Friday, June 01, 2007

A Look Back to Urban Renewal in West Phila



























Document was found in the trash last week by a good friend of mine He thought I might be interested Well, he was right I wish I had it to show to my planning class at Widener Univ. It was called UNIVERSITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA PLAN. It was from 1950. This was REAL eminent domain. A whole neighborhood was wiped out. It was called the Black Bottom. Penn, Drexel University, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and Presbyterian Hospital sought to create large-scale redevelopment in the area to eradicate blight and develop of a "University City" neighborhood of residences and services for students, faculty and staff. Together, they created the West Philadelphia Corporation and acquired large numbers of properties for demolition. When I lived in West Philadelphia I did see and feel the lingering resentment of folks. There are people who are working to keep the Black Bottom area from being forgotten.
I plan to get this 35 page document converted to PDF Files.

No comments: