Let's stay on this neighborhood theme with which Wendy started the day - at the stroke of midnight.
In today's Daily News, Dan Geringer has more information about today's PhillyBlocks Conference 2007. It appearas to be another star-studded affair:
PhillyBlocks Conference 2007 will see grassroots neighborhood people brainstorming with Mayor Street, mayoral candidates Michael Nutter and Al Taubenberger, state Rep. Dwight Evans, interim school district CEO Tom Brady and an all-star cast of social-service leaders to make Philadelphia the "Next Great City" by addressing its critical problems.
Maybe they'll discuss ways to address people's fears of gentrification, a subject that gets about 2300 very passionate words in today's Philadelphia Tribune. Where some see gentrification, and the accompanying rise in property values, as the positive result of attempts to clean up, redevelop and secure once run-down or transitional neighborhoods, some long-time residents only see a tax bill which may force them from their homes. (Not to mention all those whipper snappers who want to plant those godforsaken trees.)
It seems to have actually gotten to the point where those residents are seeking to take action to prevent gentrification in much the same way as inner-ring suburban residents sometimes try to keep lower income city folk out of their neighborhoods:
For Elliott and the others gathered in the South Philadelphia community center, gentrification wasn’t an abstract socioeconomic problem. They’ve felt its pinch.
Approximately 10 residents meet regularly to throw around ways they can combat the encroachment on their neighborhoods.
They represent neighborhoods across the city – places like South Philadelphia, where they met that day, north to Brewerytown and west to embattled communities like those near 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue.
In South Philadelphia, a rising tide of property values and rents in Center City has put more pressure on residents as people priced out of Center City move south, forcing up values, and taxes, there.
The article makes several good points about the possible ill effects of rising property values on renters and homeowners with low or fixed incomes. Here's yet another one of those issues that makes me glad I'm not in the next mayor's shoes. This one's especially tough since it's a case of something happening that's theoretically positive for the city as a whole but intensely bad for many individuals. Individuals like Ronald Elliot:
He was faced with the loss of his home on South 22nd Street for $1,000 in back taxes he was unable to pay.
“The city has let a lot of people owe money, but they won’t let me,” he said. “I owe $1,000. They sold my house to a group of lawyers. If I miss two payments they’ll sell my house for $1,000.”
He’s not sure what he’ll do, but he’s not going to lose the roof over his head without a fight. The problem as Elliott sees it is that there are so few resources available for people in financial trouble.
City officials have handed out millions in tax incentives and economic development initiatives aimed at attracting businesses and drawing newcomers, he said, but seem to have few programs to help long-time residents.
In fact, from Elliott’s perspective long-time residents are being punished for their loyalty, because the city turns to individual taxpayers to make up the losses incurred by such incentives.
“They’re giving away so much money they are doing anything to draw in money from anywhere,” he said.
In a conversation with Brett Mandel a couple days ago, he mention that in the issue of Full Value Assessment or property, there's going to be some winners and some losers. He agreed that their are some policies that can be enacted to soften the blow of Full Value Assessment but that really only changes, a little, who wins and who loses. The same is true for the closely related issues of 10-year tax abatement, gentrification and rising property values. Check out the Tribune article, it's filled with plenty of insightful stories of people who represent the "losers."