Larry Falcon is convinced that the University of Pennsylvania is destroying his backyard -- and his neighborhood in the process. According to Falcon, pastor of the Covenant Community Church and member of the community advocacy group Neighbors Against McPenntrification (NAM), Penn is encouraging the construction of a McDonald's in an area adjacent to his home. NAM believes that the project is representative of Penn's long-term plan to drive poor residents out of the neighborhood surrounding the University's campus. If NAM's allegations are true, then Penn is unjustly publicizing itself as a force for community improvement while actually engaging in community displacement.
NAM asserts that the University, in conjunction with the University City District (UCD), is advocating for the construction of a McDonald's at 43rd and Market Streets so that it can tear down the McDonald's on campus at 40th and Walnut Streets. The Walnut Street McDonald's currently attracts a clientele of mostly low-income West Philadelphia residents and Penn students. Moreover, it is generally considered to be an eyesore by University administrators. NAM believes that pushing McDonald's further away from campus will allow Penn to purchase the property at 40th and Walnut and replace it with upscale retail stores.
Penn administrators deny that they are using the UCD to encourage McDonald's to move. University spokesperson Phyllis Holtzman was recently quoted in City Paper as saying that "Reverend Falcon's efforts are misdirected. Penn isn't involved [in the building of this] McDonald's in any way. Penn doesn't own the site and wasn't involved in McDonald's Corporation's decision to locate there. For him to continue to link the University with the issue is irresponsible."
NAM, however, believes that they have proof of Penn's intentions -- a document entitled "University City District 40th Street Retail Market Study." The study was prepared in July 1999 by the UCD, and recommends on page four that the UCD "Encourage McDonald's to update and upgrade the appearance of its store at 40th and Walnut Streets, which appears not to have been renovated in many years. Alternatively, work with McDonald's to relocate their store to a suitable nearby location, and then redevelop this prime parcel into a higher and better use than the current one-story fast food restaurant."
Allison Kelsey, senior director of Marketing and Communications for the UCD, notes that the 40th Street Retail Market Study "is three years old, and much has occurred since then." She adds that "the UCD is not a subsidiary of Penn. Although we are partly funded by Penn, we are a non-profit that accepts funding from other organizations, including Drexel and local area businesses."
Though Penn and the UCD may be separate entities, the two organizations work together in promoting their accomplishments. The January 2002 issue of The Penn Current features an article entitled "It took a community and the University
to raise a neighborhood." The article documents Penn and UCD neighborhood revitalization projects, especially an Office of Community Housing program which offers incentives to staff members who purchase and renovate neighborhood homes, thereby encouraging them to live in West Philadelphia. A graphic accompanies the report, demonstrating that the average sale price of homes in University City is up 40 percent.
While Penn should be credited for helping many staff members become first-time homebuyers, it should not claim to have significantly improved the West Philadelphia community. Its programs have not necessarily bolstered living conditions for community residents who are not staff and faculty. A 40 percent increase in property values appears to be an indicator of neighborhood improvement, but it glosses over the fact that rising rents and property taxes are forcing residents who depend on fixed incomes out of University City. Falcon says that he has seen a considerable portion of his church's constituency disappear, namely because they could not afford to live in a neighborhood where houses routinely sell for well over $100,000. Given this fact, it is not only reasonable but necessary for him to question what Penn has done to improve the quality of life for poor residents of University City who are not full-time staff at Penn.
However, John Fry, Penn's former Executive Vice-President and outgoing Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UCD, was quoted in The Daily Pennsylvanian as saying that community relations were "at a very good point right now." He added that he was "not going to comment on outlying groups like the McPenntrifiers or whatever they call themselves, because [he thinks that] they're a fringe group... [he does] not personally have any aspirations to make McPenntrification happy. [He thinks that] what they stand for is ridiculous."
As Fry departs to take over the presidency of Franklin and Marshall College, it is important for his successor not to ignore NAM's concerns. Though NAM does not offer substantial plans for neighborhood development, to dismiss them as "ridiculous" only further isolates a traditionally neglected voice in West Philadelphia -- one that remembers Penn's destruction of the Black Bottom neighborhood along Market Street during the 1960s and has distrusted the University ever since. Neighbors Against McPenntrification may be a "fringe group" as Fry suggests, but we should keep in mind that they are "fringed" because their base is disappearing, largely due to Penn.
