Next time you have occasion to "down" your student neighbors or the responsible businesspeople who provide housing for them (and some of those occasions are certainly warranted although others are a result of infrastructure in an older inherently high-density neighborhood), think of what University City might be were it not for these folks.
Sunday's Inquirer had an interesting story about a block in Strawberry Mansion that was built at around the same time as much of University City, with the same kind of housing stock, for the same kind of original residents, and with what I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) was the same early history. Yet Monument Street is a shambles today and has been so for decades, while UC suffered some bad times but never went this way and is thriving today. I submit that much of the difference has been the students and other young people who have created a demand for decent rental housing, and the investors who have provided it. And, may I not-so-humbly-add vis-a-vis the investors, not so long ago buying and maintaining or renovating property in the area wasn't exactly without rather serious financial risk.
Anyway, editorializing and shameless self-promotion aside, here's a link to the Inquirer article.
Click here: Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/11/2002 | A block's rise and ruin
Al Krigman
