Grays Ferry: Current Conditions
Today I took a visit down to Grays Ferry to drop off the flyer with a member of the Rainbow Coalition for our community meeting next week. While in the area, I like to explore the surroundings not only to get a sense of the conditions in the community, but also to help connect specific issues to the Common Wealth Solution for the local residents.
In the case of Grays Ferry, I was told that by simply walking around the block I would get a good idea of how bad blight has overtaken the neighborhood. Adjacent to the Rainbow Coalition member on the 1500 block of Bailey St. was a vacant lot typical to many areas of the city:
This property has been vacant for some time, and is a magnet for trash, vandalism, and other crime. Under a property tax shift onto a land value tax, our dedicated citizen would see a $33 tax decrease while the lot next door would see a $64 tax increase. This is exactly what we want to happen, and such changes will continue to adjust the larger the land value tax becomes.
Going down the rest of the block, I notice quite a few potentially empty but otherwise intact properties, many having litter strewn across the front and one even sealed up with steel plates. Around the corner, however, was a terrible sight to see. House after house was boarded up, several exposed to the elements with broken windows and torn-up interiors from looters and squatters.
In the middle of the block was a large vacant lot where three houses used to be. It is a testament to the terrible deterioration Grays Ferry has experienced, with hundreds of once occupied houses torn down and empty lots the only traces left as a stark reminder of a community collapse.
You'll hear us mention this time and again, but allowing these lots to remain idle is not a solution: it is a severe problem. Vacant buildings and lots are not just a waste of space; they become a waste dump, as seen below. Additionally, the drug dealers and users that plague these neighborhoods use these properties for their activities, arsonists are a constant risk, and other crimes such as robberies and assault are facilitated by the cover these properties provide.
Such waste of space also keeps the amount of property for housing and businesses artificially scarce, driving up rents, leases, and mortgages. Does it make any sense to have the poor dwelling in slum housing when they could own their own piece of land and have a real stake in the neighborhood?
The Common Wealth Solution can help address these problems. If you're in the Grays Ferry area, please join us for a neighborhood meeting and be introduced to a plan to get the community back in health. This neighborhood, like the rest of Philadelphia, has enormous potential waiting to be realized, and we have a solution to begin that process.
