Philly talks housing affordability | Real Estate Newsletter
And who owns this historic Black cemetery?
House prices, rents, homes for people without them. How important are housing issues to you and your neighbors?
It’s not a surprise that the people most affected by housing policies care the most about them.
Black Philadelphians and households making less than $50,000 are most likely to say housing affordability and homelessness should be top priorities for Philadelphia, according to a survey of residents about issues facing the city.
Overall, about three in five Philadelphians think these need to be top priorities.
The results of this survey come as we gear up to elect a new mayor and new members of City Council.🔑
Read on to find out what Philadelphians said about housing affordability, learn about a centuries-old burial ground without a clear owner, find out how to keep your basement dry this rainy season, and peek inside a Montgomery County family’s retreat in the woods.
📮 Would you rather have a home in the woods or near a beach? Why? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me your answer.
If you see this 🔑 in today's newsletter, that means we're highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Michaelle Bond
A poll of more than 1,200 Philadelphians found that crime was residents’ top concern. But how much families are affected by crime and especially the gun violence crisis depends on where they can afford to live.
My colleague Aseem Shukla and I looked through the survey results to see how Philadelphians feel about housing issues.
Some interesting findings from the survey:
Twice as many Black Philadelphians as white residents think housing affordability should be a top priority for the city.
Two-thirds of survey respondents who said gun violence has a major impact on their community said affordable housing should be a top priority in the city.
Residents who have been homeless or had unstable housing within the last three years were more likely to say Philadelphia isn’t a good place to live.
Read on for more results from the survey and personal stories from your neighbors.
Who owns a centuries-old Black cemetery in Northeast Philly that’s on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places?🔑
Deborah Gary, a Realtor who lives in Northwest Philly, wants to find out.
The burial ground doesn’t have any grave markers or signs. Title searchers can’t find a deed for it.
The Society to Preserve Philadelphia African American Assets — a group Gary cofounded — is working with other local preservation groups to clean up and save this piece of history.
The executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia called the cemetery “very important in understanding the history of free African Americans” in the Colonial era.
Read on about the burial ground’s winding past and uncertain future.
The latest news to pay attention to
A Philadelphia deputy landlord-tenant officer shot a woman in the head Wednesday while trying to enforce an eviction.
M. Night Shyamalan bought a Chester County farm owned by the Rockefeller family for $24 million.🔑
The share of young single women homeowners dropped nationwide in 2022, reversing a trend.
Gen Z is flocking to big cities like Philly, while older generations are leaving.
More than three years after a Philadelphia City Council member called for hearings, Council debated rent control.🔑
A historically protected gas station has been moved from 20th and Arch Streets to Fairmount Park.
A $2.7 billion plan for Atlantic City’s long-closed Bader Field airport includes a Formula 1-style racetrack and thousands of homes.
House of the week: For $585,000, a rowhouse with rooftop views in Point Breeze.
There’s a property near my mom’s house that floods whenever it rains. Depending how much, the yard becomes either one big lake or a lot of little ones.
We’re now at the end of March, which means April showers are coming for us all.
No one wants a wet basement and the stress that comes with it.
You could pay to waterproof your basement or install indoor drainage systems, but they’ll cost you. Luckily, you can solve most moisture problems with cheaper — and better — fixes. Your solution may be as simple as upgrading gutters.
This story gets into a few ways to keep your basement dry.
“We found the ugliest, smallest house on the largest lot.”
That’s what Derek Miller said about the Montgomery County home that he and his wife, Jennifer, discovered in 2021.
The Millers and their daughters had been living in a rowhouse in Philly’s Fairmount neighborhood, and they missed being among trees and wildlife.
You might recall that snapping up a house in 2021 was not easy. So they decided on a fixer-upper.
The Millers spent 18 months gutting and renovating their 2,600-square-foot rancher, which sits on nearly an acre in a wooded area.
They added floor-to-ceiling windows that bring in light, and they doubled the home’s usable space. The result is an open, airy feel.
Peek inside the Millers’ retreat.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
Monday is the start of Philadelphia’s street sweeping season for select neighborhoods. After Philly canceled citywide street sweeping in the early 2000s, it became the only major U.S. city without it.
Question: What year did the city bring back street sweeping in a pilot program that is now expanding to 14 neighborhoods? (Mine didn’t make the list.🙁) This story has the answer.
📷 Photo quiz 📷
Where in Philadelphia is this building that dates to 1915 and once housed one of the first racially integrated Ys in the country?
📮 If you think you know, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
I don’t know about you, but I could use a vacation.🌴 If you’re planning one and want to book a rental, this story has some questions you’ll want to ask yourself to make sure vacation rental listings aren’t scams.
Enjoy the rest of your week.