A NEIGHBORHOOD IN TRANSITION
This evening, our facility hosted the new Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania. As COO of the largest private employer in Philadelphia, one of his main dilemmas will be how to wield the power of a giant in a West Philadelphia community that is at once thankful for PENN's largesse as well as stung by injustices past and present.
Gentrification is a word used to describe neighborhoods in transition. Something catalyzes improvement, whether it is government policy or new housing starts or private investment. Families of higher and higher income level move in. Physical plant improves. Real estate prices increase. Families of lower income are driven out, whether they are homeowners who can no longer afford property taxes or renters who have other, cheaper options to lodge. And unfortunately, this transition is often colored: white folks moving in, black folks moving out.
As an urban Christian and a homeowner, I am conflicted. I moved into West Philadelphia because of its assets as well as its liabilities. This is a neighborhood rich in history and culture. West Philadelphia was one of the nation's first suburbs, as wealthy Philadelphians built huge summer mansions on the western side of the Schuylkill River, to create distance from downtown Philadelphia and their city homes and jobs. Trolley lines were built in the early 1900's, and houses for blue collar workers commuting into downtown began to sprout up alongside these veins. PENN has attracted grad students from all over the world, who, but for a crime scare in the early 1990's, have enjoyed living within walking distance of their classrooms and research labs. And diversity has bred more diversity; new influxes of immigrants from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East find their temporary or permanent homes among the rented apartments in my neighborhood. They mix with a population that is predominantly African-American, and which, because of major job and population loss in the city and a drastic shift in industry -- away from manufacturing and tons of high-paying, low-skill jobs towards financial services and technology, with either high-skilled and high-paying or no-skilled and low-paying positions -- is predominantly low-income.
What a neighborhood to commit to, as a resident and a church leader and a non-profit executive. But the neighborhood is in transition. PENN has a mortgage incentive program that gives PENN workers and faculty cash money to buy and renovate houses in its immediate West Philadelphia neighborhood. (Amy and I are among the dozens of families who have taken advantage of this generosity.) A new, PENN-funded school has opened two blocks from our house; being able to send kids to a decent public school is worth at least $15,000-$20,000 in housing price increases for families; some are buying shells of houses in the area that qualifies for this school, simply for the benefit of a good quality, free grade school education. PENN helps pay for a special services district, which does extra clean-up, policing, signage, and community events. I'd like to say The Enterprise Center has helped make West Philadelphia a place of excitement rather than disdain. New, trendy restaurants are popping up; one, on the other end of our block, has been "the restaurant of the moment" for several months now. And our house has probably doubled in value in less than three years.
What does this all mean for me, as a Christian and a homeowner, as an urban disciple and a community leader, as a proponent of diversity and someone who wants to raise a family here? To be certain, I am happy to have doubled my real estate investment. And I'm happy that West Philadelphia has "buzz." I do not wish, however, for my neighborhood to "tip" in price, to the point that it is no longer welcoming to immigrants and working-class families. Gentrification is such that even if I had total control over everything that controls it -- and obviously I don't; no one does -- I wouldn't know what to do.
How much progress, and what kind of progress, is good? As a Christian, I believe we need not be ashamed of profit. But we must also vehemently advocate for diversity, for community, and for uplifting the poor. So far, at least, West Philadelphia for me has been the best of both sides. But what's next for this neighborhood?
This evening, our facility hosted the new Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania. As COO of the largest private employer in Philadelphia, one of his main dilemmas will be how to wield the power of a giant in a West Philadelphia community that is at once thankful for PENN's largesse as well as stung by injustices past and present.
Gentrification is a word used to describe neighborhoods in transition. Something catalyzes improvement, whether it is government policy or new housing starts or private investment. Families of higher and higher income level move in. Physical plant improves. Real estate prices increase. Families of lower income are driven out, whether they are homeowners who can no longer afford property taxes or renters who have other, cheaper options to lodge. And unfortunately, this transition is often colored: white folks moving in, black folks moving out.
As an urban Christian and a homeowner, I am conflicted. I moved into West Philadelphia because of its assets as well as its liabilities. This is a neighborhood rich in history and culture. West Philadelphia was one of the nation's first suburbs, as wealthy Philadelphians built huge summer mansions on the western side of the Schuylkill River, to create distance from downtown Philadelphia and their city homes and jobs. Trolley lines were built in the early 1900's, and houses for blue collar workers commuting into downtown began to sprout up alongside these veins. PENN has attracted grad students from all over the world, who, but for a crime scare in the early 1990's, have enjoyed living within walking distance of their classrooms and research labs. And diversity has bred more diversity; new influxes of immigrants from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East find their temporary or permanent homes among the rented apartments in my neighborhood. They mix with a population that is predominantly African-American, and which, because of major job and population loss in the city and a drastic shift in industry -- away from manufacturing and tons of high-paying, low-skill jobs towards financial services and technology, with either high-skilled and high-paying or no-skilled and low-paying positions -- is predominantly low-income.
What a neighborhood to commit to, as a resident and a church leader and a non-profit executive. But the neighborhood is in transition. PENN has a mortgage incentive program that gives PENN workers and faculty cash money to buy and renovate houses in its immediate West Philadelphia neighborhood. (Amy and I are among the dozens of families who have taken advantage of this generosity.) A new, PENN-funded school has opened two blocks from our house; being able to send kids to a decent public school is worth at least $15,000-$20,000 in housing price increases for families; some are buying shells of houses in the area that qualifies for this school, simply for the benefit of a good quality, free grade school education. PENN helps pay for a special services district, which does extra clean-up, policing, signage, and community events. I'd like to say The Enterprise Center has helped make West Philadelphia a place of excitement rather than disdain. New, trendy restaurants are popping up; one, on the other end of our block, has been "the restaurant of the moment" for several months now. And our house has probably doubled in value in less than three years.
What does this all mean for me, as a Christian and a homeowner, as an urban disciple and a community leader, as a proponent of diversity and someone who wants to raise a family here? To be certain, I am happy to have doubled my real estate investment. And I'm happy that West Philadelphia has "buzz." I do not wish, however, for my neighborhood to "tip" in price, to the point that it is no longer welcoming to immigrants and working-class families. Gentrification is such that even if I had total control over everything that controls it -- and obviously I don't; no one does -- I wouldn't know what to do.
How much progress, and what kind of progress, is good? As a Christian, I believe we need not be ashamed of profit. But we must also vehemently advocate for diversity, for community, and for uplifting the poor. So far, at least, West Philadelphia for me has been the best of both sides. But what's next for this neighborhood?
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