I thought this recent comment by “SR” was worth the bump. It takes another look at the 76ers and Holtec deals:
1) Philadelphia has recently invested in waterfront projects to spruce up underutilized piers. Has there been research about the economic impact of those projects?
2) An issue with the recent deals with the Sixers and with Holtec is that they do not create opportunities for small business investment in the waterfront area. These businesses will bring their employees with them but how can those employees stimulate the local economy without having a nearby “main street” with restaurants and other businesses to frequent? Currently most of the area around existing waterfront properties just consists of parking lots. Ideally bringing in 400+ new employees to the area also results in more money being spent on local businesses who employ local residents. Throwing money at big businesses to get employees here should be coupled with incentives for small business investment.
I think this idea of linking the waterfront to main streets and small businesses is a key one. It’s one of the reasons I’m so high on the Latin American Economic Development Association (LAEDA); a large part of their vision is linking small, Camden-owned businesses to what’s happening downtown.
Share it!
You keep repeating yourself about the 76ers we got your point the first time. You sound like a broken and bitter record. Try out for the 76ers if it makes you feel better.
Estelle – thanks for reading. One of the missions of this blog is to highlight community voices. I thought this take on the 76ers was different enough from previous that it was worth bumping to the front page. If you have a really different view, I’d love to highlight that as well. Just include it in the comments, or email it to me stephen.danley (at) rutgers.edu.