Growth and consequences

We missed covering a number of stories while we were on hiatus.  Here’s the first of several news round-ups in which we play catch-up.

The population of Philadelphia neighborhoods east of Broad Street have grown at a faster pace than neighborhoods west of Broad, including in South Philly, reports Curbed Philadelphia. South Philly’s 19146 zip code (generally Broad to the Schuylkill, Lombard to Tasker) increased by 9.8% from 2000 to 2017.  The 19147 zip code (generally Broad to the Delaware River, Lombard to Tasker) increased by 20.6% during that same period. Each zip code boasts around 40,000 people, with 39,917 in 19146 and 40,490 in 19147.  

Some of the population growth west of Broad Street has resulted in the displacement of long-term residents. Point Breeze needs “development without replacement,” writes Claudia Sherrod, a Point Breeze resident and South Philadelphia H.O.M.E.S., Inc. director, in an op ed on whyy.org.  “Over the past decade, Philadelphia has lost a fifth of its housing units that rent to low-income families. I understand real estate is a business but I believe there is a way to conduct business while respecting people of this community.”

And speaking of growth, over in Pennsport there’s Southwark on Reed. The 95-townhouse project built on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Hospital is “…rapidly approaching the finish line,” reports Naked Philly and “the development is completely sold out.”  Demolition at the hospital began in February of 2016.