On Saturday at 2:00pm, on a clear sunny afternoon, I drove down Hamilton Street. Between 10th and 7th Streets there were only four people. Two of them were not a asset to center city, under any criterion. The other two were almost at 7th, and carrying bags. I suspect they may have been shopping at Villa, on 8th and Hamilton. Although downtown apologists and cheerleaders will say that my report isn't true, unfortunately, it is all too true...especially on Saturdays.
J. B. Reilly's financially attainable apartments in the former Holiday Inn are just the beginning of his entry into the prevailing rental market. There is no way that he will even attempt for the Strata rents in his new apartments on S. 8th Street, when they are completed. Although he and the Morning Call refer to center city as vibrant, it is in fact a dead zone. The paper and cheerleaders on local social media have bragged that these new apartment units are being financed without the NIZ. Actually, the NIZ was never to include residential. Offices and stores on the first floor of these residential buildings does allow Reilly to tap some NIZ benefits. Furthermore, there is no scrutiny of the prorations by the ANIZDA board. Adrian Shanker, head of the local gay and lesbian organization, is a recent appointee to the board. He managed to see that the guidelines were changed to include gays with other minority contractors, that should be hired by the developers. Expect to see steel workers singing and dancing on the high beams.*
When Reilly is done building his new attainable rate apartments, Allentown may become worse than it is now. Allentown's problem isn't a lack of affordable housing, but rather a surplus of it. In that sense, Reilly is only contributing to the problem. Likewise, so are the new units in former converted factories.
* I'm not a fan of rewarding contracts based on minority ownership. The practice is not merit based, and has been exploited. While this blog does not adhere to political correctness standards, Shanker has introduced some new thinking into the Good Old Boy Club called ANIZDA. More on that in a future post.
Agree about the amount of people downtown on a Saturday. But if you think that's bad, go down there on a Sunday. Sunday makes the Saturday downtown look like a bustling metropolis.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Shanker, I see little new thinking and his appointment is merely an expansion of the identity politics that is prevalent in the rest of city government. Identity politics is killing this city (and the country as well). Until municipal board members - and the politicians who appoint them - start looking for solutions that benefit all residents, the situation in the city will continue to deteriorate.
In a way, Shanker's appointment is quite ironic. An appointee who's job is to advocate for a small sliver of the population sitting on a board that benefits a small number of wealthy property owners. Ah, the progress...
Also, not to go off-topic but I'd like to agree with you on your previous post about the city's inability to keep up with it's current park inventory.
ReplyDeleteFor two more examples, go take a look at Lake Muhlenberg which is just downstream from the currently closed (again) Cedar Beach pool. The lake has largely turned green and I'm having trouble deciding if it more closely resembles a cesspool or a toxic waste dump.
Also, less than a month ago the city celebrated a renovated baseball diamond at Union Terrace. The field was improved through a grant that came from Scott's lawn company, and Phillies great Chase Utley was involved in choosing the grant winners. Utley even attended the grand opening, along with so many of our wonderful politicians in City Hall.
When completed, the infield resembled a major-league quality infield. Fast forward a scant 25 DAYS and you can already see the weeds sprouting in the formerly-pristine sand of the base-paths. Imagine how it will look after a full season of neglect.
Perhaps our city leaders should just raise the white flag of surrender and turn the ballfield into a dirt bike/ATV track. Nobody would notice the weeds on an ATV track, and it might get some of those vehicles off of city streets.
From Taki Magazine:
ReplyDeleteIf you wish to communicate to readers that they are supposed to think positively about something or someone but you can’t come up with reasons that are plausible, discreet, or acceptable in polite society, just toss in the word “vibrant.” As your mother would have taught you if she were a contemporary newspaper editor, if you can’t think of anything nice to say, just say “vibrant.”
SO true about the downtown area on weekends and after 5. There is no bustling community after downtown office employees leave for the day. No one sticks around for happy hour. I’m sad to say that we are 100% happier after moving from Strata. We were excited to be part of the “revitalization” of downtown. Sadly, we were almost robbed in our apartment due to lack of/cut backs to Strata security.
ReplyDelete