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A vacant lot at 40th and Haverford Avenue serves as the site for mixplace. This is one of an estimated 30,000 abandoned lots in Philadelphia. The number of abandoned houses exceeds 50,000.* These lots and houses are potential sites for redevelopment work and urban revitalization initiatives.
The proposed lot is in a section of West Philadelphia that includes the neighborhoods of West Powelton, Saunders Park, Belmont, and Mantua. These neighborhoods are of historical importance as nearby Lancaster Avenue was the first turnpike in America. They developed in the late 1700's in response to the construction of the turnpike, which linked the growing urban fabric of Philadelphia with the rural farmland of Lancaster County.
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The neighborhood declined in the 1960's due to gang and drug related activity, which still resonates today. During the 1960's Mantua had one of the highest crime rates in the 16th precinct, and was responsible for 10% of the total city's gang killings. Today, these areas experience poverty rates above the city's average of 19%, and unemployment above the city's average of nearly 10%. In the 1990's, businesses and institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania and its Presbyterian Medical Center expanded nearby, and these neighborhoods took further shape and the commercial district began to rebound. However these developments still did not address the underlying crime, poverty, and other problems faced by the neighborhood.
Today, with organizations like the People's Emergency Center Community Development Corporation (PEC), community residents are involved in efforts to alleviate these problems and transform West Philadelphia into a "Community of Choice" -- one where people choose to live and work. mixplace is partnering with PEC and looks forward to working with other neighborhood organizations.
* Mark Alan Hughes, Dirt Into Dollars: Converting Vacant Land into Valuable Development, Brookings Review (Summer 2000).
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