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Can someone link an article( in philly.com I think) about The Yard(a NY based company) that has taken over the entire upper floors of the Steele Bldg at 11th and Ludlow? This is fabulous news for that immediate area.
Really interesting interview with Richard Florida (who, if you're not familiar, is the "father" of the "Creative Class" theory/philosophy that cities should do everything in their power to attract highly-educated white-collar professionals and artists).
He is essentially saying that Philadelphia's revitalization is at a risk of becoming too successful in terms of marching towards other cities where housing costs are out of control (i.e., Boston, NY, DC and SF), but that it's still at a stage where something can be done about it:
A small excerpt:
"I was in Philadelphia [recently]. It was a beautiful night and I was staying downtown. I walked over to Vernick Food & Drink, and the first thing I noticed is there were many young people. I do not see as many young people in restaurants in New York anymore. I asked the bartender, “Why are there so many young people here?” He said, “It’s affordable, but it’s getting less affordable.” And I said, “Well, Philadelphia is now in the top 10 on my new urban crisis ranks.”
But at $400,000, you still have room to address it [in Philadelphia]. In Toronto, where I live part of the year, the median price of a detached home is $1.7 million. I shudder to say those words. In this case, young people have been priced out. I think a city like Philadelphia can now address it, whereas I think cities like Toronto and Washington or Boston or New York or L.A. — it’s almost become extreme."
Really interesting interview from Richard Florida (who, if you're not familiar, is the "father" of the "Creative Class" theory/philosophy that cities should do everything in their power to attract highly-educated white-collar and artistic professionals).
He is essentially saying that Philadelphia's revitalization is at a risk of becoming too successful in terms of marching towards other cities where housing costs are out of control (i.e., Boston, NY, DC and SF), but that it's still at a stage where something can be done about it:
A small excerpt:
"I was in Philadelphia [recently]. It was a beautiful night and I was staying downtown. I walked over to Vernick Food & Drink, and the first thing I noticed is there were many young people. I do not see as many young people in restaurants in New York anymore. I asked the bartender, “Why are there so many young people here?” He said, “It’s affordable, but it’s getting less affordable.” And I said, “Well, Philadelphia is now in the top 10 on my new urban crisis ranks.”
But at $400,000, you still have room to address it [in Philadelphia]. In Toronto, where I live part of the year, the median price of a detached home is $1.7 million. I shudder to say those words. In this case, young people have been priced out. I think a city like Philadelphia can now address it, whereas I think cities like Toronto and Washington or Boston or New York or L.A. — it’s almost become extreme."
I will read your link later, but I think people are a little too concerned about Philadelphia's lack of affordability. Philadelphia will never have real estate prices like NYC, I could see the city inching into the top 10 most expensive markets over the next decade, but outside of Greater Center City, Philadelphia is a very affordable city. But in the big picture, if you want Philadelphia to prosper and be seen as word class, then rising real estate and rental rates are one of the negative tradeoffs of that status.
Perhaps a more progressive city government that favors tax/ regulatory changes would help in adding high-paying jobs to help balance the rising cost of living. Until that happens Philadelphia has a ceiling on rich/ expensive it can get.
I will read your link later, but I think people are a little too concerned about Philadelphia's lack of affordability. Philadelphia will never have real estate prices like NYC, I could see the city inching into the top 10 most expensive markets over the next decade, but outside of Greater Center City, Philadelphia is a very affordable city. But in the big picture, if you want Philadelphia to prosper and be seen as word class, then rising real estate and rental rates are one of the negative tradeoffs of that status.
Perhaps a more progressive city government that favors tax/ regulatory changes would help in adding high-paying jobs to help balance the rising cost of living. Until that happens Philadelphia has a ceiling on rich/ expensive it can get.
The elephant in the room is that Philadelphia's footprint of being unaffordable/gentrified is a small percentage of the city. Anything that's not near a good rail line or job center (e.g. lost a maze of rowhomes with no unique amenities) is unlikely to gentrify. And we have a TON of poverty in the city.
The more significant concern is that the disparity between good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods is likely to continue to grow. And many of these places are close together.
Your last paragraph is what is really standing in Philly's way. It's all about jobs.
The elephant in the room is that Philadelphia's footprint of being unaffordable/gentrified is a small percentage of the city. Anything that's not near a good rail line or job center (e.g. lost a maze of rowhomes with no unique amenities) is unlikely to gentrify. And we have a TON of poverty in the city.
The more significant concern is that the disparity between good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods is likely to continue to grow. And many of these places are close together.
Your last paragraph is what is really standing in Philly's way. It's all about jobs.
Of course not all of Philly will gentrify, like every city, but I think the potentially "gentrifiable envelope" of the city is still much larger than the current area of fully- or mostly- gentrified neighborhoods (it seems that areas that were entirely written off 5-10 years ago are now really starting to see more investment, like Point Breeze, Brewerytown and and Kensington. I think if history has proven anything, it's "never say never").
I think the most unappealing neighborhoods to Millennials in Philly are mostly concentrated in the Great Northeast, and there are definitely pockets of the city that need to be almost entirely rebuilt. But for a great majority of the city, even in areas that are not on/adjacent to rapid transit lines, it doesn't take too much imagination to envision more and more investment and densification in the city's commercial corridors (which can be found all over Philly) with a mix of office/retail establishments, as well as either rehabbed or redeveloped rowhomes to make them much more appealing to modern tastes and expectations.
IMO, the structural nature of the city being so overwhelmingly tightly-knit with very narrow streets is what makes so much of Philly appealing for sustainable urban living, and that extends VERY far from Center City. It's a footprint that SO many other cities aspire to, and are actively trying to re-zone/rebuild for, but Philly is extremely lucky to have it "baked in." Also, cities like NY, Boston, SF and DC have all essentially recreated new neighborhoods to get to a better state of repair today, creating amenities and attractive places to live in previous "no man's lands." Philly is very capable of doing just the same.
The economic output potential of Philly is also very capable of bringing down its deep poverty rate over time, and if anything, its relatively affordability should be continued to be shouted from the rooftops as a competitive advantage to high-cost cities that are increasingly hostile to incoming entrepreneurs.
Of course not all of Philly will gentrify, like every city, but I think the potentially "gentrifiable envelope" of the city is still much larger than the current area of fully- or mostly- gentrified neighborhoods (it seems that areas that were entirely written off 5-10 years ago are now really starting to see more investment, like Point Breeze, Brewerytown and and Kensington. I think if history has proven anything, it's "never say never").
I think the most unappealing neighborhoods to Millennials in Philly are mostly concentrated in the Great Northeast, and there are definitely pockets of the city that need to be almost entirely rebuilt. But for a great majority of the city, even in areas that are not on/adjacent to rapid transit lines, it doesn't take too much imagination to envision more and more investment and densification in the city's commercial corridors (which can be found all over Philly) with a mix of office/retail establishments, as well as either rehabbed or redeveloped rowhomes to make them much more appealing to modern tastes and expectations.
IMO, the structural nature of the city being so overwhelmingly tightly-knit with very narrow streets is what makes so much of Philly appealing for sustainable urban living, and that extends VERY far from Center City. It's a footprint that SO many other cities aspire to, and are actively trying to re-zone/rebuild for, but Philly is extremely lucky to have it "baked in." Also, cities like NY, Boston, SF and DC have all essentially recreated new neighborhoods to get to a better state of repair today, creating amenities and attractive places to live in previous "no man's lands." Philly is very capable of doing just the same.
The economic output potential of Philly is also very capable of bringing down its deep poverty rate over time, and if anything, its relatively affordability should be continued to be shouted from the rooftops as a competitive advantage to high-cost cities that are increasingly hostile to incoming entrepreneurs.
I didn't mean "all", I meant a smaller footprint proportionally. In other words, I think a larger portion of Philly will fail to gentrify (vs ALL). And Point Breeze is close to the BSL and Center City. Plus the potential of The Breeze is there. Brewerytown borders Fairmount Park. A clearly large amenity. And the parts of Kensington that are gentrifying are either close to the MFL (aka East Kensington) or the BSL/Temple.
I don't believe that neighborhoods deeply nestled in the middle of North Philly will gentrify much. Closer into Center City and near rapid transit, yes. The number of neighborhoods that reflect what I'm describing are many. And the truth is that Philly's City Council is an impediment. Just look at what's going on in Sharswood. You can't even make backwards s**t like this up.
Another big challenge is parking and transit. If Philly could make the right decisions and run BRT down some of its routes (take a parking lane OUT), you could connect these neighborhoods with job/leisure centers conveniently. I know from living in my hood that parking is terrible and people hate that. But our city leaders refuse to move transit forward and work toward discouraging unneeded car ownership in its urban neighborhoods. In other words, Americans are less likely to live in a dense row house neighborhood with terrible parking unless there is some amenity very close by.
Another big challenge is parking and transit. If Philly could make the right decisions and run BRT down some of its routes (take a parking lane OUT), you could connect these neighborhoods with job/leisure centers conveniently. I know from living in my hood that parking is terrible and people hate that. But our city leaders refuse to move transit forward and work toward discouraging unneeded car ownership in its urban neighborhoods. In other words, Americans are less likely to live in a dense row house neighborhood with terrible parking unless there is some amenity very close by.
There's no question that rapid transit connections could be much, much better in Philly in many neighborhoods. It's not out of the question that it won't be financially and politically viable possibly in an area with increasing commuter demand (say Washington and Girard Avenues) in the coming years.
But I think a simultaneous strategy is to make more neighborhoods that aren't as close to the the BSL or MFL more walkable and bikeable to a much more robust local commercial corridors with amenities like restaurants, stores, offices, etc. to eliminate the need for many people to take rapid transit at all.
That's all I was trying to get across earlier--increase the "mixed-use" capacity of the city. There need and can be many more variations of Passyunk or Frankford Avenues across the city.
I will read your link later, but I think people are a little too concerned about Philadelphia's lack of affordability. Philadelphia will never have real estate prices like NYC, I could see the city inching into the top 10 most expensive markets over the next decade, but outside of Greater Center City, Philadelphia is a very affordable city. But in the big picture, if you want Philadelphia to prosper and be seen as word class, then rising real estate and rental rates are one of the negative tradeoffs of that status.
Perhaps a more progressive city government that favors tax/ regulatory changes would help in adding high-paying jobs to help balance the rising cost of living. Until that happens Philadelphia has a ceiling on rich/ expensive it can get.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA
I didn't mean "all", I meant a smaller footprint proportionally. In other words, I think a larger portion of Philly will fail to gentrify (vs ALL). And Point Breeze is close to the BSL and Center City. Plus the potential of The Breeze is there. Brewerytown borders Fairmount Park. A clearly large amenity. And the parts of Kensington that are gentrifying are either close to the MFL (aka East Kensington) or the BSL/Temple.
I don't believe that neighborhoods deeply nestled in the middle of North Philly will gentrify much. Closer into Center City and near rapid transit, yes. The number of neighborhoods that reflect what I'm describing are many. And the truth is that Philly's City Council is an impediment. Just look at what's going on in Sharswood. You can't even make backwards s**t like this up.
Another big challenge is parking and transit. If Philly could make the right decisions and run BRT down some of its routes (take a parking lane OUT), you could connect these neighborhoods with job/leisure centers conveniently. I know from living in my hood that parking is terrible and people hate that. But our city leaders refuse to move transit forward and work toward discouraging unneeded car ownership in its urban neighborhoods. In other words, Americans are less likely to live in a dense row house neighborhood with terrible parking unless there is some amenity very close by.
Only part of Point Breeze is close to the Broad Street Line. The part where most of the new construction is taking place, over by Point Breeze Avenue (which is improving incrementally with the passage of time), isn't. It is, however, close to one of SEPTA's most heavily used bus routes, Route 17, and lots of people (newcomers and old-timers) use it to get to and from jobs in Center City.
The buses move the bulk of transit riders in this city, taken collectively. Further out, they're feeders to the rapid transit lines for Northeast residents and those in the Northwest who don't take Regional Rail, like me and the head of Government Relations for the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors (who I met getting off the 18 and going down into the subway at Olney one morning a month or so ago), and in places like Point Breeze, they're the principal means of access to the city center.
I agree with AJNEOA that about the only way we're going to expand rapid transit in this city in a meaningful way in the foreseeable future is to adopt a Phillyfied approach to BRT (which would indeed entail removing a lane of parking from some of those narrow streets) - but we are going to get BRT-lite on the Roosevelt Boulevard within the next year or two.
As for Philly gentrifying, the size of the ungentrified territory is so vast, and the proportion of it that is either underutilized or home to low-income residents significant enough, that I think it will indeed bleed off some of the upward pressure on housing costs. But for how long? There's redevelopment of a different type taking place in some of those areas: "workforce housing" is on everybody's lips right now, and at least one person I've written about who's engaged in providing it is upset over that recent rezoning of a good chunk of Brewerytown, Sharswood and the Cecil B. Moore community for lower density, as it removes his feedstock. The change will probably make housing in those areas more expensive than it otherwise would have been had the processes already under way (but short-circuited in Sharswood by the PHA) been allowed to continue.
And there's another problem looming: those neighborhoods in the Northeast and Northwest that currently house the bulk of the city's middle class - and actually account for most of its population growth of late, especially in those parts of the Northeast where immigrants from abroad have settled - could go either way: there's a real risk that they could decline rather than hold steady or climb the ladder. That article I've been working on for Next City looks at one of those neighborhoods (it should go live in the next day or two - I'll post it when it does), and the mag's sponsoring a forum on the issues it raises one week from today in West Oak Lane, another of those neighborhoods.
If you look at who lives in those superstar cities, you should find that it's this middle that's disappeared from them - subsidies keep some of the poor around while the rich take over the rest. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Philadelphia could finally lose the middle that's kept it from suffering Detroit's fate in all those years of decline now that its fortunes are on the upswing.
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