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Point Breeze is a neighborhood that has reached a crossroads of sorts. According to PlanPhilly.com, this South Philadelphia neighborhood has been officially re-certified as “blighted” by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. According to community planner David Knapton, 12 percent of the properties in the neighborhood are vacant lots.
Point Breeze is also among three Philadelphia neighborhoods that have been designated to receive federal stimulus money through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. This has only fueled concerns among neighborhood residents about gentrification efforts. The Save Point Breeze Campaign was born from these concerns. Their fliers read, in part, “You have seen the new houses from South Street to Washington Avenue with yuppies everywhere.”
Since October 2009, this group, a branch of the larger community organization Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze, has held regular meetings discussing what members wanted for the neighborhood, as well has concerns about it.
“Any time you change a neighborhood from transient to rentals and homeowners, it changes the face, the identity, you know, of the neighborhood, ” said Riley Nollie, who has worked in Point Breeze for a number of years.
One of these concerns is the effect gentrification would have on home values in the neighborhood. In this case, according to one community activist, Betty Beaufort, the median home sales price in Point Breeze has increased by more than 45 percent between 2008 and 2009 to $87,000. Other concerns include putting luxury homes and condominiums in the neighborhood, and with gentrification, gradually forcing out residents who have low and fixed incomes, as well as senior citizens and minorities.
The group has come up with 15 demands for the city’s Planning Commission.
Some of these demands include to keep Point Breeze as the name for the neighborhood, not to allow zoning changes that would result in more condo construction, the city demonstrating a commitment to housing equality by providing money for housing for poor and working-class people, money for home improvements and repairs for existing residents, tax amnesty for longtime residents at risk of losing their homes, improved facilities for all of the neighborhood’s recreation buildings, funding for job training programs, local residents prioritized in hiring for the new Philly Live entertainment complex, and stimulus money used to encourage the construction of a grocery store and pharmacy in the neighborhood. The commission says that it does not have the authority to meet all of these demands.
The Sidecar Café, located at 22nd and Christian streets, is being used as one example of possible things to come. This locale is featured on the Save Point Breeze fliers, along with homes on 19th Street between Carpenter and Washington avenues valued at around $300,000.
There are still a large number of unanswered questions with regard to Point Breeze. Neighborhood residents are still seeking clearer answers about the federal stimulus money. According to Knapton, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program money for Point Breeze can only be spent on housing for low to middle-income residents.
Some residents, like Tony Mione, lack faith in the overall project’s mission and remains skeptical of any promises of an improvement to the quality of life. “They’re wasting their money. There’s drugs on this block, drugs on that block, drugs on almost every block. Things will never change around here”, said Mione, who lives at 17th and Snyder.
At a December 2009 meeting with City Council President Anna Verna and Terri Gillen, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority, community members came up with a list of questions.
These questions included:
–How much money will be allotted to Point Breeze?
–How many houses will be built?
–Where will they be built?
–What will be the income qualifications to live in the housing?
–What percentage of the construction will involve minority participation, such as contractors, developers and workers?
–What are the vacancy and foreclosure rates for the recent market rate housing built in Point Breeze?
So far, these questions remain to be answered, and Point Breeze’s future remains uncertain.
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maybe speak to some of the residents who DO want to see this money put to good use i know my family does
There are many things to comment on in this article. I’ll limit myself to this: Point Breeze in not in ‘Southwest Philadelphia’ Southwest Philadelphia is on the other side of the Schuylkill. Point Breeze is in plain old South Philly.
I live in Point Breeze, and I do want this money to go to good use. But making a list of demands is outright stupid. Do you think the City is going to give Point Breeze money, if there is a list of demands that are 1) ridiculous and 2) not going to help anyone grow in this community. The money is to stimulate the community, it is not to put it back were has been for the past 30 years. The leaders in this neighborhood, have obviously ran it into the ground. They may try to do good, but I really do not believe they can. They are just stuck in their old ways, and “rather see a lot full of trash, then a multi-unit property.” Attend a zoning meeting in Point Breeze, and you will see that they do not want to grow, they do not want to be a thriving community, and they do not want to change. Using the Sidecar as an example? How dumb is that… Why wouldn’t you want a restaurant or bar in your neighborhood, that you could sit down, feel safe, and unwind after a hard days work… Not to mention it takes people to run the bar, which would open up jobs in Point Breeze. Point Breeze does not have one restaurant that you can sit down and eat at, not to mention one grocery store, one pharmacy, or anything but hair salons, and corner stores. Point Breeze Ave is in one word embarrassing. It needs help, major help, and without people willing to except change, move forward, and look past all their negative thoughts, nothing will happen.
I also live in the Point Breeze area. All of the previous statements are true in my opinion. But I AM willing to help and am POSITIVE that I could get others to help as well. I think it’s awful that I’ve been here for so long, and no one’s ever ASKED me nor OFFERED the opportunity to help. I’m just learning of these organizations.
Tanya:
What exactly are you looking to help. If you are looking to help the Concerned Citizens, I don’t think you will have a huge following. The problem with this group is they are looking to keep the community in a stagnant state. I would like to create a group in which we help the elderly fix up their homes, we help businesses move into the area, and we seek racial diversity among other things.
The problem with this group is they are looking to keep the community in a stagnant state. I would like to create a group in which we help the elderly fix up their homes, we help businesses move into the area, and we seek racial diversity among other things.
with regards
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