NEastPhilly.com has a two part article this week on Frankford Revitalization. It is written by Pamela Seaton and Kirsten Stamn, students reporting for Philadelphia Neighborhoods, the publication of Temple University’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab.
It is certainly worth reading since it covers just about everything going on in Frankford now. Have a look at part 1 here. Part 2 is here.
The days of Frankford Avenue being a thriving retail corridor are over. Unless the Frankford Business Assoc. or the Frankford CDC can come up with new and creative ideas for Frankford Avenue other than retail stores, I’m afraid these groups are just spinning their wheels. Philly Rising may have a good idea in creating green spaces. Maybe even knocking down some of the dilapidated buildings on the avenue and creating a garden or courtyard. Some of the buildings could be used as office space or studios for artists.
It’s time to really think “out of the box” (to use a Steve Job’s expression) when it comes to revitalizing Frankford Avenue. Does the Frankford Business Assoc., the Frankford CDC and any concerned citizens of Frankford have the creativity necessary to make real change? Time will tell.
I’m not a huge fan of the tone this article sets. I feel an outsider would read this and think Frankford was about as desolate as a war zone. It’s great to point out that work is being done to improve the problems Frankford has, but it’d be nice if, once in a while, someone other than The Frankford Gazette pointed out all the good stuff happening in Frankford.
I agree with Lorraine that focusing on the retail strip along Frankford Avenue will not go very far to revitalize the area. It may once again flourish as a retail destination, but not until the community surrounding it becomes affluent enough to afford the kind of stores people will travel for. We need for Frankford to become known as a great place to live before we can worry about whether it is known as a great place to shop.
My first take on the story was negative but I decided to link to it because people should know what is being said about Frankford. These are students at Temple Journalism School. What I would like to see Temple do is some investigation about the causes and solutions. Temple journalism has resources to do that kind of thing that we do not.
I think it’s great that you linked it. It’s good information, and it shows what people are doing to improve the area. I just take issue with the student’s failure to look beyond Frankford avenue when they decided to write about an entire neighborhood.