Happy birthday, stimulus dollars

USUALLY, the tide of problems that roll into a city the size of Philadelphia is so relentless that it's easy to become numb or, at worse, pessimistic.

It's a positive change to consider that for the past year, a tide of money has been rolling up onto the city's shores in the form of federal recovery dollars. Because the money comes via individual grants and awards, it's hard for the average citizen to keep track, and easy to lose sight of the big picture: how all this money will reshape the city.

As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act celebrates its first year, it's a good time to acknowlege the $135 million that the city has been awarded so far (as of the end of 2009) - and single out two recent awards that beat out many other competitive applications.

In January, the Redevelopment Authority won a $44 million competitive grant that will help the city rehab foreclosed houses and demolish blighted buildings. With this money, the city plans to buy and rehab 100 vacant and foreclosed houses, redevelop 100 vacant properties, and demolish 50 blighted structures. Also, some owners at risk of losing their homes will get flexible loans.

Targeted blight efforts will focus on Mantua, Point Breeze and Nicetown, says RDA chief Terry Gillen, who was responsible for the application for the competitive award.

This week, another big deal award was announced: $23 million to help build 10 bicycle and pedestrian paths in Philadelphia and South Jersey. The money will help fill out a 108-mile network of trails that will connect Philadelphia, Reading, Chester, New Hope, Cherry Hill and Trenton. This grant is significant, in part because groups like the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Bicycle Coalition helped prepare the proposal with the city's transportation department. This is not about enhancing the leisure hours of weekend bicyclers -though it certainly will - but it's acknowledgment that bicycles are a key part of the city's overall transportation strategy. (And Mayor Nutter deserves credit for establishing the Department of Transportation and Utilities, long before the federal government first uttered the term "stimulus.")

A key challenge in the city's recovery-fund efforts will be making sure someone is keeping an eye on how all of these diverse grants and awards ultimately work together. Scattered dollars are fine, but the city needs a cohesive and coherent strategy in order to really move forward. *