Halloween in South Philly
Vol. 67 NO. 44 ■ October 30, 2014
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The gentrification of South Philly
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■ Two-week-old
Brigantessa shares a recipe for a popular pasta dish.
The 1600 block of Latona Street currently has three active and as many pending construction projects. Point Breeze is rapidly changing, and residents are considering consequences.
See page 28.
SPORTS
S ta f f P h o t o b y B i l l C h e n e v e r t
A local news feature package dwells in Point Breeze and points to tools for folks feeling pushed out. ■ By Bill Chenevert R e v i e w S ta f f W r i t e r
P ■ A Pennsport girl is garnering kudos as a standout hockey netminder. See page 38.
hiladelphia is growing. To complicate things, a few things are making our growth a little more complicated and presenting new challenges. A few staggering facts: between 2006 and ’12, our city has grown by 58,897 to 1,547,607, according to recent Census estimates; Philadelphia is ranked the ninth-most racially segregated metro area in America; and federal standards characterize 26.9 percent of residents as poor. These are a few facts that Earni Young dug up, a
reporter for the Daily News, whose lead feature on Gentrification last week focused on Graduate Hospital and Point Breeze. One compelling assertion is that “1,097 vacant lots and buildings [are] scattered throughout [Point Breeze, between Washington Ave. and Mifflin St. and S. Broad and S. 25th streets, which] mean there is plenty of room for growth.” Yvette Ousley, an Assistant City Editor and the editor of this story package (as assigned by editor Michael Days), said they aimed “to assess the state of gentrification in Philadelphia and at the same time give people some tools to assist them as their neighborhoods are undergoing change.” “It’s very much
A big reason to smile
about economics,” she added. “Part of what we tried to do was deal with the fact that people coming into neighborhoods are certainly welcome to do that and more people coming to develop helps, but at the same time, we wanted to give people tools to stay in those neighborhoods because if those people stay, then you have diverse neighborhoods.” Adding some great context, the Francisville resident said “we also tried to move away from the idea that gentrifying neighborhoods, whatever color they are, are victims. The people currently in these neighborSee GENTRIFICATION page 10 >>
The masterminds behind the New Year’s Day celebration are touting community involvement. A local dentist picked up a prestigious award in Japan.
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