The Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer is concerned about the large-scale redevelopment of North Philadelphia, under the leadership of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Inga Saffron expresses concern about the work of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Sharswood in a recent article for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Saffron specifically notes the changing nature of PHA's mission, as exemplified by the work in Sharswood. "Rather than limiting itself to installing PHA rowhouses on the cleared site, the agency has concocted a grand plan to take over the neighborhood that surrounds the towers - a vast band of territory between Girard and Cecil B. Moore from 19th to 27th Streets."
According to Saffron, "[the] PHA says its goal is to remake the area from the ground up as a model community of affordable housing, complete with a reinvigorated commercial strip on Ridge Avenue," but the plan doesn’t come without risks. The way Saffron sees it, in fact, this is "failed, old-style urban renewal in new clothes…"
The article includes a lot more about the ongoing planning and redevelopment efforts, how they are meant to address concerns about gentrification, and other elements of the redevelopment plan Saffron has identified as weaknesses.
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