Vacant Houses in Philadelphia

Like many cities in the Northeast, Philadelphia experienced a thriving industrial sector in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as the “ workshop of the world ,” Philadelphia was home to a growing manufacturing economy that spurred population growth, which in turn sparked private investment in the housing market and municipal services. By the 1950s, Philadelphia was the fourth largest city in the United States, with a population of roughly  2.1 million . Manufacturing industries employed nearly  50 percent  of its workforce. However, Philadelphia then experienced a well-documented decline of industry and flight of the middle-class and affluent into the suburbs. Between 1967 and 1987, for example, Philadelphia lost over half of its industrial sector, approximately 160,000 manufacturing jobs and experienced a significant  population loss .

While increased investment in an area can be positive, gentrification is often associated with displacement, which means that in some of these communities, long-term residents are not able to stay to benefit from new investments in housing, healthy food access, or transit infrastructure. Another impact of displacement to consider is cultural displacement: Even for long-time residents who are able to stay in newly gentrifying areas, changes in the make-up and character of a neighborhood can lead to a reduced sense of belonging, or feeling out of place in one’s own home.

Progress update as of 2018: The Division of Housing and Community Development made 1,769 home repairs, saved 900 homes from foreclosure, approved $1.5 million in Land Bank sales, helped 11,985 families receive housing counseling, and awarded funding to seven developments with 364 units.

Philadelphia has it's own Land Bank since 2013. The purpose of the Philadelphia Land Bank is to return vacant and underutilized publicly-owned property to productive use and thereby to assist in revitalizing neighborhoods, creating socially and economically diverse communities, and strengthening the City's tax base.

Recently, due to increasing scrutiny over the fairness of the abatement, Mayor Jim Kenney  signed a bill  passed by city council members that will effectively cut the value of the abatement in half starting in 2021. As such, we anticipate more competition for homes with a tax abatement in 2020, before the benefit decreases.

An Analysis of Tax Abatements in Philadelphia.2018. Office of the Controller, City of Philadelphia.

Ding, L., Hwang, J., & Divringi, E. 2016. Gentrification and residential mobility in Philadelphia. Regional science and urban economics, 61, 38-51.

McGovern, S. J. 2006. Philadelphia's neighborhood transformation initiative: A case study of mayoral leadership, bold planning, and conflict, Housing Policy Debate, 17:3, 529-570

Richardson, J., Mitchell, B., & Franco, J. 2019. Shifting Neighborhoods: Gentrification and cultural displacement in American cities. National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Zuk, M., & Chapple, K. 2015. Gentrification Explained. Urban Displacement Project.

 Vacant Property Indicators  - Buildings. 2016. City of Philadelphia.