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					Also this issue: Blondes and Bikers Hello Hollywood and more news from the Wheels of Soul. -Brendan McGarvey Fuss-Budget -Daniel Brook The Bell Curve City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

January 30-February 5, 2003

city beat

Developing Dilemma

Conventional Wisdom Tooth: The problem-plagued Convention Center, with its stalled expansion plans and labor disputes, has been a thorn in Mayor Streetâs side. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Does Mayor Street have a problem with the vision thing? Street At the Crossroads, second in a series.

by Daniel Brook

Since taking office three years ago, Mayor John Street has pushed a development agenda with the aim of "turning our attention to the neighborhoods without turning our back on Center City." With an election rematch set for November, Street has been touting his accomplishments and vowing that with four more years he can finish what he has set in motion.

On Jan. 28, the mayor delivered his annual budget address to City Council. In the speech, Street declared, "I would match the development going on in Philadelphia with any urban center in America." The mayor proceeded to detail his administration's efforts.

Street first touched on his successful appeasement of the Eagles and Phillies sports franchises, which he said might have left the city if not for the two new stadiums his administration pushed through. Even frequent Street critic Councilman Michael Nutter concedes the pricey new South Philly stadiums have some benefit for the city. "Certainly it's good for the city to have premier sports stadiums," he says, "but I'm not sure exactly what that does on behalf of the citizens of the city or how it improves their lives."

To boost the hospitality industry, Street vowed to push for Convention Center expansion and solve the labor-management dispute that has plagued the building.

Carl Singley, the mayor's confidant turned critic-in-chief, worked on the legislation that created the Convention Center. Today, he says, "like every Philadelphian, I am extremely disappointed with the current state of the Convention Center." Singley agrees with the mayor that Convention Center expansion is necessary, but, he says, this "requires diplomacy skills" that the mayor lacks. "[This] all goes back to who's in charge on the second floor of City Hall," Singley says, referring to the mayor's address.

Citing his record on bringing jobs and business to the city, Street rattled off a number of big-name companies that his administration has lured to the city, including retail giants IKEA and Lowe's, and the Valley Forge-based financial services firm, Vanguard.

Commerce Director James Cuorato echoed the mayor, saying, "from a development standpoint we're doing fine despite the [national] economic slowdown. Across the sectors, if you look at retail development, office development, industrial uses," Cuorato says, they are all on track. Cuorato even holds out hope for Penn's Landing -- a high-profile development project conspicuously absent from the mayor's speech.

But while the mayor suggested that businesses were flocking to the city, Cuorato admits, "We can do a better job of telling the story. That's one of the things we've been trying to work on. We've got a lot to offer. We've got to change people's perceptions about Philadelphia, especially for people from beyond the region. We have to do a better job of that, quite frankly."

In his budget address, Street hearkened back to the rhetoric of his 1999 campaign, saying that many residents of Philadelphia's blighted neighborhoods felt that "development in Center City had taken precedence over" their needs. Street said that today, "neighborhoods are safer and cleaner" and that Philadelphia is undertaking "the most ambitious blight removal program ever attempted in an American city."

Street has encountered criticism from two sides on his Neighborhood Tranformation Initiative (NTI). One group argues that the program has taken too long to get under way. Despite a $300-million bond issue, many ask what has happened. How many buildings have been knocked down? How many developers have stepped up to build on the newly cleared land?

On the other hand, some preservationists have alleged that the program may be moving too fast, knocking down historic buildings that could be the basis for neighborhood revitalization. "I don't think historic preservation has been given a high-priority standing in making basic decisions about what they're doing in NTI-targeted neighborhoods," says John Gallery, who heads the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Still, Gallery says, "In concept I think [NTI] is a very good program."

In his budget address, Street agreed with the crowd calling for quicker demolitions, saying, "progress has been slower than I would prefer." The mayor said his administration will hold a briefing in early February to announce new progress in signing up developers to work on NTI sites in the hopes of addressing critics who wonder, "if you clear it, will they come?" Some argue that the reason market-rate developers have avoided many inner-city neighborhoods was not that they couldn't find large parcels of land, but that people were fleeing those neighborhoods, destroying the demand for housing. Street's critics, who prefer to hide behind the cloak of anonymity, doubt many market-rate developers will materialize, and expect little out of the upcoming briefing.

In his budget address, Street also pledged to "leave no neighborhood behind," saying that NTI money will be earmarked to work on "quality of life" issues in stable neighborhoods. This is in response to critics like Councilman Nutter, who represents many of those stable neighborhoods. Still, Nutter says, "My impression is that the people who are in charge of these programs are really much more interested in demolitions in neighborhoods that have already deteriorated." Nutter has called for infrastructure improvements in existing neighborhoods, which he says will ensure that they do not become blighted. "How do we build up, not just tear down?" Nutter asks.

Don Graff, chairman of the Eastern Philadelphia Organizing Project, which has advocated for more NTI spending in stable neighborhoods, cautions, "You can't look at NTI in a vacuum. If you have all these nice houses that are supposed to attract middle-class people but the school system's still in the toilet," it's not going to work.

In attempting to turn his attention to the neighborhoods without turning his back on Center City, Mayor Street is undertaking a difficult balancing act. As developer Dan Keating looks to the next mayoral election, he says his company will give to all candidates. Still, he says, "I don't know why anyone would want the job."