West Phila. locale to be reformed

Neighborhood Transformation Improbable? Not anymore. Yesterday morning, Mayor John Street announced advancements in housing development as part of his Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, the program launched in 2001 to reform and rebuild Philadelphia's neighborhoods. Speaking from a church in North Philadelphia, Street announced the first seven sites destined for large-scale development, boasting a combination of market-rate, affordable and public housing. One of the sites announced is the neighborhood of Mill Creek in West Philadelphia, just northwest of Penn's campus. "In launching these seven projects, we are literally getting down to ground level to utilize one of our greatest assets -- our land," Street said in a statement. "NTI is a cornerstone of our continuing efforts to improve the quality of life in our communities." The projects will be financed by a combination of federal funding, private investment and use of tax credits. New acquisition proposals, including land in Mantua, another West Philadelphia neighborhood, are before City Council for approval. And with the announcement of seven certain sites for change, the gears of NTI's housing development component finally seem to be in motion. Philadelphia's newly appointed Secretary for Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Kevin Hanna is in charge of the housing development aspect of NTI. After visiting the Mill Creek site yesterday afternoon where demolition has begun, Hanna estimated that this first stage of the project would be done in about a week, once the extensive debris is hauled away. The site should be complete in the early part of 2005 if all goes according to schedule, he added. Sticking to the schedule, however, has not been the norm for NTI thus far. "A number of people have criticized NTI because of lack of progress," Hanna said, citing the careful consideration of multiple parties involved as one reason for delay. "An awful lot of planning had to go into NTI," Hanna said. "I think most people underestimated how difficult it would be to decide which units would be demolished and how much input the community would have." "I've not seen an initiative as broad-based in its scope, as well planned out and unfortunately as misunderstood as the NTI is," Hanna said. But according to him, the wait and the planning are sure to be worth it. "I can tell you that without the appropriate planning, it would be like fireworks," Hanna said. "It would get off with a big bang, but given a year or two, these things generally fade into oblivion-- this initiative is different."