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Once vacant land, still vacant land: our own interactive map
Today, City Paper's "Vacant Land Issue" hits the stands - but our print edition is just the beginning.
Once vacant land, still vacant land: our own interactive map
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Today, City Paper's "Vacant Land Issue" hits the stands — but our print edition is just the beginning.
Of all the many vacant land issues being hashed out by the Nutter administration right now, one of the most pressing is when, how, for what price and under what conditions the city's Redevelopment Authority should sell or give away vacant land for redevelopment.
And behind that question are many more:
- What kind of requirements should a would-be redeveloper meet?
- How should one redevelopment proposal be weighed against a competing one?
- What is the proper role of district City Council members in making these decisions?
- Should a redeveloper fail to live up to his or her promises, should the RDA take back that land? And if so, at what point?
The public isn't privy to those conversations yet, but thanks to data obtained by CP, we can look back at the history of which redevelopment projects have and haven't worked over the past few decades.
Thanks to a grant from J-Lab and a partnership with PlanPhilly, Technically Philly and a very smart individual by the name of Tim Wisniewski (author of the OPA data liberator), we bring you a map, using never-before-published data, showing some of the land given away by the RDA that still remains vacant today.
Explore away, and please — tell us what you find.
A few notes:
- This map relies on two data sets that represent snapshots in time, that are not actively updating — 1) data on vacant property citywide from the Office of Property Assessment and the Philadelphia Water Department, current as of March 2011; and 2) data on RDA transactions since the mid-'80s, current as of May 2001.
- We can't vouch for accuracy (for that reason, we've included helpful tools like Google Street View). Nor is this data complete: Due to data source inconsistencies, we've so far only been able to map about half of our data set of properties conveyed by the RDA that are still vacant.
- For decades, various city administrations have allowed the conveyance, in one way or another, of vacant properties to adjacent homeowners as side lots. These, and other uses for vacant land (gardens, parking lots, parks, green space) appear on our map as "still vacant," — but may represent the successful fulfillment of a redevelopment agreement.
- Special thanks go out to Wisniewski and Paul Chrystie of the Office of Housing and Community Development.
At least spell his name right...it's Wisniewski— polockdoc- Having dealt with the City and various agencies, including the Department of Public Property, the Vacant Property Review Committee, and the RDA, I say let the market decide. To believe that politicians and bureaucrats can come up with the highest and best use for real estate is insanity. The City should put all of its properties on the market so that interested parties with adequate funding can negotiate to purchase them. As far as how the parcels should be developed, there is a mechanism in place to guide the process, namely, L&I, zoning, neighborhood group input, etc. The City desperately needs the revenue the sales will generate, and projects will move forward as they are approved by the various stakeholders and permitted according to code.— Polaris
- THE CITY IS NOT GIVING PEOPLE IN GENERAL IN LOW INCOME ANY BREAKS IN MY AREA ALONE 1800 BLK OF POPLAR ST THE TAXES ARE HIGHER AND THE SERVICES ARE AT ITS LOWEST
NOW I'M A RETIREE CAN WE NONWORKING PERSONS GET A TAX BREAK OR SUITABLE SLIDING SCALE OF TAX BREAKS , NOW COME ON GUYS ITS REALLY NEEDED HERE— paulgold.Goldston2@gmail.com - THERE IS A LOT NEXT DOOR TO MY RESIDENCE OF 1812 POPLAR ST , BY RIGHTS I SHOULD HAVE THE LOT FOR FREE BECAUSE OF RESIDENCE OF 1812 WAS DEMOLISHED OVER 25 YRS AGO SO DO I GET A PLOITICIAN TO SEE IF I CAN GET THE LOT FOR FREE BECAUSE I WANT TO PLACE A GAZBO NEXT TO THE PROPERTY AND EXTEND MY OWN BACKYARD IN THE TAKING CALL ME AT 215-763-3391 ANYTIME DURING DAY OR NIGHT AFTER 5 P.M— paulgold.Goldston2@gmail.com
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