Philadelphia Turnaround, how can we further it? (King of Prussia, Franklin: where to stay, crime)

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by pman

the city needs a multi-pronged approach that increases the tax base (it's already done this a bit but mostly on the residential not the commercial side)

Actually we've lowered our residential tax base, not increased...hence the measure before City Council to increase property taxes and/or the sales tax.
The tax abatement on all of that new construction did nothing to help. It's pretty much been spelled out that attracting new businesses to the city hinges on the phasing out of the city wage tax. So far, the Mayor and City Council aren't listening. Until then, limbo land for visible improvements.

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by JHG722

Filled? There is sprawl, but it's absolutely NOTHING compared to the south and the southwest. That's such a completely ridiculous statement and a completely unfounded complaint.

And for the safety BS, I'm a former BU student and current Temple student--I dont feel any more scared at Temple. My point was that crime occurs everywhere. Dont think just because Boston seems more cosmopolitan that you're free from crime.

And stop with the Boston comparisons.

Well, since you're no more scared at Temple, how scared are you in comparison to say Boston in general...or NYC?

In Philadelphia, outside a 25 square block or so section of the core of the city, say at around 10pm, you're not feeling so secure walking down a dark side street. In NYC, you can triple that, In Boston, at least double. It's not safety BS, it's fact mixed with perception.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by niceguy19125

Well, since you're no more scared at Temple, how scared are you in comparison to say Boston in general...or NYC?

In Philadelphia, outside a 25 square block or so section of the core of the city, say at around 10pm, you're not feeling so secure walking down a dark side street. In NYC, you can triple that, In Boston, at least double. It's not safety BS, it's fact mixed with perception.

It's all the same for me. I've never been worried about my safety.

[niceguy19125]

Once again, perception. Your perception is different from mine, and most everyone else's. I've been to Boston, and can tell you the perception of fear of the area around BU is far less than a stroll around Temple. Statistics also support that. Despite the fact Temple attempts to hide them. Temple does not report statistics to the FBI, one of only a few schools that does not. I found these numbers through the Pennsylvania State Police statewide statistics report, probably because Temple had to. Rumor has it that Temple skews stats to report many crimes as "off-campus" versus "on-campus".

Table 9 (Massachusetts) - Crime in the United States 2007
WebFOCUS Message[17]: NO_QUERY No query information to decode.

*** The PA information won't copy. In 2008, Temple had 35 reported violent crimes versus Main Campus population of 25,000.
Boston University had 16 violent crimes reported versus Main Campus population of 31,000. Less than half the rate of violent crime at BU versus Temple with more than 20% higher number of residents. Pretty significant.

[pman]

Originally Posted by niceguy19125

Actually we've lowered our residential tax base, not increased...hence the measure before City Council to increase property taxes and/or the sales tax.
The tax abatement on all of that new construction did nothing to help. It's pretty much been spelled out that attracting new businesses to the city hinges on the phasing out of the city wage tax. So far, the Mayor and City Council aren't listening. Until then, limbo land for visible improvements.

no, that's because the city promised its workers benefits it couldn't afford to pay. I'd also wager that it's not the residential tax base that's the problem but the lack of growth on the business side. as private sector jobs have left the city, it has been offset by jobs in health and education which are primarily run by non-profits. It's also more than just the wage tax, the business tax is incredibly onerous as well. a full 6.5% tax on net profits.

[Deep77]

In an ideal world, we would impose an urban growth boundary and create a metro level government that would administer the Philly MSA. It seems that towns are oblivious to the affects their actions have on other towns. That is why we need to a metro level government. An urban growth boundary would push growth back into Philadelphia and the older suburbs. We would tax those who develop on open land, because the state and townships are then burden to build the necessary infrastructure for these developments. Give tax credits at the federal level to those who buy homes and property in cities and older suburbs. End redlining, encourage investing in the inner city. We would get rid of the idiotic method of funding schools through property taxes. Let's get rid of the localist mentality of the Northeast, somebody needs to tell the mayors of the suburbs that it isn't the 1920's anymore.

[Deep77]

Given the city's current situation. Rather than coming up with gimmicks that would bring suburbanites to spend the weekend in the city through worthless stadiums, convention centers, and retail. The city should use city resources to make the lives of those who live in the city more enjoyable.

We have a lot of vacant land as a result of losing 400,000 people over the past 60 years. According to SUNY professor Zack Steele, if you were to combine all the vacant property and dilapidated homes in Philadelphia, you would have an area that's the size of Center City. That's a lot of land. I am for the city to enforce eminent domain and convert these lands into parks and open space. The city needs parks and open spaces. Places where people can relax and have fun. Steele did surveys of people in various city neighborhoods and the overwhelming majority survey participants want parks in their neighborhoods. We can have parks, playgrounds, urban gardens, even solar fields.

This will not only make the lives of city residents better, but we will be able to tackle a number of city problems. Parks and green spaces add value to property. Some people may even develop equity in their homes for the first time.

It will help reduce crime. By getting rid of abandon buildings, we get rid of places for drug dealers and other criminals to hide. People will be encouraged to get out of the house, thus we have more eyes on the street. It will give kids things to do.

Converting blighted areas into parks is a labor intensive project. Thus there will be plenty of jobs for people in the community.

Also it will be great for the environment, because it will reduce the "heat island effect" on the city. Not to mention the creation of areas for solar panels, that will provide electricity for the people of Phildadelphia.

[Deep77]

Businesses don't solely base their location decisions on taxes. If that was the case, then the center of corporate America would be in South Dakota where they have no income taxes. What business want first and foremost is infrastructure. In the information economy, a city with good infrastructure is one with a lot of educated people. This is where the city's problem lies, only 17% of Philadelphia residents hold a bachelor's degree. In San Francisco, the college educated population is 45%. Even Pittsburgh has a larger educated population than Philly, with 26%. That's where the problem lies.

San Francisco's high taxes are not scaring anyone. The big companies know what San Fran has to offer and they are willing to pay the taxes. If Philadelphia can provide something of value to the economy then the Business Privilege Tax would be a non-issue.

We need to keep Penn and Temple students to stay after graduation. We are fortunate to have so many college and universities in our region. The problem is, we are not receptive to what they have to offer. In some ways we are starting to listen, like the creation of the University Science Center in University City. But we can't stop there.

[Shizzles]

/\ Deep 77, wrong on all counts.

More socialist window dressing does nothing to combat the cities ills. Those fancy parks you speak of would quickly become drug havens after dark. And as for forcing the region to become a whole entity, then people will simply move across that border, or out of the region all together.

Philly fails on three very basic areas, that fixed, would leave the city one of the best in the nation:

-Schools
-Crime
-Taxes

The first two are unfixable until we face up to the un-pc truth that for too long, Philly (and other places) have to sholder the burden of housing the "Great Society" generation whose good-intentioned but ill-planned ideas have created an urban subculture of crime and unachievement. The third is a direct result of the Unions and their stranglehold on the city's politics in general. People should take note of the Cailfornia bankruptcy and be very careful, becuase they're not the only ones teetering on the fiscal abyss.

[Deep77]

Originally Posted by Shizzles

/\ Deep 77, wrong on all counts.

More socialist window dressing does nothing to combat the cities ills. Those fancy parks you speak of would quickly become drug havens after dark. And as for forcing the region to become a whole entity, then people will simply move across that border, or out of the region all together.

Philly fails on three very basic areas, that fixed, would leave the city one of the best in the nation:

-Schools
-Crime
-Taxes

The first two are unfixable until we face up to the un-pc truth that for too long, Philly (and other places) have to sholder the burden of housing the "Great Society" generation whose good-intentioned but ill-planned ideas have created an urban subculture of crime and unachievement. The third is a direct result of the Unions and their stranglehold on the city's politics in general. People should take note of the Cailfornia bankruptcy and be very careful, becuase they're not the only ones teetering on the fiscal abyss.

Spare me with the Limbaughesque BS. We can abolish all the taxes in the city, allowing business a free ride so long as they set up shop in the city, and they still won't come as long as only 17% of the population has a BA degree. There are no taxes in Florida, but you don't hear about Silicon Valley firms leaving Cali for Florida. Lowering taxes is not a panacea. We should lower taxes, but it will not make everything better overnight.

As for Philly schools, it is getting better. The city is graduating more students than it did a decade ago. The graduation gap between the suburbs and the city is shrinking and smaller than a lot of other cities, including NYC. We are at the forefront in charter schools. We schools like Masterman, Girls, and Central that actually out performs most suburban school districts. More investing in schools needs to be done.

Parks increase property value, it is the best investment the city can make. It is in the interest of residents and the city to make sure that parks are safe at night. Even Hunting Park in the badlands of North Philly has seens some revitalization. Also surveys show that people WANT parks in their neighborhoods. They are the ones paying the city wage tax, so why shouldn't they get a park.

The drug havens that you speak of are the abandon buildings and vacant lots. As long as they sit idlely, criminals are going to congregate there. Especially when residents have to hide in their homes. Nothing halts crime better than having more eyes on the street. This can be done by giving people reasons to come out of their house.

The region is already interconnected. No town in the region is isolated from the rest of the region. If we don't start acting like we are interconnected, then don't be surprised to see King of Prussia fall apart in the next few decades.