Preservation Action Plan
What
South of South Neighborhood Association aims to preserve the historic resources that provide meaning to the neighborhood through policies, storytelling and support programs.
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This action plan outlines potential actions we can take to start these conversations with our neighbors about the past, present and future.
Who
This action plan is for neighbors, developers, community groups, elected officials and businesses to make more informed decisions about the future of our neighborhood while considering its past - from the aesthetic materials used on the facade to appreciating the rich history that built this neighborhood before many of us arrived.
Why
There are many intentional and unintentional factors that have led to the displacement and erasure of Black history in our neighborhood.
Redlining
Redlining is the systematic denial of various services to residents of specific, often racially associated, neighborhoods or communities, either directly or through the selective raising of prices.
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The Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB), established a program that used Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC) staff and local realtors and lenders to assess real estate risk levels in 239 cities across the country.
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African American households, older housing, and poor households were consistently given a fourth grade, or "hazardous" rating and colored red.
Crosstown Expressway
A proposal in 1947 to construct the completion of the Center City loop highway system down what is now known as South Street. Activitists and neighbors called this proposal Philadelphia's "Mason-Dixon Line", describing it as a mechanism to divide white Philadelphians north of the highway from African Americans to the south.
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The DVRPC removed the Crosstown Expressway from its capital program in 1973 but its proposal still had dire effects on the neighborhood housing prices and thriving economy.
Gentrification
Gentrification is defined as the shift in a neighborhood’s population from predominantly low income or working
class to predominantly middle or upper class.
(Pew Charitable Trusts).
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Gentrification has a direct association to rising housing and rental costs. The increased demand for housing from more economically advantaged in-movers leads to higher housing prices, which increase housing cost pressures on existing vulnerable residents and make the neighborhood less accessible to lower-income in-movers (FedBank).
Latest Updates
PUBLIC COMMENT
REQUEST
SOSNA has partnered with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to file a historic nomination for "Black Doctors Row" on Christian Street from 15th-20th Streets.
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You can read the full nomination documents and provide comments before August 27.