follow-up letters to the recent city paper article...
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BALTIMORE AVENUE FREEZE OUT: Is L&I being used to gentrify a University City corridor?
THE ARTICLE:
http://citypaper.net/articles/2003-10-09/cb.shtml
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LETTERS IN RESPONSE:
http://citypaper.net/articles/current/mailbag.shtml
BALTIMORE AVENUE FALLOUT
Daryl Gale's Baltimore Avenue Freeze Out [Oct. 9, 2003) could have stated that L&I is being used to gentrify a West Philly neighborhood even more strongly than it did. One powerful example that wasn't given in the article is that of the Whole Truth Church in the 4800 block. This church has been having a regular sidewalk sale for 20 years without any problems. Suddenly, after all this time, L&I stopped them from doing that. How long can a storefront church last without that income?
Ann Dixon West Philadelphia
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As a resident of West Philadelphia who has been frequenting the Baltimore Avenue area since 1995, I can personally attest to the L&I crackdown that the University City District is using to drive the mostly minority-owned and/or patronized businesses out to make room for yuppie businesses. All the businesses that have traditionally been there have seen a large jump in the number of inspections from L&I in the last year. Eli Massar's denial of any pattern insults our intelligence.
The UCD has a history of targeting businesses that are minority-owned and/or patronized. The UCD has been trying to get the business corridor on 40th Street declared blighted, even though every storefront is occupied. The fact that many of the patrons may be low-income and/or minorities does not make them blighted. I wonder why these city districts focus only on business corridors like these that border gentrified, mostly white neighborhoods, instead of focusing on areas that have a high number of vacancies, are far away from gentrified neighborhoods and are actually blighted. I guess it is easier to steal a business district that has already been developed by minority business people than to put out the investment to develop one from scratch.
UCD: West Philly is on to your game.
Jamie Graham West Philadelphia
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