Read on Twitter
Today in #Phled history...we go back 50 years to an Inquirer article that feels oh so familiar. The headline:
"Families Returning to City"
"Families Returning to City"
The story is about population growth in Center City and focuses on a family called the McDowells. They used to live in Haddonfield, but decided they "had it with suburban living" and moved to Waverly Street.
"The McDowells like the area's diversity," the Inquirer wrote, "with its mixture of affluent, middle class and low income residents, blacks and whites, hippies and the elderly."
Mr. McDowell said the neighborhood offered the family "a chance for personal growth."
Mr. McDowell said the neighborhood offered the family "a chance for personal growth."
Prior to 1970, Center City had gone through 8 consecutive decades of population decline.
But now there was a *slight* uptick. And the Inquirer said it wasn't just single, young professionals moving in, but "a surprising number of families with school-age children."
But now there was a *slight* uptick. And the Inquirer said it wasn't just single, young professionals moving in, but "a surprising number of families with school-age children."
We also hear about the Smiths, a couple that sold their farm on the Main Line and moved to Society Hill.
"The suburbs are probably pleasanter," Mrs. Smith said. "But they don't prepare kids for life."
"The suburbs are probably pleasanter," Mrs. Smith said. "But they don't prepare kids for life."
Both families talk about how walkable their new neighborhood is. The McDowells love how they can stroll around the neighborhood with their German shepherd and check out all the antiques shops and ice cream parlors.
And naturally, there's a section about the schools...
One of the things that's made "the return to the city possible for middle class families is that center city's two public elementary schools -- McCall and Greenfield -- are considered among the finest in the city." #phled
One of the things that's made "the return to the city possible for middle class families is that center city's two public elementary schools -- McCall and Greenfield -- are considered among the finest in the city." #phled
It's jarring to read this story in the first year of a decade (the 1970s) where Philadelphia will lose 13.4% of its population -- the largest decline of any decade in the city's history.
But even back then, the gentrification narrative was forming -- a narrative that continues 50 years later. No surprise, school quality and the preferences of middle class families were at the heart of that narrative.
#phled
#phled
