Turning blighted houses into owner-occupied homes in Philadelphia
4284 Griscom Street
1854 Clarence Street
3535 Joyce Street
3324 I Street
3439 Hurley Street
3249 Keim Street
2171 E Firth Street
3023 Janney St
3080 Janney St
3224 E Street
3403 Tampa Street
2231 E Ann Street
3557 Jasper Street
2834 Aramingo Avenue
3052 Agate Street
One of Philadelphia’s newest and most innovative vacant land strategies launched Tuesday evening: #LotsOfPower. The program partners- “Local youth and creative professionals transforming one of Philadelphia’s greatest problems—vacant lots—into an asset that can advance sustainability.”
Initiated by wind energy supplier-and certified B-Corp-Clean Currents, “opened in Philadelphia, the company wanted to identify the biggest challenges facing the city’s neighborhoods. In conversations with civic, business, non-profit and educational stakeholders, one issue came up over and over again: vacant lots.” With the help of forward-thinking business development strategist Andrea Pellegrino, Clean Currents and #LotsOfPower has created a strong partnership of Philly organizations such as the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Delaware Valley Green Building Council and our own Kensington Renewal. The program runs through the summer and the top two designs will be implemented on two vacant lots here in Kensington! Stay tuned for more info and click the image below to learn more about #LotsOfPower.
*UPDATE* Got to speak directly with L&I Commissioner Carlton Williams about 906 E Westmoreland St on Thursday October 24th at the K&A Business Association meeting. He was very receptive and said he’ll take a look and get back to us. More info as we get it!
Hey all, we could really use your help in spreading the word about this imminently dangerous property at 906 E Westmoreland St. It’s been set on fire, vacant for many years and–as you can see from all the natural light in the photos–no longer has much of a roof left.
From what we can find, the owner(s) of record: Francis & Martha Dutill or Steven Katzev haven’t paid property taxes since 1996, with more than $26,000 owed to the City of Philadelphia. Philly 311 Service Request #2656339 from 12/7/2012 has its status registered as “Completed”, but seems like this dangerous building is still…well, dangerous.
Philly has so many of these kinds of properties on its hands & we’re sure there are plenty of other properties equally deserving of the attention & limited resources of our fair city. Hopefully we (with your help!) can shed a little social network & media attention on these kinds of “abandominiums” that need to be demolished–as they’re just too damaged & dangerous for repair.
Thanks so much to Mayor Michael Nutter, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez, L&I Commissioner Carlton Williams & Managing Director Rich Negrin for fostering a city culture where citizens want to participate and “be the change they wish to see”.
You know Chelsea Krost from her appearances on Anderson Cooper, Wendy Williams & many more. Kensington Renewal founder Jamie Moffett gets to chat on the radio with Chelsea about home-ownership, building safe neighborhoods & how planting trees & flowers can help fight crime!
Tune in to The Chelsea Krost Show this Wednesday, March 27th at 7pm for this episode, titled: “Millennial Insider”. Also featured on the show are investigative journalist Lisa Guerrero, philanthropy entrepreneur Ebonie Johnson Cooper and recording artist Alexa.
Jamie Moffett visited the University of North Texas this January and was interviewed by student and former intern, Andrew Nelson, about his feature length documentaries, his community outreach organizations in Kensington and whats coming next in 2013 for Kensington Renewal. Check out the whole interview below!
Hannah Eshleman and Dillon Mast from Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a publication of Temple’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab, wrote an article about the Kensington Renewal Initiative. The article covers everything from low homeownership rates, to banks denying loans to properties under $50,000, all the way to the new rehabilitated home at 921 E. Westmoreland St. Check out the entire article below!
Isaiah Thompson from Philadelphia’s Citypaper writes about Bob Coyle, the known “slumlord” and how he defaulted on millions of dollars in mortgages of properties in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. Because of this, all of his properties became abandoned, turning them into prime real-estate for drugdealers. With the homeownership rate low, the crime rate increases. With the help of community members, these abandoned homes will be rehabilitated and help to lower to crime rate. For the entire article, click below.
CBS 3 Eyewitness News reporter, Anne-Marie Green interviews Kensington Renewal founder Jamie Moffett on the question of which came first, vacant properties or crime, in blighted neighborhoods of Philadelphia? Green reports on how homeownership directly correlates to crimes especially in neighborhoods like Kensington and how Kensington Renewal works to raise the owner occupancy rate which, studies show, reduces crime.
Thanks to Tom Infield, staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, for writing about when Senator Bob Casey stopped by for a press conference to discuss sub $50,000 loans, and took a tour of the 900 block of E. Westmoreland St. with Jamie Moffett.
