This is from the website of the "Neighbors Opposed to the Neighborhood Improvement District" (NONID) website. (_www.nonid.blogspot.com_ (http://www.nonid.blogspot.com) ). ============================================================ The University City District is crediting its "public space maintenance" and "safety ambassador" programs for - among other things - a reduction in crime in the area. But, writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer of January 15 2007, Gregory Heller of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission gives the lion's share of the credit to "reinvestment in the neighborhoods." In the case of University City, much of that reinvestment has been done by the investors who own rental properties - the very folks UCD is demonizing and saying should now "pay the neighborhood back."
Here are some excerpts from Mr Heller's article: This poll and another by Pennsylvanians for Effective Government reported that, overwhelmingly, crime is the top priority. The danger, however, is that other issues, such as neighborhood reinvestment, tax reform, and growing our job market could end up taking a backseat. This would be a mistake. These issues are not only important but they also play a key role where it concerns finding long-term solutions to crime. ... Extra police on the streets is a temporary solution. It does not address underlying problems that cause neighborhoods to exist in poverty and vulnerability. This link between strong neighborhoods and low crime has been studied since the 1960s. It makes sense. Neighborhoods free of vacant properties, with vibrant shopping and people out at all hours, are places with lower crime rates that feel safer. There are more eyes on the street and more stakeholders protecting the community. ... Data show that Philadelphia neighborhoods with recent reinvestment have had the largest reductions in serious crimes between 1998 and 2005. Neighborhoods lacking the same level of reinvestment have stayed constant or had increases in crime during the same period. Center City, East Falls, Fishtown, Manayunk, Mount Airy and University City, all areas with significant reinvestment, have had drops in crime of between 33 percent and 69 percent. Al Krigman Register your opposition to the NID via the Internet to Councilwoman Blackwell -- With some background: _www.iconworldwide.com/speakup_ (http://www.iconworldwide.com/speakup) Go directly to the form: _http://www.iconworldwide.com/speakup/nonid-01.html_ (http://www.iconworldwide.com/speakup/nonid-01.html)
