Philadelphia 2035 (Pittsburgh, York, Chester: transplants, real estate, apartment)

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

A considerable amount of work has gone in the Beury Building so I don't get this comment. 1301 Market is just up for development if a tenant comes along. The best of those types of proposals IMO is 2301 JFK: 2301 JFK Boulevard | Philadelphia, PA – New Trophy Construction

By "zombie" I mean it's in a state of suspended animation, awaiting revival.

Though maybe I'm mischaracterizing the Beury project here, for I have seen signs of activity at that site lately. But a source I have who is involved with that project did tell me that it had been put on hold for a while in order to work out a few things and that work was going to resume.

[thedirtypirate]

A luminous art space dedicated to Alexander Calder’s work will rise on the Parkway at long last



Amazing. Also glad to hear the Barnes Foundation is stepping up take of it. I love the open design a lot.

[thedirtypirate]

Honestly, and I believe it's partially due to the election, but the over dramatics about recent "problems" in the city have been ridiculous. Especially coming out of COVID, the city has been more lively and vibrant as ever. Yes, we need to improve many things, but the 'sky is falling' crowd has been extra loud lately.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Honestly, and I believe it's partially due to the election, but the over dramatics about recent "problems" in the city have been ridiculous. Especially coming out of COVID, the city has been more lively and vibrant as ever. Yes, we need to improve many things, but the 'sky is falling' crowd has been extra loud lately.

I think the struggles that Philadelphia (and basically all large cities) faced due to COVID was definitely a golden opportunity for the Negadelphians to pounce and peddle their vitriol. The antipathy towards the "big rotten city" was honestly beginning to die out in the 2010s but sadly came back in full force. Intense political divisions absolutely have made Philly a favorite target of the right-wing--no questions there.

As always, so many forget how incredibly resilient large cities are, as especially as time-tested and diverse as Philadelphia. The "chicken littles" always focus on the short-term and literally cannot fathom that success and transition are always longer-term endeavors.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

A luminous art space dedicated to Alexander Calder’s work will rise on the Parkway at long last



Amazing. Also glad to hear the Barnes Foundation is stepping up take of it. I love the open design a lot.

Excellent long awaited news. Should be open by 2025!

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Duderino

I think the struggles that Philadelphia (and basically all large cities) faced due to COVID was definitely a golden opportunity for the Negadelphians to pounce and peddle their vitriol. The antipathy towards the "big rotten city" was honestly beginning to die out in the 2010s but sadly came back in full force. Intense political divisions absolutely have made Philly a favorite target of the right-wing--no questions there.

They also don't realize it brings a negative stigma to their suburb too. They're too stupid to realize that people will just associate with what you are saying with you. With big names like "North Philly", "Camden", "Chester", most are ignorant to the fact that the Delaware Valley has lower crime than Washington DC metro, Houston metro, Chicagoland, and many, many other cities.

I'm upset about the recent crime wave and think new leadership and new tactics is necessary. But those thoughts don't exist in a vacuum. I want to see an updated graph of this:




I would love to see one that went back to 1990 too.

As always, so many forget how incredibly resilient large cities are, as especially as time-tested and diverse as Philadelphia. The "chicken littles" always focus on the short-term and literally cannot fathom that success and transition are always longer-term endeavors.

That's like Market East in a nut shell. It's a construction zone right now. So many blocks are simply closed off with hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment. To think the neighborhood is "dead" is just so arrogant. Philly literally is gentrifying more, building more public infrastructure, and adding more office buildings than it has in generations, but now we are going to say the city is dying because the homicide rate is at high? I don't think so. I was reading an article yesterday about declining urban communities (something that isn't unique to Philly) but I couldn't help but feel it did hit the nail close to the head.

Basic premise: The narrative of gentrification "driving black families out of inner cities" is a lie. People only move when they have the means to move. The black families that had the means to move, just like the white families, left for greener pastures. Having a more diverse socioeconomic base provided a sort of 'social buffer' for poorer families and children. Churches, recreation centers, mom&pop stores provide a place for children to see and learn more of life beyond their own confines. Once the neighborhoods bottomed out, these cultural institutions rotted away.

What’s Causing Black Flight?

and that's my weekly morning coffee rant lol.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Basic premise: The narrative of gentrification "driving black families out of inner cities" is a lie. People only move when they have the means to move. The black families that had the means to move, just like the white families, left for greener pastures. Having a more diverse socioeconomic base provided a sort of 'social buffer' for poorer families and children. Churches, recreation centers, mom&pop stores provide a place for children to see and learn more of life beyond their own confines. Once the neighborhoods bottomed out, these cultural institutions rotted away.

What’s Causing Black Flight?

and that's my weekly morning coffee rant lol.

Very interesting; thanks for sharing. Yes, I completely agree with you. People generally want the same things, regardless of race. Black suburbanization has been occurring for quite a while now, even in cities experiencing very little gentrification. Just as white folks, a lot of black folks just aren't keen on city living; many now finally able to take much better advantage of that opportunity to jump to the suburbs--moreso than ever before.

That has created more issues for the "left behind" population as the article posted indicates, but it underscores the need for more, not less investment in many city neighborhoods, including many more families with higher incomes to stabilize and stem the losses.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Duderino

That has created more issues for the "left behind" population as the article posted indicates, but it underscores the need for more, not less investment in many city neighborhoods, including many more families with higher incomes to stabilize and stem the losses.

Yes, Deep Poverty. That's why I get just a little annoyed on the city v. city board when people are lamenting about "oh philly needs more tech and office jobs". Sure but it's really more about job concentration being not right downtown. Sure, we would like that to change and it is. But overall something like diversifying the labor unions more and creating job training pipelines to any number of blue collar industries that targets those populations is much more important and addresses the most pressing issues better.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Yes, Deep Poverty. That's why I get just a little annoyed on the city v. city board when people are lamenting about "oh philly needs more tech and office jobs". Sure but it's really more about job concentration being not right downtown. Sure, we would like that to change and it is. But overall something like diversifying the labor unions more and creating job training pipelines to any number of blue collar industries that targets those populations is much more important and addresses the most pressing issues better.

Agreed. And I assume you are referring to the endless "best downtown" thread, in which Philadelphia is unfairly (and ignorantly) picked on, meanwhile all other cities are problem free.

The bold part, there is a national shortage of construction workers and skilled labor. Could be a major initiative for Council to get young inner city people trained in much needed skills with good pay.

The Unions also need to drop their racist and exclusive behavior (part of the reason why Post Brothers had a heck of a time implementing their trainee program on a recent project).

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Agreed. And I assume you are referring to the endless "best downtown" thread, in which Philadelphia is unfairly (and ignorantly) picked on.

lol a little. I will always stump for Center City being one of the greatest slices of urbanity and city life in the US. Yes, there has been some incidents lately that have people upset and that's fair, but again, you got to keep the overall perspective that there are transformational changes on all ends of it.

The bold part, there is a national shortage of construction workers and skilled labor. Could be a major initiative for Council to get young inner city people trained in much needed skills with good pay.

The Unions also need to drop their racist and exclusive behavior (part of the reason why Post Brothers had a heck of a time implementing their trainee program on a recent project).

Isn't that the awful part about the world becoming so political now?



I look at a map like this and just think about how many union workers probably became Trump Republicans.