Daily News | Residents and activists protest a planned demolition of low-income housing in West Philly
Even on a warm and breezy Saturday, some people in the University City Townhomes have to keep their windows closed, on account of the raw sewage bubbling up by the curb.
Around the corner, in an open space at the corner of 40th and Market Streets, a crowd of residents and activists gathered to protest the plannedand the subsequent displacement of mostly Black and Hispanic families. Last year, the property owner announced plans to end its federal affordable housing contract and sell the 2.7-acre site to developers lining up to capitalize on an ever-expanding University City.
Astillero and other residents said few of the promises made to them have been kept since IBID made the announcement. None have gotten the Section 8 housing assistance vouchers they need to move and others said they’ve been directed to inadequate housing in other neighborhoods. IBID, in the suit, claims it has “worked diligently” to help the residents relocate and also noted that any developer that has an affordable housing plan will be given an advantage in the bidding process.Protesters said the issue harkens back to previous displacements, when the neighborhood known as “Black Bottom” was slowly erased by “University City” expansion. Many called on the University of Pennsylvania to intervene.
Mike Africa Jr., of the MOVE Black liberation group, was there with his dog and questioned the ethics of a developer making so much profit at the expense of lower-income people. The property is estimated to be worth anywhere from $75 million to $100 million.Philly Elmo and the Positive Movement drumline
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