Real Estate, Gentrification, and West Philly

We chose our route because we wanted to go straight up Walnut Street to see how the environment and demographic gradually changes along a direct road. Upon reaching 54th Street, we took a left and followed 54th until it eventually intercepted with Spruce Street, and finally followed Spruce back to campus. We decided to walk up Walnut because it cuts straight through campus, and is a space that Penn students frequent every day, while transitioning between classes, giving the road an element of familiarity. As we walked further, however, the environment became continually unfamiliar, as the area changed drastically. The neighborhood shifted from the scholarly-oriented confines of the University City, unfolding into the vast scape of West Philadelphia. The social boundaries that were most clear to us were evident in the areas past 48th, as prior to this crossroad the district was conspicuously opulent. The change in socioeconomic demographic was quite apparent as condominiums became rowhomes, contemporary vehicles became antiquated, and spotless streets began to accumulate garbage. This drastic shift illustrated a distinct boundary from affluence to scarcity. Storefronts evolved from hip tattoo parlors and stylish cafes to a multitude of braiding salons and small ethnic restaurants. Relaxed faces of people whose homes we passed became confused, if not wary, expressions of those sitting on their front doorsteps. Abandoned buildings and seemingly empty homes came to be quite common, as we continued our walk, and the number of trees began to dwindle. Our trio felt quite out of place once we passed 48th, deserting the gentrification of University City, that we unfortunately represent, behind us. We regained our ease on the way home, upon meeting 48th Street again, crossing the partition between wealth and need.

We decided to choose Essence of Childcare on Farragut and Walnut on the way up because we wanted to understand the flow of young people in the area, after seeing so many day-care centers in the area. We sat down, a bit uncomfortable because there wasn’t a lot of actual movement in the area. There were two people yelling down the street, which definitely felt a little tense to be around, even though there was never a physical altercation. We did, however, hear a car crash occur nearby and look over to see that someone was T-boned. Most of the nearby folks talking were completely by either incidents, to our surprise. The first responder was a man who calmly walked across the street to check on one of the drivers, who seemed fine. The space conveyed a bit about the kind of neighborhood the young people, who were walking around with their friends by this time, were becoming used to. After seeing the way that people on Walnut reacted, we realized that although disparate from our own backgrounds, they have their own social fabric and sense of kinship. Even the man checking on the driver is a key example of the self-sustaining nature of the neighborhood. Historically, the neighborhood has grown to become independent, not waiting for some city official to help get the job done. We saw maybe a quarter as many police officers out on the streets as we do around campus, and we can only imagine what that does to response times.

What struck us most about the neighborhoods we walked through was the diversity of homes and buildings that were all in close proximity together. However, in some areas, there were very clear, distinct lines of gentrification. For example, on Walnut and 46th street the homes were starting to look much nicer and we noticed some new developments. There was a brand new, modern condo building with a starting price of $350,000. We were shocked when we saw this because we didn’t expect there to be such expensive new developments in the area. Seeing this price, we immediately thought of the effects that this area gentrifying would have on local residents. In the article “Study Suggests Gentrification Has an Upside. Housing Advocates Aren’t Yet Convinced,” Jared Brey discussed both the costs and benefits of a gentrifying neighborhood. However, upon viewing the new developments, we started to really think about the costs of gentrification and a quote Brey included in his article ; “we cannot think of gentrification as good when we know it leads to increased displacement of lower-wealth residents and the erosion of cultural diversity and vitality” (Brey, 3). If new developments were emerging in those few blocks, for those high prices, how many long-time residents would no longer be able to afford to live in the area? Who lived in the homes before they were developed? After the walk, we really started to grapple with these types of questions. Even more surprising, was the fact that right past 48th street, most of the buildings and homes were abandoned and dilapidated. We expected that the lines of gentrification wouldn’t be as distinct and sectioned as they were. In addition to the homes, we noticed that the two blocks of gentrification had many more trees than the streets past the cut off line of 48th Street. This correlated with Ryan Briggs and Catalina Jaramillo’s Plan Philly Article, stating that, “Philadelphia’s streets are not equally green. Poor neighborhoods have fewer street trees than wealthier ones, making them more vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat and heavy rains” (Briggs, Jaramillo, 2). We had first-hand experience with the consequences of fewer trees, as we walked on an extremely hot day. We only really began to notice the intense heat, once we had passed 48th street and were unable to seek shade on the sidewalk. It was really surprising for us to see the correlation between trees and gentrification, and the sweltering effect of the tree disparity, especially since the differences were in just a few blocks.  

• What are the economic drawbacks to home ownership in West Philadelphia, in the context of predatory loans and sharp economic downturn?
• How could we assess the profitability and sustainability of a new urgent care center in West Philadelphia?
• Do long-time residents of West Philadelphia ever get to experience the benefits of gentrification, or just the costs?

• Home ownership map vs. Loan-to-value ratio in neighborhood - This would give us an idea of not just how much home ownership there is in the area, but how much inherent financial stability that West Philadelphia homeowners experience.
• Percentage of buildings deemed unsafe/abandoned - Experientially, abandoned buildings undermine the social fabric of a region by creating social gaps between groups, and also unsafe areas for children. This would go along with the higher density of daycares in the area, both of which reflect needs for safe spaces for young people, especially elementary school age.

Considering this idea of false growth of the neighborhood, we would definitely look to more granular data surrounding loan data across neighborhoods and tracts, as opposed to Philadelphia as a whole. Sourcing granular loan data would give us an idea not just of home ownership, but of housing security on nearby. This fits well not only into situating the present social fabric of the residences, but also the feasibility of predicting the economic fabric of the neighborhood in the context of macroeconomic trends.