Yet another challenge for the next mayor: stemming the exodus from Philly | Editorial

The spread of COVID-19 upended life in the big cities. Many residents chose to leave behind the close quarters of urban dwelling for more open spaces or drop the downtown office commute for the convenience of remote work. But as the pandemic has ebbed, the country’s largest population centers are recovering from the loss.

All except for Philadelphia.

Data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau show that out of the 20 most populous American cities, Philadelphia stood alone — neither gaining new residents nor slowing pandemic-era declines.

In the short and long term, this is a troubling development for our city. Fewer people mean fewer workers, fewer workers mean fewer customers, fewer customers mean fewer businesses, which means fewer jobs, which means fewer people. It’s the kind of downward spiral that risks self-perpetuating decline.

Experts warn that it’s too soon to consider this pandemic-fueled population drop a trend, but for Cherelle Parker, likely Philadelphia’s next mayor, restoring morale throughout the city and reversing these losses must be a top priority.

Parker has her work cut out for her. The city lost 11,000 residents between July 2020 and July 2021. It lost an additional 22,000 residents by July 2022. The last time the city was at 1.57 million residents was roughly 10 years ago.

Back then, Philadelphia had 246 homicides, public transportation set ridership records, and 45% of third graders were reading at grade level. Today, the city saw more than 500 homicide victims last year, SEPTA is considering service cuts and fare increases to stay afloat, and only 28% of third graders are where they should be academically.

To be sure, there is no one thing that pushes people out of the city. Even during Philadelphia’s recent years of continuous population growth — from 2007 to 2018 — an average of 60,000 residents a year were moving out, according to a 2019 Pew study. The reasons for leaving included lack of job opportunities, crime, schools, and local taxes.

Parker has already recognized the need to curtail the pervasive sense of lawlessness that has existed in the city since the early days of the pandemic. Her pledge to bring back community policing, as well as her promise to do so while holding misbehaving officers accountable, helped her win votes in the parts of the city dealing with the highest levels of gun violence.

Parker must also tackle the literacy crisis. Children who cannot read grow up to become adults who struggle to find employment. A reemphasis on phonics in Southern Gulf states that have long struggled with literacy could represent an important blueprint for the city to follow.

» READ MORE: Mayoral candidates need real plans to fix the city’s troubled schools | Editorial

Looking outward for a better way to do things can also cut down on cynicism about city government, starting with working to institute open primaries and ranked choice voting, as other large cities have.

Only 280,000 of the city’s 1.1 million registered voters showed up at the polls or mailed in a ballot in the recent primary. Parker garnered just over 80,000 of those votes. Yes, that was more people than those who attended the Taylor Swift concert the Saturday before, but only if you ignore the additional 20,000 fans camped outside the Linc.

Underlying all the city’s issues is the generational lack of substantive economic opportunity. Philadelphia’s onerous tax system discourages job-creating businesses from setting up shop, with potential employers leery of the highest wage tax in the nation, a higher sales tax than in the suburbs, and a business tax that taps both revenue and net income.

While Parker ran to put a needed spotlight on the city’s struggling middle neighborhoods, doing so also requires ensuring that the city has the vibrant economy and culture of opportunity needed to sustain those communities.

» READ MORE: Philly’s onerous tax system is a job killer. Here’s what the mayoral candidates say they’ll do about it. | Editorial

Parker, of course, can’t accomplish this by herself. During a news conference Monday, her first since winning the Democratic primary, she wisely called on all Philadelphians to come together.

“I don’t care who you voted for, I don’t care what section of the city you live in, your zip code, what your political philosophy or ideology is,” she said. “We need all of Philadelphia to unify in order to move our city forward.”

She’s right. And much like our need for improved population numbers, the more the merrier.