Here's what we're reading this week about the projects, people and policies driving local development:
Architect Jeanne Gang on using design to strengthen community
5/25/17
Jeanne Gang was this year’s Lou Khan Memorial lecture speaker, sharing the work of her Chicago based firm.
Councilman Jones pushes tenant rights bill
5/31/17, Jake Blumgart
Councilman Jones proposed restrictions on timing of lease terminations for apartment buildings undergoing major renovation, raising complex questions.
On Fairmount Avenue, hundreds line up for a shot at a home
6/1/17, Aubrey Whelan
Overnight waits and a line of over 500 applicants for Project HOME’s newest, 88 unit, affordable rental building on North Broad underscores the need for many more affordable housing units.
Council considering bills to cut taxes on affordable housing, add short 15th Street bike lane
5/26/17, Jake Blumgart
O’Neill and Clarke jointly propose a bill requiring OPA to take affordable housing restrictions into account when reassessing properties, especially Low Income Housing Tax Credit restricted rental properties.
Philly slips from fifth to sixth, as Phoenix rises
5/25/17, Jeff Gammage
Philadelphia’s population slips to 6th, behind Phoenix, but Phoenix had to expand it’s footprint dramatically to reach that number.
REBUILD: BUILDING A FRAMEWORK FOR PHILANTHROPIC ENGAGEMENT
Brookings Institution released an 18 month study on Philadelphia’s Innovation District, contracted by Drexel University in support of the Schuykill Yards program.
THE RISE OF INNOVATION DISTRICTS: A New Geography of Innovation in America Bruce Katz and Julie Wagner
Brookings Institution recently released a broad paper describing Innovation Districts internationally, their physical manifestations and the network of companies, institutions and individuals that make them thrive. Philadelphia has two of the three types of Innovation Districts cited, and “anchor plus” (University City) and a “re-imaged urban area” (Navy Yard).