The causes, costs, and effects of property tax delinquency – detailed in this week’s PlanPhilly/Inquirer investigative series -
are staggering. Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown of the city’s complex tax delinquency issues in bite-sized (albeit stomach-turning) bits.
Read more: Ravaged by Neglect.
So were we. So, we did a quick search of public records in the 19121 zip code. This is the area that includes the fast-growing Temple University Main Campus, west of Broad to 33rd Street, roughly bordered by Girard Avenue to the south and Dauphin to the north. Vacant property only. What do you think we found? Take a look for yourself.
If you see something you like, contact PHA and get in line.
If recent events are any indication, it just might come to pass that the Philadelphia Housing Authority, which owns about 4,000 vacant properties, will sell off some and hopefully all of its unwanted parcels. This disgraceful policy of holding them has been an affront to Philadelphia’s residents who face plenty of obstacles in stemming the creeping deterioration of the housing stock and the fabric their neighborhoods.
Community groups and non-profit developers are eagerly waiting for more information.
Let’s hope Michael Kelly, PHA’s new Administrator, has the will and political muscle to see through the initiative he started to sell these properties.
Read more: PHA Looking for Takers
This is more of the shameful legacy of the PHA. Not only did the PHA let it sit vacant for years, when it is finally developed, it destroys a much-loved garden tended by local schoolchildren.
