Located just north of the Art Museum, Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood is generally thought of as one of the city's toniest enclaves. But as Rebecca Johnson, the executive director of the
Fairmount CDC, explains, "We actually have a surprising number of boarded up,
PHA-owned properties north of Poplar."
And yet the community development organization's latest neighborhood improvement project, which is known as the
Vital Neighborhoods Initiative, and which was funded this year with a series of grants from the
Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, wasn't focused on the run-down or boarded-up sections of Fairmount at all. Instead, the grants are intended to strengthen and improve those sections of a neighborhood that are considered to be middle-market. They can't be high-income sections, as Johnson explains, nor can they be extremely low-income. "The whole concept of Vital Neighborhoods," she says, "is that it's targeting areas that maybe need a chiropractor, so to speak, but not back surgery."
In Fairmount, the section deemed most in need of a metaphorical adjustment this year was the 900 block of North 26th Street, between Poplar Street and West Girard Avenue. Perhaps not coincidentally, that same block is also on the route of the Girard Avenue trolley. "So in terms of neighborhood marketing," Johnson says, "and sending a message that this is a place that people really care about, we felt like it was giving a lot of visibility to people traveling through the neighborhood."
Before long, Philadelphians traveling through that section of Fairmount will have a first-hand chance to see what the $30,000 grant has accomplished. Currently the plan includes basic streetscape improvements: Out-of-shape steps and retaining walls, for instance, will be spruced up, while trees and solar powered light posts will be installed in front of some properties. "We're looking at long-term outcomes, like improved home sales," says Johnson. "And just cleaner, more aesthetically-pleasing environments. That's really kind of the goal."
Source: Rebecca Johnson, Fairmount CDC & Amy E. McCullom, Preservation Alliance
Writer: Dan Eldridge
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