A Righteous Rant and Solutions
Philly: Blighted Blocks, and Wealth Disparities Fuel High Crime and Hood Hostility — WIP
Philly Summer 2022: The streets are hot and not just from the sun
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The streets of Philly are hot and not just from the sun. Crime and inflation are at a all time high and people are sick and tired of the tale of two cities (Dickens).
I, like most of my family and friends have a love hate relationship with Philly. I love our food scene, music and art community. We’re the home of abolitionist movement, the Liberty Bell, and Patti Labelle, The Art Museum and “The Rocky Steps”, Boathouse Row, The Avenue of the Arts, Freedom Theatre and countless museums. We have one of the biggest ports and a beautiful skyline. But it’s always been a rough and tough place if you don’t have a lot of money, honey.
I’ve worked and lived most of my life in Center City, West and North Philadelphia and it’s been a financial and emotional rollercoaster. I went to college, fell in love and raised my family here. I forged my career and made lifelong friends and connections here.
Now, my children go to college in Philadelphia — one of the best. Yet, every day I fight the urge to leave. They’re home for the summer and it’s pure torture. I am terrified every time they leave the house in fear of them getting shot, but staying home isn’t peaceful either.
This is the Philly me and my family sees as we travel to and from our home in one of the hood adjacent neighborhoods. We’re plagued by abandoned houses, dirty, pothole riddled streets and lack of green space.
I wrote about the good people in Philadelphia’s neighborhood and there are a lot of us — but it doesn’t make it any less depressing. We have over 40,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia and although studies have shown green spaces improve health outcomes and reduce gun violence by 29% — this isn’t a an investment priority for the City.
Imagine what Philadelphia would look and feel like if the City targeted the high crime…
