Urban Environment in North Philadelphia

2006-05-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

GENTRIFICATION

Temple University is located in the middle of North Philadelphia which is considered to be an urban area. The area is filled with African-American communities that range from low to middle class and from single family homes to housing projects. There are not many stores or facilities that offer a variety of selection to the surrounding community nor to the community at Temple University. Recently within the last several years there has been a lot of revitalization and construction occurring around the immediate areas surrounding Temple. There have been several dormitories and off campus housing built within a block of the campus and now on Broad and Cecil B. Moore Ave. there is an entertainment complex being built name The Edge specifically with the student body in mind. This makes a lot of people wonder what will happen to the surrounding community and those within it? It seems as though they are being pushed further and further away instead of being incorporated into this revitalization. On 11th St. between Jefferson and Cecil B. Moore Ave. there used to be a senior citizen housing and where Oxford Village lies there used to be row homes. Most of the row homes that were there were being rented out as apartments so what happened to those tenants , they got the boot. What about the senior citizens they were either kicked out or relocated further away from the easy access routes that they depended on. This seems to be more like gentrification than revitalization. Most of the projects that have been occurring don’t have the surrounding community in mind but the student body. For instance on the corner of 11th and Cecil B. Moore there used to be a mom and pop pizza place called Alexandro’s it has been bought out and is going to be City View Pizza another place called kabobesh has been closed. These restaurants have been in the community for years and people have forged relationships with the owners so that they interact together, now that it is being taking over by a franchise what will happen? Now that more and more student housing is going up what will the rest of the community do? More and more residents are complaining of noise and trash and even the elderly complain of students taking their parks. It seems that instead of benefiting everyone its just causing more tension. So what do you do? The likely answer would be to include everyone, everyone wants a better neighborhood and more variety of shops and better quality not just Temple University students.

http://www.edge-avenuenorth.com/

2006-03-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

COMMUNITY MAP

The community is located N. 29th st located between Oxford & Masters St in North Philadelphia right by the art museum area. The community consists of many corner stores and beauty salons and barbershops this helps to make the community somewhat self-sufficient. There are two major bus routes that run along 29th st the 7 and the 48 which takes you into center city and the other through south Philadelphia. The community is predominately African American and consists of low to middle class homeowners and renters most who have lived here most their lives. The block is very clean and the neighbors are friendly and helpful everyone knows each other. Though this is the case the neighborhood is still plauged with much of the disagreeable elements of an inner city neighborhood such as crime and drug use. Now this area and the immediate surrounding areas are being revitilized, there are now more incentives to buy abandoned homes and to fix up homes that are an eyesore to the community. On the corner of 29th & Oxford st there is a mural on the side of one of the homes.

This can also be viewed by google maps by clicking on this link http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1522+29th+st+philadelphia+pa+19121&ll=39.979973,-75.181074&spn=0.003264,0.010321&om=1

http://www.cml.upenn.edu/murals/mbQueryAction.asp

2006-03-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The area that is located on 29th St. beginning at Masters Street and extending to Washington Ave. is the location I have chose as my community description. This is where North Philadelphia and the Art Museum area meet. This community is very unique because it is so diverse almost like two totally separated worlds within one. Just a few blocks north on 29th St and there are no coffee shops or cleaners but if you travel south you find that the area in the north is considered urban and is predominately African American, but once you travel further south into the Art Museum the area is predominately occupied by Caucasians. The Art Museum area is considered to be a kind of high class area. This is very odd because just a few blocks apart from each other there are abandoned house and newly built condominiums. This community displays a wide variety of class, ethnicity, and financial differences. Many of the homes located north on 29th street are the original homes built while south on 29th St. there are more modern and newly developed houses and condominiums. Though these seem like totally opposite places they constantly interact because of the public transportation systems and shops located within them join them like a link. Once you cross Girard Ave on 29th St going toward Poplar St there is a change in the appearance of the neighborhoods they become cleaner and more attractive. The styles of homes are more modern and there are condos and you see a lot more trees and open grassy areas. The roads are better maintained in the area closer to the art museum area which might not seem like a big deal until unrepaired streets are constant on every block also the quality of shops and the variety becomes more evident. There is a whole foods store located in the area along with many other health food stores and gyms. It is truly interesting to see a community so distinct it’s like when you cross 29th street heading toward Poplar Street you are arriving in another part of the city.

2006-03-13T16:34:00.001-08:00

TERMS

Juxtaposition-two things oddly joined together that don’t seem to belong.

Neighborhood-a section of a community that joins together people who live close together, that makes it different from the other parts of the community

Community-an area where people live who share a commonality whether it be ethnicity, class, or financial who share similar interest.

Brewerytown-an abandoned brewery district that is now being revitalized and turned into a housing development.

Art Museum Area-for the purpose of the blog the area extending from 27th and 33rd st between Poplar st and Ben Franklin Pkwy.

Lower Middle Class-this is the class that can be considered working class that have income to put them above poverty but not in a much higher bracket than the working class.

Low class-this is the class that lives in poverty some maybe working but not able to support household on alone income.

High class-upper class that has a adequate income that can support household and allow certain privileges.

Nimby-something that is an eyesore and harmful that is located next to a community

Gentrification-when an area or neighborhood that is not prosperous is turned into a prosperous one via investments in new businesses and housing.

Revitalization-when an area or neighborhood gets a makeover to look more appealing.

Mom and pop-this refers to small businesses that are owned and run by owner and they are known within the community and establish relationships with those who live there.

Brownfield-land that used to have buildings on it that now has nothing there.

Green space-areas that were abandoned that have been turned into grassy areas that are fenced off.

2006-03-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

ETHICAL DILEMMA

Throughout North Philadelphia there are many abandoned factories and warehouses. More than being just a nimby these factories are possibly very harmful to their surrounding communities. These abandoned warehouses and factories have gone untouched for decades, not even the government has surveyed the area. They set next to row homes and provide a dangerous place that children play in and around. Not only do some harm the environment they harm the community by providing a place for drug users to house themselves and they bring down the value of homes that people live in. There is an abandoned electric factory that has been left standing and hasn’t had the proper disposed of. Not only is it being ignored, companies are even developing new housing around it like it doesn’t exist. People walk around these building everyday without every knowing what types of danger that they pose and since they don’t think there is anything they can do about it. The government is not doing anything but ignoring the problem; this is the case until something happens. The soil has not been checked for any type of contamination and also the previous disposal practices of the companies that once occupied these warehouses and factories has not been researched. Many of the lots surrounding these buildings are devoid of any type of plant life. Though something needs to be done the question remains whether or not it would be more harmful to remove these abandoned factories and warehouse than to leave them standing. Many of these buildings were constructed in times where asbestos was used; also no one seems to know if the proper protocol that was supposed to be used for getting rid of waste was used. When these factories closed down the chemicals and machinery that was used seems to somehow disappear and no one has an explanation. This raises suspicions about these new green spaces and parks that are popping up around North Philadelphia, were the once brownfields now being covered up to look like something they are not?

2006-03-13T15:02:00.001-08:00

JUXTAPOSTION

The juxtaposition that I found is located on 31st & W. Thompson and 31st &Girard (also named Brewerytown) near the on ramp to 76; this is only a couple of blocks from my neighborhood. The juxtaposition is new town homes and condominiums named Brewerytown Square, they are surrounded by abandoned factories, an abandoned electric company (Pyramid Electric), several train tracks, numerous abandoned rowhomes, and a trucking company. The area is filled with abandoned factories. These town homes are selling in the $200,000 and up and were supposed to be ready by fall of 2005, but construction is still going on. About 75% of the development looks to be completed. Also one of the abandoned factories has been turned into condominiums which seem to be ready. When on the website these homes were supposed to be for low to moderate income. The name Brewerytown came because Philadelphia used to be known for its breweries back in the 1800’s introduced by a man named John Wagner. As an effect of prohibition many closed down and were turned into other factories like an electric factory and a trucking company. The neighborhood that surrounded the breweries was filled with working class, and as a result of the closing of the breweries that caused a breakdown in the neighborhood. People moved away to find jobs and then lower class to middle class began to fill the neighborhood. The area is known to have some violent crimes take place quite frequently. So in order to make this appealing the way that the development is being advertised is as a whole separate community almost to make it seem apart from the surrounding area “Recognizing the potential of these large industrial buildings, the wide vistas of the City skyline, easy access to Fairmount Park, museums and the Zoo, these companies have begun construction that will transform the former warehouse structures and vacant land into townhouses, apartments and retail.” The previous quote was taken from the website of the developers and though much of this is true it seems that it is distorted to create a better image than what it is.This seems very odd that in the midst of an abandon brewery district and right next to a train track that someone would build a development of town homes and charge that ridiculous price for them. So far it looks as though a couple of families have moved there but there are not a lot of people. The homes themselves look beautiful but are surrounded by trash, dirt lots, and train tracks and an electric company whoever thought of this concept clearly did not think this through.

http://www.phila.gov/ohnp/brewerytown.htm http://www.easternlofts.com/whereweare.html# http://pabreweryhistorians.tripod.com/grandaddy.htm http://www.lisc.org/philadelphia/index.shtml http://www.easternlofts.com/about.html# http://www.westrum.com http://www.westrum.com/pdfs/Brewerytown-siteplan1.pdf

2006-01-28T12:15:00.001-08:00

Recently in New York City there has been an accident that involved a horse driven carriage and an automobile. This accident has caused for many to lobby for a ban against horse driven carriages to be allowed on the streets of New York city. Many ask well why can't they just stay that was only one accident and there are plenty of car accidents everyday? Or why can't they just drive on the street when traffic is at its lightest? Does it seem logical to combine a form of transportation that was used centuries ago the horse & carriages with the automobile today's transportation? Many argue that if the ban goes through than many jobs will be lost, tourism will go down and in turn affect the economy. This really is far fetched because for the amount of revenue and tourist the horse and carriages bring in it is but a tiny tiny portion of revenue. There are several bans being proposed the most logical would be the ban to only allow the horse and carriage to operate within Central park. Allowing the drivers and caretakers of the horse to keep their job with stricter regulations. Many people are fighting on both sides for horse and carriages whether to keep them or ban them, so what do you think?
Check out these websites for more info:
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=7686
http://new.petitiononline.com/ch4ny123/petition.html
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=135
http://www.satyamag.com/sept94/jordan.html