at my home have experienced anything unpleasant on their journeys here or around the area, reinforces a basic disposition towards an optimistic outlook towards my fellow man, though that's being sorely tried now for other reasons.
BTW, the latest instant memorial is still up against the wall of the stop 'n' go on the corner of Chew and Chelten. The candles, however, are unlit now.
Oh, and did I tell you that the neighbor two doors down, who also knows my Harvard '82 almost-classmate (I'm '80) and friend who is the associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, is also the local dealer? Yet I've never seen anything worse than an argument take place at that house.
Ha ha ha. You want me to post a link of the fastest growing states? Look it up and see for yourself
Domestic migration patterns have generally been towards the South and West for some time. I thought your prior comment (to which I've already replied at some length) was made in a strictly local context, though.
But since someone kinda-sorta brought it up, the metropolitan economy of Greater Kansas City has been growing at a faster clip than Philadelphia's for most of the last decade or so. And it's not a fast-growing region either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA
What do you suggest people do? We have a weak, institution-based mayor. -[...]
I assume you're talking about the person, not the office, for our City Charter gives us what's known as a "strong mayor" form of government.
The term, however, refers to the relationship the mayor has to the municipal legislature. A "strong" mayor functions independently of the legislature and can veto bills it passes. I'm not sure whether this is the case here, but I think there are some cities whose municipal charters allow mayors to issue orders much as the President does; in such a case, the mayor functions as the "chief executive" in every respect. (I think such cities are few in number, though.)
In a "weak mayor" city, the mayor is usually just the first among equals in the legislature. In some, the mayor is chosen from the legislature's ranks. Cities with council-manager governments have weak mayors. My hometown is one of those. The city manager serves at the pleasure of the mayor, who appoints him or her, but that person's tenure is independent of the mayor's, and it's not unheard of for a city manager to outlast several mayors.
Of course the people in this forum who live here are bothered and concerned about the safety risks of life in Philadelphia. But in context, it's less of a problem to the average person than the news would have you believe. I go back to the fact that suburbanites or other frequent drivers never talk about or consider the incredible risks of driving. Nearly 40,000 deaths a year.
Most city people drive, too. They never die in accidents? Or is it only suburbanites who have that market cornered?
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