Written for Professor Yvonne Latty's Investigative Reporting Class
Introduction
Staci Harris, program coordinator at the Brewerytown Sharswood Community Civic Association believes home is the cornerstone of life. “Your foundation is your home,” she said.“Everything is going to stem from that. My home is my sanctuary.”
And Harris’ work is making sure others have one. Her organization’s goal is to have 55 more homes on the market by the end of the year, with their “next phase” set to have 300 to 600 properties.
Currently 42.46% of households between 33rd street and Broad and Montgomery and Poplar Street, which is defined as Brewerytown/ Sharswood, make less than $25,000. This category has the highest percentage of households in the area with the next highest being 11.92% of households making $75,000- $99,999 according to census data.
Philadelphia is a city with 23.07% of its population in poverty according to the census and a rising issue of crime and violence and this North Philadelphia neighborhood is plagued by the same issues. The pie charts below show crimes reported in Brewerytown and crimes reported in Fishtown.
But there seems to be a divide in Brewerytown/Sharswood, as you move more south or west the more affluent and more spread out the crime gets. The Storehouse Lofts located at 1363 N 31st St is currently renting out 600sq ft studio apartments for around $1500 and a two bed one bath for $2500. This property is managed by PSCo Philly, a higher end property management firm, whose mission is:
“To elevate life for our customers, creating unique living spaces that absorb and reflect the rhythm and characteristics of the surrounding community. Whether you are looking for a modern home tucked into a historic building, a welcoming loft, or a formal commercial space, we can help you find your perfect space.”
Finding these “perfect spaces” comes at a cost, if the 42.46% of households making less than $25,000 a year need a place to live, they cannot afford a 2-bedroom apartment. There is no issue that someone cannot afford to be in a high-end apartment, but the issue arises when the only options become high rent apartments or when a family had to choose between a house in a safe area but having little to no money left or a house in an unsafe area but have more breathing room with their cash.
Brewerytown grew from the numerous breweries who flocked to the Schuylkill’s banks but with the passage of the 18th amendment, prohibition, in 1920 the area became obsolete and even after prohibition was overturned the area never saw the full return of pre-prohibition brewing. But the area remained an industrial hub. The final blow for Brewerytown was a major demographic change with white flight and The Great Migration that led to jobs leaving the area. This led to the area being labeled as blighted on November 26, 1968, by the city.
Which the city defines as an area that is: Unsafe, unsanitary, inadequate conditions, economically or socially undesirable land use, faulty street and lot layout, inadequate planning, excessive land coverage, lack of proper light, air, and open space, defective design and arrangement of buildings.
The decline of the area decreased the cost of homes which saw a rise in black homeowners. But due to a multitude of factors in the 1980s— American industry shrinking, strain of city resources, and the war on drugs—the Brewerytown/ Sharswood area began to decline.
“The war on drugs, [government] seized property, the next phase was the seniors were dying off or giving their property to heirs, the developers came in and gave cash payments to homes,” Harris said.
“They would offer the new generation $20,000 to $30,000 cash, and of course they would give it to them. And then they would build $200,000 homes for $25,000,” said Harris.
Even during the blighted year Brewerytown was still a community. There were still families, children going to school, and people saying hi to one another on the streets.
“The last 20 years are when the community began to turn around because the zoning committees were formed, the RCOs [Recovery Community Organizations] were formed, and the community meetings,” said Harris.
The zoning meetings are held every month and these meetings help the community dictate what gets built in their neighborhood.
“When the developers present their properties, they give us a full play of what’s going on. So, if the aesthetic isn’t right or if it doesn’t coincide with the existing building, we don’t want it,” said Harris “because we have a voice and you’re not going to come into our community and tell us what you’re going to do with our community.”
Data:
Data collected come from the following census tracts: 42101014900, 42101013900, 42101014800, 42101014700, 42101013800, 42101013702, 42101014000, 42101013701, 42101980001 which are inside the orange highlighted area, referred to as Brewerytown/ Sharswood.
Above there are two indicators of health of the housing and real estate markets. The left graph shows trends of real estate taxes paid since 2006 in Brewerytown. Real estate tax is defined as any tax paid in relation to your property. In the past 15 years it has slightly over doubled in amount; which indicates an increase in property value in the region. Which is again supported by the huge increase in the values of owner occupied homes. Approximately since 2000 homes have increased by more than $200,000. The increase in the value of owner occupied homes can be attributed to a demand from developers to obtain new properties for development. Compare this to the data of all of Philadelphia County. The range of values is much smaller compared to the Brewerytown neighborhood. Which can be explained by various factors: larger data sets minimize outliers, Brewerytown developing faster than the rest of the city, less property reassessments in Brewerytown, etc.
Property reassesments is the process of filing for your home to be assessed to obtain a more accurate estimate on your property value. In neighborhoods that have experienced a large influx of development property taxes slowly begin to creep up as city assessments see the new amenities and nice homes and values nearby homes as higher than their true market value.
Have they been effective:
Harris believes the efforts of the various community organizations, the city, and developers like Habitat for Humanity has been effective in properly developing Brewerytown/ Sharswood.
“Absolutely because in any community is not a community without community members and involvement. Although we’re doing better, and we have a lot of community involvement we still don’t have 100% involvement,” said Harris.
“My mom, she’s 82 years old, and she;s really surprised to see the development that’s going on. It’s a double edge sword, people do want the development but then they’re looking at it asking who are all of these houses for,” said Darnetta Arce, executive director of BSCCA.
Harris said the five year partnership with Habitat for Humanity has been a success “They [Habitat for Humanity] come into communities to help communities be communities.”
The Brewerytown/ Sharswood neighborhood is Habitat’s pilot neighborhood for what they call their Neighborhood Revitalization project. Which seeks to connect with existing community organizations to “listen to neighborhood needs and work to connect, organize, and empower residents and key cross-sector stakeholders to develop solutions that align with neighborhood aspirations,” according to Habitat Philadelphia’s site. The program sets aside a minimum of five years for a neighborhood with room to extend the assistance beyond the time frame.
“Once they help organize, if it’s not already, they help everybody come together to make it make sense. But it’s not a commitment that they’re going to be here, they’re just going to be here long enough to try to help us do what we need to do and then they go to the next community,” said
Harris.
While many community groups have been around since the turn of the century, Habitat’s resources allowed for the existing efforts to expand. Habitat helped to establish and pay for a Neighborhood Text Alert system which updates the community on events, resources, meetings, giveaways, and food pick up.
BSCCA’s leaders said their biggest challenge is getting the information to their community.
“One of the setbacks for our particular center was there was one of the volunteer we had, had children and knew the children in the community so she was very integral, she would help volunteer on those nights and circulate flyers, Harris said“And we actually did have a really good turnout but then she left.”
This caused the attendance of their youth programs to dwindle.
“We hosted our service area briefing event last week and there was. Over 100 people came out, but the pull and incentive was free turkey,” said Harris.
BSCCA has seen success: their multiple affordable homes in development, free public computer lab, well-attended community meetings, and slew of resources in their office. But the struggle to get people involved is what holds them back. But through the perseverance of people like Harris and Arce and with the hope that communities will come together it is clear that the Brewerytown and Sharswood neighborhoods are headed towards returning to the years of prosperity in the early 1900s.
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