I walked by there about 15 minutes ago and it was being used just then. There was a crew of guys there also using the bulldozer. From what I was able to see, new holes have been dug, and painted markers have been placed in the ground. Im not sure what is going to go up in this location, but there is definitely something happening there now.

You're right. I noticed yesterday that a trailer had also made it's way onto the property (within the last week I guess) so maybe something is going on. Maybe.

__________________
---Shosh

Total BS. Not that I would necessarily want to rent on 5th street, but the 9th worst rating couldn't be a bigger pile of crap:


To the Editors,

I'm not sure what the purpose was for an article on the top ten drug corners in Philadelphia, but, no doubt, it has clued-in a lot of idiots who can read as to where to go to try and score their next high. Fine work, PW! Using the phrase "Top Ten" really sends a message, but I don't think it's the right one. I realize that it's cool and very "free weekly" to write about drugs, but, unfortunately, at least part of Steve Volk's article is just plain wrong. As a resident of the 500 block of Carpenter Street, I can only assume that Mr. Volk must have smoked some of what is being sold if he would rate the corner of 5th and Carpenter in the top ten drug corners in the city of Philadelphia.

As I understand it, he bases much of what he writes on an internal police department priority list. However, as he himself notes, corners fall off this list to be replaced by others, while other have remained on the list for years. Outside of a single internal police memo, there is not much explanation as to why this might be. Instead, Mr. Volk chooses to extrapolate using data from the University of Pennsylvania NIS CrimeBase website and anecdotal and generalized information from a few narcotics officers. Had he chosen to talk to anyone who lives near 5th and Carpenter, he might have gotten a very different picture. The corner's inclusion on the list may have been because of narcotics activity years ago, but based on the strong efforts by residents and the neighborhood association to change the area, I find it more likely that it remains on the list because continued civic pressure being channeled through the 1st District Councilman's office and the 3rd District Police Department.

Contrary to what Mr. Volk writes, the 5th and Carpenter corner has been a priority as part of the Mayor's Safe Streets Program since well before 2005. I don't doubt that this other Police priority rating that targeted the corner a few years ago exists, but efforts to eliminate drug traffic on the corner have been going on much longer. When I moved here in 2000 the corner was a problem. Since then, however, with the help of the 3rd District Police, the Queen Village Neighbors Association, the Riverview Courtyard Apartment residents, and the private company managing the Riverview housing, the atmosphere of the corner and the entire immediate neighborhood has changed drastically. Again, contrary to what Mr. Volk writes, homes are now selling in this part of the neighborhood (just a block away) for upwards of $400,000, and new home construction and rehabs are underway all over the vicinity of 5th and Carpenter. In addition, the majority of abandoned properties along 5th and Reese Streets are slated for or have already been demolished and the lots cleared as part of the Mayor's NTI program.

The most obvious error and an immediate clue that Mr. Volk was doing his "research" from the comfort of his laptop is that he doesn't even identify the correct neighborhood when discussing the corner. 5th and Carpenter Streets are part of Queen Village, one of the oldest and most historic neighborhoods in the entire city. For one reason or another (probably bureaucratic) the NIS CrimeBase site lumps Queen Village into a broader neighborhood called "Pennsport/Whitman/Queen. Had Mr. Volk bothered to talk to anyone in the neighborhood or from the neighborhood association he would have known better. Another important point about the NIS CrimeBase is that its statistics only go up to 2005, so any improvement in the neighborhood and downturn in drug related activity in the past two years is not even represented. Add to that the fact that the NIS database cannot pinpoint any area smaller than a Police quadrant or a zip code, or the fact that, according to the NIS database, there were more overall narcotics arrests in 2005 around Independence Mall than in the police quadrant surrounding 5th and Carpenter, and you windup with one man's statistics being another man's trash.

Mr. Volk has used census data from 2000, dubious crime statistics from 2005 or earlier, and housing sales data from...I'm guessing 1983? I couldn't help but notice the rather curious disclaimer,"This list should be considered as imperfect as the city that made it possible." before launching into the fabulous TOP TEN!!! Indeed. Someone at the Philadelphia Weekly really ought to encourage Mr. Volk to do some more thorough research before he pens another article like this. I only hope that he was more accurate with the other corners profiled in his piece.

For Mr. Volk this may be just another tossed-off hipster piece on who 's scoring what, where, but for the people of this part of Queen Village neighborhood who have been working to bring about change and have seen so much encouraging improvement and development, it's a demoralizing kick in the pants that threatens to slow down the progress in the area. It's also irresponsible journalism.

Sincerely,


Edward Warren
512 Carpenter Street
Former member of the Board of Directors,
Queen Village Neighbors Association

__________________
"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

I use to rent on third and christian, one house east of the corner. Both 3rd and Christian are nice blocks in that area despite the low income housing.

I now rent on 1000 block of Fairhill and I would say the west side of the housing project is very different. I avoid that area of fifth and walk down sixth to christian regardless of which direction I am going in.