Executive Summary
Building on a multi-year, collaborative planning process
involving hundreds of community residents and other stakeholders,
the City of Philadelphia has prepared this Transformation Plan and
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) funding proposal for the
North Central Philadelphia neighborhood. The requested $30 million
in CNI funding will leverage greater than $125 million in
additional funding and, over the long term, is projected to
generate substantial additional private investment. The Plan's
vision and strategies have been developed in response to documented
community needs and priorities. The target area encompasses
approximately a half square mile bounded by York Avenue to the
north, 6th Street and Germantown Avenue to the east, Cecil B. Moore
Avenue to the south, and North Carlisle Street and North 16th
Street to the west. It includes the distressed Norris Apartments
low-rise public housing development. The neighborhood, home to
Temple University and situated less than two miles from Center
City, was once an industrial powerhouse - bustling with warehouses
and manufacturers such as Stetson Hat and Good and Plenty Candy.
Hundreds of row-homes and commercial spaces were constructed to
house and service the growing, diverse worker population. Until the
1960s, it thrived with commercial districts and arts venues.
Eventually, suburbanization, ill-conceived urban renewal projects
and the collapse of the regional manufacturing industry left the
neighborhood filled with abandoned homes and factories, high rates
of vacant, underutilized land, and a population mired in
poverty.
Starting in the 1990s, the renaissance of North Central
Philadelphia slowly began to take shape, driven by divergent
factors, including: the intensive efforts of local non-profits to
reclaim and productively use vacant land; new private and publicly
sponsored development activity along the Avenue of the Arts North
(Broad Street) cultural corridor; heightened interest in the area
by young professionals moving from the high cost Center City area;
and, Temple's evolution from a commuter to largely residential
campus. The demolition of the distressed Norris Apartments
high-rise in 2011 and the re-occupancy of newly developed
replacement housing was another milestone in the community's
revival. The recently completed Paseo Verde mixed-income
development and the new Mosaic rental development provide further
evidence of the neighborhood's re-emergence. While signs of
progress abound, much remains to be done to create a
well-functioning, healthy neighborhood. Over 1400 vacant and
blighted properties encourage crime and inhibit private investment.
This is further compounded by a 26.4% residential vacancy rate and
a 64.7% poverty rate -both substantially higher than citywide
averages. The Norris low-rise public housing development continues
to be a potent symbol of distress. Other ongoing challenges include
high crime rates, low performing schools, lack of jobs and
services, and a perception that the area is in a state of
decline.
Using a structured Partnership Agreement framework that defines
the roles and responsibilities of the implementation entities and
Principal Education Partner, the City of Philadelphia, through the
Office of Housing & Community Development (OHCD) will serve as
the Lead Applicant, responsible for overseeing and coordinating all
Plan activities and partners. In this role, OHCD will direct all
activities in support of the Plan's vision, which is to build on
existing neighborhood assets, encourage new private investment and
transform North Central into a safe, stable and sustainable
community that has a mix of affordable and market rate housing
options, and that connects residents to each other and to their
neighborhood, downtown and regional opportunities, jobs and
assets.
OHCD will also serve as the Neighborhood Implementation Entity,
overseeing a highly focused set of neighborhood improvements
designed to: encourage new private investments in mixed-income
housing; repurpose vacant lots into productive uses; improve
housing conditions for existing low-income homeowners; provide job
training and placement services through a new Workforce Development
Center; revitalize the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor;
improve environmental sustainability; improve community safety
through targeted streetscape and lighting improvements; and, other
initiatives described below. The Philadelphia Housing Authority
(PHA) will serve as Co-Applicant and as Housing Implementation
Entity, overseeing the construction of 297 units of mixed income
rental and homeownership housing using a Transit-Oriented
Development model. The building program will involve demolition of
the Norris low-rise target public housing site, including building
147 replacement units at on and off-site locations. New housing
development will be targeted to reinforce overall neighborhood
goals and maximize the positive impact on currently blighted
blocks. The proposal includes an application for 145 vouchers to
support relocation needs of existing residents. Asociacion de
Puertorriquenos en Marcha (APM), will be the Lead People
Implementation Entity, coordinating comprehensive efforts to
improve the quality of life for existing and new residents, through
programs and services to promote health, safety, employment, and
education. Working with PHA, APM will provide training from the new
Workforce facility that focuses on health-care related jobs
training. APM will work closely with the Philadelphia School
District and Temple University, the neighborhood's Anchor
Institution and Lead Educational Partner, to provide quality early
learning programs, improve educational attainment and increase
graduation rates for local youth. Extensive early childhood
education, creative curriculum, mentoring and other youth
development initiatives are planned. All of the key strategies
included in the Transformation Plan are quantifiable,
evidenced-based and outcome oriented. Formal evaluation and ongoing
community feedback mechanisms have been incorporated into the work
plan.
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