Philadelphia 2035 (Pittsburgh, Penn: planting, real estate, apartment)

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by cpomp

I would like to know that too. If you were visiting Philadelphia and remained in CC and its radius you would never know the third world like conditions 1/3 of the city is living in.

I think a big chunk of it is lack of standard jobs and generations of poverty and in general a terribly run city government. They're only focus is affordable housing, when clearly that is not the problem.


If Philadelphia is such a hot spot, why are incomes in every suburban county increasing and poverty levels decreasing, yet the city is stagnant at best?

Yes I know other major US cities have this problem too, but Philadelphia is by far the leader of the pack (for large US cities).

Can't give any more reputation.


On all kinds of poverty statistics Philadelphia is only outdone by Detroit. It's extremely disturbing - and upon moving here and traveling around the city it was absolutely shocking. So many people here either seem completely desensitized to it having been here their whole life or completely oblivious to it as they never leave their fun Center City enclaves.

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

With the pension crisis finally going to rear it's head in the next decade, it will certainly be interesting how everything plays out. The worst thing we could do is have an activist city government that deters business from opening up shop. GSK's refusal to meet with Kenney in London is extremely worrying imo and speaks volumes about how negatively our local government is viewed. NYC and DC can get away it. Philly can't.

Best of luck to you who are here for the long term. Philadelphia definitely needs people dedicated to their fellow citizens and not just themselves and aligned interests.



The city won't be able to nickel and dime poor people on candy drinks and cigarettes to solve the pension situation.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Report: Hunger in Philadelphia increases 22 percent

These negative stats are quite jarring. How can the city and state fix this?

Think bigger. How does the country fix it?

And why are you surprised ? How can a guy as smart as you are think this is surprising?

For a lot of people wages are not keeping up with the inflation(which was very HIGH when I was your age) we do have for starters.

A lot people have to decide about whether to pay their rent or eat.

And the tarriffs have not yet trickled down into some consumer goods.

Locally, it would be way worse if it was not for Philabundance.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer.

Fact of the matter is that the schools in the city have produced an entire generation of adults and children completely lacking in the tools and skills required to be a thriving member of society. It's the same reason for the the poverty %.





I believe its a combination of all the factors you mention. Middle class decay, persistent deep generational poverty, and a lack of training is the right combination of things to lead to failure for a lot of Philadelphia.

The city gained 20,000 new jobs in the last year. Most of them were in the best paying sectors of the economy. The problem is current residents and native Philadelphians probably didn't fill a majority of the good new jobs. Unemployment is down 1% y-o-y, which is good. The workforce grew in that time period too, which means more people are working.

There are only so many things that can be controlled and changed. With the pension crisis finally going to rear it's head in the next decade, it will certainly be interesting how everything plays out. The worst thing we could do is have an activist city government that deters business from opening up shop. GSK's refusal to meet with Kenney in London is extremely worrying imo and speaks volumes about how negatively our local government is viewed. NYC and DC can get away it. Philly can't.

Tell us more about this GSK meeting??

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Tell us more about this GSK meeting??

A businessperson associated with Kenney's trip tells me that Glaxo declined the meeting after receiving advice from industry leaders that it's a good way to send a message to Philadelphia's activist city government: Kenney is hitting London and missing the biggest British company with a significant Philly presence.

Why Glaxo isn

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Why Glaxo isn

Related. Can some of the savvy millennials here explain to me why you guys are not moved enough to challenge boomers like Greenlea in city council?

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Think bigger. How does the country fix it?

And why are you surprised ? How can a guy as smart as you are think this is surprising?

For a lot of people wages are not keeping up with the inflation(which was very HIGH when I was your age) we do have for starters.

A lot people have to decide about whether to pay their rent or eat.

And the tarriffs have not yet trickled down into some consumer goods.

Locally, it would be way worse if it was not for Philabundance.

More shocking than surprising. What is surprising / perplexing to me is how these stats are getting worse. Poverty is unchanged, wages decreased and hunger up.

Yet all 4 suburban counties around Philadelphia are getting wealthier. Even Delaware County poverty rate decreased.

All the improvements and development boom we see in CC and surrounding has done zero to improve the economic situation of the city. That is also shocking to me.

And to clarify, I didn't expect massive changes in a year, but every other major city showed a minor decrease in poverty and minor increase in incomes... Philadelphia had neither... so yes, I think its shocking and confusing as to why this is still happening.

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Can't give any more reputation.


On all kinds of poverty statistics Philadelphia is only outdone by Detroit. It's extremely disturbing - and upon moving here and traveling around the city it was absolutely shocking. So many people here either seem completely desensitized to it having been here their whole life or completely oblivious to it as they never leave their fun Center City enclaves.


Best of luck to you who are here for the long term. Philadelphia definitely needs people dedicated to their fellow citizens and not just themselves and aligned interests.


The city won't be able to nickel and dime poor people on candy drinks and cigarettes to solve the pension situation.

People do not like the Detroit comparison, but it is fairly accurate. Philadelphia is a healthier city and far healthier metro area, but the economic statistics of the two cities are not that far off.

The biggest difference I see between the two is how CC is quickly becoming a luxury bubble offering Manhattan like living. Detroit doesn't have that.

The other difference is how the Detroit metro as a whole is economically shaky and poverty is creeping up and incomes are slightly declining. Whereas in Philadelphia, the gap between the suburbs and the city keeps widening. So that spill off of Philadelphia's poor relocating to suburbs seems to be an anomaly.


And its upsetting that council is focused on ridiculous issues like increasing parking minimums messing up its relationship with Glaxo instead of implementing emergency strategies to fight these economic issues.

[mphilly]

I wonder if another factor in failing to attract middle class households is the lack of diversity in housing compared to many other cities. Some people just want a detached home with a two car garage and a small backyard and Philadelphia doesn’t have much of that. Yes, I know there are neighborhoods that do offer this in the city but not nearly as high a percentage as most other cities.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by mphilly

I wonder if another factor in failing to attract middle class households is the lack of diversity in housing compared to many other cities. Some people just want a detached home with a two car garage and a small backyard and Philadelphia doesn’t have much of that. Yes, I know there are neighborhoods that do offer this in the city but not nearly as high a percentage as most other cities.

Or condos/apartment buildings. So many rowhouses in so many neighborhoods are still being built on vacant land. Seems silly to me.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

Or condos/apartment buildings. So many rowhouses in so many neighborhoods are still being built on vacant land. Seems silly to me.

Agreed, the fear of density (and height) thing is so odd to me.

Having apartment/ mixed use buildings is a far better use of land and more attractive to buyers and renters. it also increases the chances of having a cafe or market as an asset to the neighborhood.

But something as simple as the city investing requiring developers to plant trees or invest in city greenery would have a drastic improvement on streets void of vegetation.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

More shocking than surprising. What is surprising / perplexing to me is how these stats are getting worse. Poverty is unchanged, wages decreased and hunger up.

Yet all 4 suburban counties around Philadelphia are getting wealthier. Even Delaware County poverty rate decreased.

All the improvements and development boom we see in CC and surrounding has done zero to improve the economic situation of the city. That is also shocking to me.

And to clarify, I didn't expect massive changes in a year, but every other major city showed a minor decrease in poverty and minor increase in incomes... Philadelphia had neither... so yes, I think its shocking and confusing as to why this is still happening.

As someone posted above there's a generation or more here who are moored in a cycle of limited skills and poverty which has been perpetuated by lack of good education and good parenting.

When you look at how there are plenty of working class people(including poc) who are doing well, for instance, it makes me think, just like you are, "What the hell is going on?!"

I think the Detroit comparisons are fair. Auto industry collapses and the riot(which they never really recovered from) are huge factors for them. Philadelphia was lucky in that a fair amount of Center City always was and, obviously still is, a core of affluence. And having truly world renowned institutions like the Phila. Orch helped enormously.

I'm at loss as to how we handle the poverty problem. But I do have hope that millennials( thank goodness more of you voted last Tue!!!!) will find some lasting solutions to it.