Pitching ‘Bidenomics’ in Philly | Morning Newsletter
And Philly’s empty offices 🏢
The Morning Newsletter
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It should be a mostly sunny day before a chance of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Expect a high of 89.
President Joe Biden’s reelection bid is all about the economy. Just two days after Biden pitched his plan to build it from the “bottom up” in Philadelphia, the country’s poorest big city, 2,000 protesters filled the city’s streets to call for more affordable housing.
Although his policies dubbed “Bidenomics” have helped low-income Americans, our lead story explains why it’s a hard sell in poor cities like Philadelphia.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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For his reelection bid, President Joe Biden is trying to rebrand himself as an economic driver.
He’s heavily highlighting his “Bidenomics” policies for voters. By some economists’ calculations, Biden has ushered in the most significant programs for people living in poverty since President Lyndon B. Johnson.
This pitch looks like it could be a difficult sell. Americans still feeling the impact of inflation even as the economy improves, coupled with intractable causes of poverty will be a challenge for Biden. Just about a third of voters give Biden positive marks for his handling of the economy.
Reminder: Poverty in Philly has remained stubbornly high. Nearly a quarter of Philadelphians are living below the poverty line, and almost half meet the definition of “cost burdened” — spending at least 30% of their income on rent.
Keep reading to learn the outlook for the 2024 presidential election.
What you should know today
Delaware County authorities charged a minister in the 1975 killing of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington.
A Philadelphia man was cleared of murder charges because of ties to two disgraced ex-homicide detectives. He’s expected to be released from jail Monday after prosecutors agreed to drop all charges against him.
Juan Ramos, the former City Council member remembered as a “vanguard of what the Civil Rights Movement was for the Latino community in Philadelphia,” died Saturday at 71.
Devin Spady, known as YNG Cheese and the son of former hip-hop artist and entertainment mogul Gillie da King, was laid to rest in Philadelphia Monday.
Route 202 near the King of Prussia Mall reopened in both directions after a second sinkhole repair.
A Penn Medicine program exposed students from West Philadelphia public schools to careers in neurosurgery.
Housing prices are stubbornly high at a time when hybrid work is shrinking the demand for office space.
There seems to be an obvious solution: Turn obsolete office buildings into much-needed apartments.
Well, don’t hold your breath for that. The barriers to conversions are fairly high.
Old hurdles: The typical hurdles that have been around for years include the overall cost of conversion, long office leases, and the fact that there are fewer buildings to convert compared to other major cities like Boston or New York.
New hurdles: Since 2022, construction costs and interest rates have significantly increased. Also, Philly has aggressively been building new apartments, and there’s concern that conversions of post-World War II buildings would struggle to compete with more standard offerings.
Still, there’s some hope.
Continue reading to learn about the advantages Philly has over other cities.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
Which comedian is coming to Philly in October?
A) Jerry Seinfield
B) Kevin Hart
C) Tina Fey
D) Chris Rock
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🎧 Listening To: Tems’ EP, For Broken Ears.
🎤 Watching: Chill Moody and Philadelphia Orchestra put on an elegant mashup of hip-hop, classical music, and gospel chants at The Mann to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: South Jersey “Jeopardy!” champion
NULL PARSONIC
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Christina Stelljes, who correctly guessed Monday’s answer: Kuerig Dr. Pepper.
Photo of the day
Stay cool out there, Philly. I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow. 📧