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The reasons the blighted areas are more visible in Philly than other cities are:
1 - Inequality. Median incomes in wealthy neighborhoods are as -or nearly as- high as in neighborhoods in overall wealthier (and much more expensive!) cities yet there is a persistent and significant poor population (mostly in North and West Philly). So you could say the absence of a greater middle class is a reason - and maybe it is because of corruption.
2 - The poor parts of Philly are closer (almost adjacent) to the touristic/wealthy/nicer parts, something that often does not happen in other cities. The areas adjacent to Manhattan for example are primarily either middle-class or upper class (Dumbo, Williamsburg, LIC), as are the areas adjacent to the CBD of Boston (Back Bay area and Downtown) like the South End. In Philly as soon as head North of CC it's ugly. The southern neighborhoods are much better in general though there are gentrifying and decent spots in North Philly and West Philly. Northeastern and Northwestern Philly are also nice but they are more suburban and far from the urban parts of Philly.
3 - Few good schools. Young people move to the city for jobs or college but leave for the suburbs once they have children. The major actually just vetoed the budget because he recognizes investment in education within the city is incredibly important for its development (not just to attract people obviously but to allow the children in poverty who already live there to get a better education and have a better opportunity to overcome their situation.)
I read somewhere that 30% or so of neighborhoods gentrified in the 2000-2010 period as compared to only 5% or so in the 1990-2000 period. So it's getting better. The recession probably hindered the city's progress again, but there are signs of recovery. The amount and magnitude of real estate/commercial investment in the city right now is extraordinary. More than 10 hotels are coming to the city in the following years, including a new Four Seasons and a W, as well as a boutique hotel by Hilton which is replacing the old Four Seasons . I think Philly is definitely headed toward becoming a much healthier city.
P.S.: I don't encourage aggressive gentrification. I actually encourage helping low-income non-criminal families and small-business owners stay in their neighborhoods and benefit from the city's growth. However, I don't think driving junkies, drug dealers, and people with recent criminal records away from the city would be a loss. I don't sympathize with those people who physically attack new higher income neighbors or vandalize their homes.
The reasons the blighted areas are more visible in Philly than other cities are:
1 - Inequality. Median incomes in wealthy neighborhoods are as -or nearly as- high as in neighborhoods in overall wealthier (and much more expensive!) cities yet there is a persistent and significant poor population (mostly in North and West Philly). So you could say the absence of a greater middle class is a reason - and maybe it is because of corruption. 2 - The poor parts of Philly are closer (almost adjacent) to the touristic/wealthy/nicer parts, something that often does not happen in other cities. The areas adjacent to Manhattan for example are primarily either middle-class or upper class (Dumbo, Williamsburg, LIC), as are the areas adjacent to the CBD of Boston (Back Bay area and Downtown) like the South End. In Philly as soon as head North of CC it's ugly. The southern neighborhoods are much better in general though there are gentrifying and decent spots in North Philly and West Philly. Northeastern and Northwestern Philly are also nice but they are more suburban and far from the urban parts of Philly.
3 - Few good schools. Young people move to the city for jobs or college but leave for the suburbs once they have children. The major actually just vetoed the budget because he recognizes investment in education within the city is incredibly important for its development (not just to attract people obviously but to allow the children in poverty who already live there to get a better education and have a better opportunity to overcome their situation.)
I read somewhere that 30% or so of neighborhoods gentrified in the 2000-2010 period as compared to only 5% or so in the 1990-2000 period. So it's getting better. The recession probably hindered the city's progress again, but there are signs of recovery. The amount and magnitude of real estate/commercial investment in the city right now is extraordinary. More than 10 hotels are coming to the city in the following years, including a new Four Seasons and a W, as well as a boutique hotel by Hilton which is replacing the old Four Seasons . I think Philly is definitely headed toward becoming a much healthier city.
P.S.: I don't encourage aggressive gentrification. I actually encourage helping low-income non-criminal families and small-business owners stay in their neighborhoods and benefit from the city's growth. However, I don't think driving junkies, drug dealers, and people with recent criminal records away from the city would be a loss. I don't sympathize with those people who physically attack new higher income neighbors or vandalize their homes.
I agree with you to an extent on #2.
It all depends on where you are heading north from. I'm going to assume that you meant heading north on Broad. It's true that there is a disconnect on North Broad between Vine Street and Cecil B. Moore (TempleTown); however, this space is about to be filled in. Two surface lots on Broad and Callowhill will be developed into residences, making Vine to Callowhill much better. The Spring Garden Greenway will make Spring Garden Street much nicer, although those surface lots are screaming "DEVELOP ME!". Heading further north to North Broad/Fairmount/Ridge, there is a plan in motion to rehab the Divine Lorraine. In addition, there will be a new mixed-use complex called 1300 Fairmount. Ridge Avenue might see new life once the PHA project to convert Ridge into a business route is complete. North from the aforementioned intersection, Temple is the gentrifying engine in that area. I can see North Broad from Vine to the northern end of Temple's campus being extremely nice in the near future. North Broad is now lined with trees and will soon have new streetlights in the median.
If you head north on 5th or 2nd Street, you will find yourself in Northern Liberties. That isn't a bad neighborhood at all. Plus, N 5th Street contains some classy brownstones. I can see the area around Front Street getting much better as NoLibs, Fishtown, and South Kensington stay on their respective hot streaks.
If you head north from the Art Museum, you will be fine so long as you do not go past the upper bound of Brewerytown. I would say that 29th Street up to Glenwood Avenue is pretty safe.
At least we're not like San Francisco. San Fran has sketchy areas within its tourist districts. Philly doesn't have anything like that between Vine and South, Schuylkill to Delaware (I consider CC to be Spring Garden to South, Schuylkill to Delaware, but the former definition I provided is the touristy area). University City is also a very nice area where you won't encounter too much trouble.
The reasons the blighted areas are more visible in Philly than other cities are:
1 - Inequality. Median incomes in wealthy neighborhoods are as -or nearly as- high as in neighborhoods in overall wealthier (and much more expensive!) cities yet there is a persistent and significant poor population (mostly in North and West Philly). So you could say the absence of a greater middle class is a reason - and maybe it is because of corruption. 2 - The poor parts of Philly are closer (almost adjacent) to the touristic/wealthy/nicer parts, something that often does not happen in other cities. The areas adjacent to Manhattan for example are primarily either middle-class or upper class (Dumbo, Williamsburg, LIC), as are the areas adjacent to the CBD of Boston (Back Bay area and Downtown) like the South End. In Philly as soon as head North of CC it's ugly. The southern neighborhoods are much better in general though there are gentrifying and decent spots in North Philly and West Philly. Northeastern and Northwestern Philly are also nice but they are more suburban and far from the urban parts of Philly.
3 - Few good schools. Young people move to the city for jobs or college but leave for the suburbs once they have children. The major actually just vetoed the budget because he recognizes investment in education within the city is incredibly important for its development (not just to attract people obviously but to allow the children in poverty who already live there to get a better education and have a better opportunity to overcome their situation.)
I read somewhere that 30% or so of neighborhoods gentrified in the 2000-2010 period as compared to only 5% or so in the 1990-2000 period. So it's getting better. The recession probably hindered the city's progress again, but there are signs of recovery. The amount and magnitude of real estate/commercial investment in the city right now is extraordinary. More than 10 hotels are coming to the city in the following years, including a new Four Seasons and a W, as well as a boutique hotel by Hilton which is replacing the old Four Seasons . I think Philly is definitely headed toward becoming a much healthier city.
P.S.: I don't encourage aggressive gentrification. I actually encourage helping low-income non-criminal families and small-business owners stay in their neighborhoods and benefit from the city's growth. However, I don't think driving junkies, drug dealers, and people with recent criminal records away from the city would be a loss. I don't sympathize with those people who physically attack new higher income neighbors or vandalize their homes.
Let's get past the notion that Manhattan is homogeneously wealthy/fancy/"nice". There are projects blocks from the Financial District, projects right in the middle of Chelsea, section 8 and projects all over Alphabet City, in the Upper east Side right after you cross 98th street, etc...
Manhattan's poverty rate is 20% and it's home to some of the greatest cheek-by-jowl inequality anywhere on earth.
The other boroughs of NYC are the same way, with the lowest inequality and highest median household income actually being in Staten Island. And of course the South Bronx (immediately adjacent to Manhattan, even though that's irrelevant) is home to the poorest congressional district in the country.
And NYC has many of the same problems with schools that Philly does. The main difference is that it has jobs, jobs, and more jobs for all types of people.
Gentrification is such a huge problem in NYC because many people with lower & middle class jobs - people who are essential to the function of any city - are getting squeezed by real estate costs. Not something Philly should aspire to IMO.
And I don't think that your statement about driving junkies and drug dealers away from the city makes a lot of sense. Crime and addiction isn't "a thing poor people do", or some species of person that you can just relocate and dump somewhere else to solve a problem. Those things are symptoms of social and economic maladies, and the only way to fix them is to treat the root illnesses. Violent crime rates dropped across the board everywhere in America over the past couple decades. And while the exact reasons can be debated, it was a big cultural shift, and not a result of "natural born criminals" getting pushed someplace else.
Let's get past the notion that Manhattan is homogeneously wealthy/fancy/"nice". There are projects blocks from the Financial District, projects right in the middle of Chelsea, section 8 and projects all over Alphabet City, in the Upper east Side right after you cross 98th street, etc...
Manhattan's poverty rate is 20% and it's home to some of the greatest cheek-by-jowl inequality anywhere on earth.
The other boroughs of NYC are the same way, with the lowest inequality and highest median household income actually being in Staten Island. And of course the South Bronx (immediately adjacent to Manhattan, even though that's irrelevant) is home to the poorest congressional district in the country.
And NYC has many of the same problems with schools that Philly does. The main difference is that it has jobs, jobs, and more jobs for all types of people.
Gentrification is such a huge problem in NYC because many people with lower & middle class jobs - people who are essential to the function of any city - are getting squeezed by real estate costs. Not something Philly should aspire to IMO.
And I don't think that your statement about driving junkies and drug dealers away from the city makes a lot of sense. Crime and addiction isn't "a thing poor people do", or some species of person that you can just relocate and dump somewhere else to solve a problem. Those things are symptoms of social and economic maladies, and the only way to fix them is to treat the root illnesses. Violent crime rates dropped across the board everywhere in America over the past couple decades. And while the exact reasons can be debated, it was a big cultural shift, and not a result of "natural born criminals" getting pushed someplace else.
I realize it's uncommon for others to say anything nice on here regarding another's post, but good post!
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