Help with Information on West Kensington (Philadelphia, Washington: spring break, houses, neighborhoods)

[Templegirl]

Hey guys. Im a grad student at Temple and i am doing a community project on West Kensington neighborhood. It's been quite the challenge finding information on this community. I found some info on Norris Square. I need help on where i can find some useful info. I am also going into the community today but i need better places to research online....oh gosh i can't wait for spring break

[sweendog024]

There is a fair amount of information out there on West Kensington and Kensington in general. I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for...but here is are a few websites and resources that I find interesting regarding Kensington:


KENSINGTON BLUES - This is the website of a photographer who takes pictures of the people and places of Kensington. Many of the individuals photographed are drug addicts and or homeless people. Some of these write personal accounts from their experiences in Kensington.

WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD—PHILADELPHIA - This website is a great resource for those interested in the industrial history of Philadelphia, which is very much tied to Kensington.

Whitetown, USA - Book which I have personally never read, but it was apparently a mainstay of sociology classes in the 70's and 80's. Prior to massive white flight in the 80's and early 90's Kensington was primarily a white working class neigborhood and this book takes a look at how the white working class/poor of america percieved themselves and how in fact they experienced many of the same problems regarding lack of investment as African American neighborhoods.

US Census Data - Washington Post, NY Times both have great interactive maps from the 2010 census that show changes in population, vacant housing, ethnic demographics, etc. between 2000-2010 and in the case of the Washington Post one (a little glitchy) from 1990-2010. You can see some very dramatic changes over this period in West Kensington. In 1990 there were census tracts in West Kensington which were 90%+ ethnically white, and today there isn't a single census tract that is majority white and I don't believe there is one that is over 10% ethnically white.

Personally I am very interested in how rapidly this neighborhood changed demographically over the course of 40 years and has become arguably the epicenter of the Heroin trade on the East Coast and therefore understandably probably the most violent and dangerous neighborhood in Philadelphia. Having said that, gentrification is creeping north from Fishtown and Northern Liberties and home/rental prices are rising in East Kensington. Artist communities are popping up in Kensington proper and with the public transportation, commercial cooridors of Kensington Ave and Frankford Ave there may be hope down the line...somewhere...just somewhere beyond the horizon...

[Templegirl]

Thanks a lot i appreciate it. We are doing a community assessment project for part of a Macro-level Social Work class and we are specifically focused on West Kensington which makes research harder because like you mentioned the bulk of the info out there is generally on Kensington. We are first doing a community assessment with all of the general history and detail look of the community and than the second part of the project involves implementing an evidence- based practice solution for the problem that we choose to focus on.
I absolutely agree with you Gentrification is a problem that is creeping up in a lot of Communities in Philadelphia. I was just reading a piece "Recovery houses" by Robert Fairbanks. Really interesting piece that gives a historical viewpoint of Recovery houses which he terms "Shadow state welfare". Thanks for your response. I 'm about to check out the sites you posted.

[Larry Bowa]

Originally Posted by Templegirl

Thanks a lot i appreciate it. We are doing a community assessment project for part of a Macro-level Social Work class and we are specifically focused on West Kensington which makes research harder because like you mentioned the bulk of the info out there is generally on Kensington. We are first doing a community assessment with all of the general history and detail look of the community and than the second part of the project involves implementing an evidence- based practice solution for the problem that we choose to focus on.
I absolutely agree with you Gentrification is a problem that is creeping up in a lot of Communities in Philadelphia. I was just reading a piece "Recovery houses" by Robert Fairbanks. Really interesting piece that gives a historical viewpoint of Recovery houses which he terms "Shadow state welfare". Thanks for your response. I 'm about to check out the sites you posted.

Why would you say gentrification is a problem?

[jf3971]

Yeah,
I found that comment interesting as well.

[Templegirl]

Originally Posted by Larry Bowa

Why would you say gentrification is a problem?

Well i guess i was speaking about the cons but obviously i didn't clarify enough. It is a great thing to revitalize a community and bring financial investment in it but the problem is the people that live in the community are being pushed out of the community and being marginalized. It affects generations that have been there but are forced to leave because they can't afford property taxes and other expenses. Gentrification is one of those topics that can be debated because in reality the most people benefiting from it are those with economic, social and political power. I interviewed a few residents within the community and their responses were mixed. SO i guess the comment i should have made is "Gentrification is controversial". It has pros and cons

[2e1m5a]

Gentrification can be a problem-but moreso in areas where the majority of residents pay rent, like NYC. In Philly, many depressed hoods actually have high rates of home ownership which fosters benefits for both newer and older residents.

[Fern Rock]

It was a kinda rough white neighborhood that changed into slum that it now is because of the cocaine trade. The manufacturing industry in the area was gone by 1990. The city around that time persecuted whites for defending McVeigh Playground, which was one of the last safe spots to hang out for area youth. You can look it up.

[Fern Rock]

You can Google the "Swoop Troop," which was a white gang. No match for Dominican drug dealers with guns...

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by Fern Rock

It was a kinda rough white neighborhood that changed into slum that it now is because of the cocaine trade. The manufacturing industry in the area was gone by 1990. The city around that time persecuted whites for defending McVeigh Playground, which was one of the last safe spots to hang out for area youth. You can look it up.

McVeigh Playground and the white/hispanic fighting of the 1990s is mentioned in Buzz Bisinger's A Prayer For The City. Very interesting stuff..

What do you mean by persecuted though?