Man. A guy goes on sabbatical, and news just keeps coming about new buildings in Camden: a new Mastery School, Camden High, Rutgers’ nursing building on broadway, downtown delays and more tax credits (!). In the midst of it all, Allan Mallach came out with a provocatively article which gets at the heart of the criticism of new development in the city. He called it How *Not* to Do Economic Development:
Since almost all the jobs are being moved from nearby suburban locations, one can reasonably assume that the existing workers will simply shift their commute to Camden from Cherry Hill or Moorestown. The likelihood of future jobs is uncertain, and in any event, most aren’t likely to go to Camden residents. Currently, seven out of eight jobs in the city are held by commuters, and as far as I’ve been able to tell from the documents available, none of these companies have to hire Camden residents for any additional jobs that were promised.
Here Mallach touches on one of the big critiques of tax credits: that there’s little direct reason to think they will result in Camden residents being employed. But he also touches on broader design concerns:
Subaru’s new office building, which is being built as part of a new secure office park adjacent to the Campbell Corporation headquarters, was described by a Philadelphia Inquirer writer as, “a lonely island in an asphalt sea containing 1,031 parking spaces.”
And later:
The Holtec facility, rather grandly named the Holtec Technology Campus, is equally isolated on the site of a former shipbuilding facility along the Delaware River in the shadow of the Walt Whitman Bridge. It doesn’t do much for Camden.
These two critiques can be teased out. The first is whether the developments help existing Camden residents — a critical point since politically these were sold as improving the city. The second is whether this is good urban design — such as we see driving renaissances in a variety of urban communities across the country.
These two critiques end up intersecting when we ask what an “improving” city looks like. Does it require helping residents that are already here? Just across the bridge in Philly is a fascinating answer to this question. The city has seen a dramatic renaissance. It’s attracted residents and businesses into its core, and is, frankly, a fun place to be with great food, bars and entertainment. But it’s also seen poverty increase in many of its neighborhoods.
Is a city “improving” if it creates a city within a city that has amenities, middle-to-upper class residents, but largely just pushes poverty into other parts of the city?
And the related argument: Is Camden so lacking in disposable income that new residents need to be attracted to support local businesses?
I’ve been skeptical about plenty of this. But it’s still worth looking at development and thinking about it along these various axes.
Take, for example, the media event about Rutgers new Nursing and Science building (check out the great video by the Courier-Post):
The building is, thankfully, including some ground level retail. That’s really good news — particularly if you are a Jane JAcobs disciple and skeptical of long blocks with a single use. Without knowing exactly what will be at the location, it’s a promising sign that hopefully will lead to the block being lively even when students are not around.
That’s the good news.
But if you want to see evidence that development in the city is providing local jobs and opportunities to local businesses, there are still reasons to want more. Will these businesses be local? Will they be designed to serve a population beyond students (i.e., residents), or even be open during these hours?
Those are difficult questions without easy answers. To what extent are Camden businesses ready to operate in these spaces? Are there businesses that can fit the niche of appealing to the student demographic while drawing residents to the same area? Are the businesses throughout Camden
As someone who wants to see both (good New Urban development and also development that is inclusive of Camden as it is, not as the next potential Center City Philadelphia full of lofts and millennials), I want to think about what needs to happen to make that viable. Is there training that needs to be done among local businesses to make them competitive for this type of retail (thinking here of the good work LAEDA does)? Is there market research needed to show what businesses might be viable for both demographics? Are there existing businesses doing this successfully?
This is the world I want to see. How do we get there?
This is future Camden. Expected to be completed in early 2017, the Rutgers-Camden Nursing and Science Building is another step toward a strategy by the city and state that leans heavily on education and medical institutions to help revitalize the city. With state economic board approval and far reaching privileges, both Rutgers and Rowan are working to remake large swaths of downtown in their image. #camdennj
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