PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ If national politics is any guide, such "epiphanies" can easily happen when it comes to overriding a veto. Some votes are for show.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^ If national politics is any guide, such "epiphanies" can easily happen when it comes to overriding a veto. Some votes are for show.

Wasn’t there a vote pretty recently (like, within the last year) on some hot-topic item that passed almost unanimously (I believe Domb voted against), but after Kenney vetoed it people like Helen Gym came out and changed their minds?

I’ve met Helen Gym. I do not trust that anything she does is genuine.

[PHLtoNYC]

For Girard: Is this between 6th & 13th or 2nd & Broad? The article may be incorrect with the streets. Why not limit heights on smaller side streets? Shouldn't one of the widest and most transit friendly thoroughfares contain taller denser buildings?

The city suffers from high poverty, lack of jobs / opportunities for low-income residents, high crime rates, and this is what Council feels will alleviate these problems? What am I missing?

Also, gentrification will not stop, so rather than enacting these lame attempts to "fight it" (some of Council is fighting it, even though the bill claims not to), why not embrace it?, while also making sure people in need have opportunities to live and work in the city.

Such disappointing, shortsighted and selfish leadership in this city

[SEFTA]

WHO IS BENEFITTING FROM THIS?
Who are they working for?

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

For Girard: Is this between 6th & 13th or 2nd & Broad? The article may be incorrect with the streets. Why not limit heights on smaller side streets? Shouldn't one of the widest and most transit friendly thoroughfares contain taller denser buildings?

The city suffers from high poverty, lack of jobs / opportunities for low-income residents, high crime rates, and this is what Council feels will alleviate these problems? What am I missing?

Also, gentrification will not stop, so rather than enacting these lame attempts to "fight it" (some of Council is fighting it, even though the bill claims not to), why not embrace it?, while also making sure people in need have opportunities to live and work in the city.

Such disappointing, shortsighted and selfish leadership in this city

Originally Posted by SEFTA

WHO IS BENEFITTING FROM THIS?
Who are they working for?

Their constituents who view Gentrification as something bad, however gentrification can actually bring people and areas out of the depressed state they are in.

I know many POC including myself that gentrification has helped.

However when someone like Clarke uses their constituents fears as a base it leads to things like this.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

Their constituents who view Gentrification as something bad, however gentrification can actually bring people and areas out of the depressed state they are in.

I know many POC including myself that gentrification has helped.

However when someone like Clarke uses their constituents fears as a base it leads to things like this.

A shame more people haven't caught on to this BS from certain Council members (or choose not to). Councilors want to protect their lifetime seats in City Hall at the expense of all citizens. But use gentrification, police brutality, tax abatement, corporate tax cuts, etc., as trigger points to keep their sheep in line, without doing much in the big picture.

Leading a huge city should be a balancing act. There needs to be growth, investment, tax breaks, etc., to grow and improve the city. BUT, leaders must also improve the QOL for low income residents, and protect them from any ill effects of major growth.

There are a few good city leaders, but Clarke, Johnson, Henon, Sanchez are old school machine politicians. Gym, Gauthier, Brooks are the next generation which I find scarier. Luckily, the Philadelphia region is home to some of the worlds most notable companies and institutions, therefore growth will happen, but Council is more a detriment than a benefit in aiding growth and improvement. Maybe term limits would help. (end rant )

Separately, are there stats showing high displacement of low-income residents in gentrified parts of Philadelphia? I can't find much, are all these downzoning moves based on actual evidence of whatever problems they state in the bill?

[PHLtoNYC]

Housing boom displaces fast-food chains in central Philadelphia

Interesting to read the stats and history, but are we supposed to be upset about the closure of these places in Center City? I say good riddance. The Wendy's at 15th/Chestnut needs to go too.

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/ing...hains-central-philadelphia-20210629.html

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

A shame more people haven't caught on to this BS from certain Council members (or choose not to). Councilors want to protect their lifetime seats in City Hall at the expense of all citizens. But use gentrification, police brutality, tax abatement, corporate tax cuts, etc., as trigger points to keep their sheep in line, without doing much in the big picture.

Leading a huge city should be a balancing act. There needs to be growth, investment, tax breaks, etc., to grow and improve the city. BUT, leaders must also improve the QOL for low income residents, and protect them from any ill effects of major growth.

There are a few good city leaders, but Clarke, Johnson, Henon, Sanchez are old school machine politicians. Gym, Gauthier, Brooks are the next generation which I find scarier. Luckily, the Philadelphia region is home to some of the worlds most notable companies and institutions, therefore growth will happen, but Council is more a detriment than a benefit in aiding growth and improvement. Maybe term limits would help. (end rant )

Separately, are there stats showing high displacement of low-income residents in gentrified parts of Philadelphia? I can't find much, are all these downzoning moves based on actual evidence of whatever problems they state in the bill?

What's so deflating about most on council with a few exceptions, is that their entire governing approach is one based on the assumption that their constituents lives won't improve, economically. We are in the midst of the country's second industrial revolution and instead of figuring out how to plug its citizenry into this new economy, leaders are digging in to ensure they don't participate.

Council shouldn't be funding anti-violence initiatives with no proof of concept. It should be funding an advanced manufacturing institute, rezoning parts of the city as KOZ's for light industrial (ex: Erie Avenue), and bolstering programs at CCP that will actually improve people's lives.

It should also be speaking with a unified voice to get the minimum wage increased in PA. So much of what ails people in this state is just the scarcity with which they must live their lives. You don't have a chance if you make $7.25 an hour. What's the point of working 40 hours for $280. Give me a break.

They're really hopeless. They're 'girding' against gentrification while just amplifying it.

I guarantee you that in ten years, there is almost no spare inch of the city below Lehigh Avenue that isn't completely 'gentrified'...

[Busy Bee]

I will not in good conscience sit here and let someone celebrate the closure of a Wendy's. Good luck finding a better spicy chicken sandwich in CC.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I will not in good conscience sit here and let someone celebrate the closure of a Wendy's. Good luck finding a better spicy chicken sandwich in CC.

+1

And didn't I read somewhere that that was the highest grossing Wendy's in the country?

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I will not in good conscience sit here and let someone celebrate the closure of a Wendy's. Good luck finding a better spicy chicken sandwich in CC.

Good one

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Redddog

+1

And didn't I read somewhere that that was the highest grossing Wendy's in the country?

Fast food times in this city are terrible I would rather go to a restaurant and eat. 20 min waits in Wendys and Mc Donalds was the peak of my door dash career years ago

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I will not in good conscience sit here and let someone celebrate the closure of a Wendy's. Good luck finding a better spicy chicken sandwich in CC.

*cough cough* Federal Donuts *cough cough*

[Busy Bee]

^To each their own

[SEFTA]

Checkers Bronx

Don't mind fast food
It's the drive-thrus and parking lots that are being evicted.
Fast-food companies are as into real-estate as they are food.
They will survive

[Urbanthusiat]

^^Exactly. Nobody has a problem with the stores. It’s that they’re auto-oriented, non-urban buildings that don’t make sense in a world in which density is our best tool against climate change. Love to see these parcels redeveloped, we can have a store and people living there instead of one or the other. Can’t wait to see the McDonalds lot on the NE corner at Broad and Girard redeveloped.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I will not in good conscience sit here and let someone celebrate the closure of a Wendy's. Good luck finding a better spicy chicken sandwich in CC.

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Cro Burnham the UnWise?

[Mark in Mount Airy]

I'm a bigger fan of Inga's than many on this site but I was really disappointed at this most recent column. Now I'm on the lookout for her future column bemoaning the loss of Center City check cashing places caused by rising rents.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Mark in Mount Airy

I'm a bigger fan of Inga's than many on this site but I was really disappointed at this most recent column. Now I'm on the lookout for her future column bemoaning the loss of Center City check cashing places caused by rising rents.

Nothing about her article made me think she was "bemoaning" their loss. She was nearly documenting and observing it with some commentary as to why it was happening.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

What's so deflating about most on council with a few exceptions, is that their entire governing approach is one based on the assumption that their constituents lives won't improve, economically. We are in the midst of the country's second industrial revolution and instead of figuring out how to plug its citizenry into this new economy, leaders are digging in to ensure they don't participate.

Council shouldn't be funding anti-violence initiatives with no proof of concept. It should be funding an advanced manufacturing institute, rezoning parts of the city as KOZ's for light industrial (ex: Erie Avenue), and bolstering programs at CCP that will actually improve people's lives.

It should also be speaking with a unified voice to get the minimum wage increased in PA. So much of what ails people in this state is just the scarcity with which they must live their lives. You don't have a chance if you make $7.25 an hour. What's the point of working 40 hours for $280. Give me a break.

They're really hopeless. They're 'girding' against gentrification while just amplifying it.

I guarantee you that in ten years, there is almost no spare inch of the city below Lehigh Avenue that isn't completely 'gentrified'...

+1 for the bold. You can't lift people out of poverty without providing workforce training, and basic skills to succeed in society. No clue why this idea goes over leaders heads, especially the Progressive crowd. (I guess I do though for the reasons you stated).

And the minimum wage issue is an embarrassment on behalf of the Commonwealth.