https://vimeo.com/25112382]
For someone who didn’t grow up in Philadelphia, James L. Brown IV has been a big part of the Parkside community since 1963. After moving to the neighborhood in 1961, it didn’t take long for Brown to get his start.
Brown and his family purchased 4218 Parkside Ave. in December of 1963 and restored the building and its six apartments. That was renovation was only a start. Since then Brown has worked on numerous projects in the Parkside community.
The Richmond, Va. native was a graduate of Virginia Union University and worked as an associate at Keene, Cam and Brown Planners and Architects in Philadelphia. He also worked as a consultant for Mantua Community Planners.
When he first arrived in Philadelphia he saw blocks of row houses vacant and boarded up. He recalled having the chance to buy them for $100 each in 1958. “I got so excited I called my father at home in Virginia and said I had enough money to buy all of these,” he said. Not finished with school yet, he decided not to buy them after talking to his father.
It was during that time when his boss was moving to Tennessee, something Brown had no interest in. “I asked him if he knew of any opportunities in Philadelphia only because I’ve been here for the Penn Relays,” he said jokingly.
It was in 1983 when the Brown’s formed the Parkside Preservation Corporation and had Parkside nominated as a National Register Historic District. Since then, he has worked hard on improving the neighborhood he now calls home.
“I was not a real estate developer until I got to Philadelphia. I started in the medical field,” Brown said. “I was an early researcher in kidney transplants at a medical college in Virginia for a few years after I finished school.”
Brown is a member of numerous organizations throughout Philadelphia including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Philadelphia Historical Commission, Friends of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia’s Historic Preservation Task Force and he is also a board member of the Philadelphia Zoo.
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