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Aggravating_Rise_179 t1_jae6a3k wrote

Reply to comment by sutisuc in Shaq II is ICONIQ 777 by felsonj

Ah yes, because Newark's wealthier residents are just all white people. A good chunk of the people moving into the city's downtown core tend to be people of color and many Newark residents with college degrees. There is a difference between gentrifying a city and redeveloping a city.

I also want to point out that you literally tacking on the Ironbound's pollution to undermine what that neighborhood offers. Like there are many who prefer the walkability, access to a major train station, jobs, etc that the Ironbound offers compares to much of the "nicer" neighborhoods of Philly.

But Im already losing enough of my time on this pointless argument. You dont like it here and thats fine, but just dont hide your dislike for the city behind some "concern" for its residents.

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sutisuc t1_jae7iup wrote

A neighborhood can offer great things and also be polluted, why would those two things be mutually exclusive? And it’s not like it’s not true: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2022/05/in-newarks-ironbound-you-can-taste-the-air-its-disgusting-just-say-no-to-another-fossil-plant-moran.html

I get you’re the ultimate Newark booster but just burying your head in the sand and pretending that a city with starting rents of 2500 dollars for new studios that is also home to four superfund sites and tons of active polluters is not a good look. Obviously I’m concerned about Newark or I would just be ranting about “crime” like the idiots that don’t actually care about Newark. Given that I’m actually concerned about the environmental racism and lack of affordable housing that’s not the case.

Also in what world do the “nice” parts of Philly lack walkability, transit, etc? The transit and nightlife options are far superior in Philly and that would only be controversial to someone who is delusional.

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Aggravating_Rise_179 t1_jaeeev6 wrote

The ultimate booster... dude, I have come down on the city for its shit in the past and I am very much aware that the city lacks certain things that I would love it to have. I am just pointing out that in order for the city to attract the things you love about Philly it needs people with higher incomes to move in and not to just be a city exclusively for the poor... but that somehow makes me delusional.

I also love the fact that you keep pointing to Newark's four superfund sites and claiming to want environmental justice for its residents, but then dont point out that Philadelphia County (basically the city of Philly) has 44 in its borders (which makes it the second most polluted county in the Country)... but somehow, your okay with that because the rent of a studio apartment is slightly less than 2K. Have you stopped to think if the average resident of Philadelphian can actually afford those "affordable" rents. Seems to me that the economy of the city and what passes as higher incomes/higher rents is actually lower since the population of the region cant support higher rents.

The fact of the matter is Philly only looks affordable to people in this region because the average rent in the NY area is about 3K, while the average rent of Philly is 1,901. Just because the numbers look lower to us does not mean it is actually lower for the people living in that area. Philadelphia has a poverty rate of 22.3% which means many of those "affordable" units are in fact not affordable for them.

The definition of affordability is not the same across regions because the market in each region is different. What's affordable for someone in NJ would be considered out of range for someone in Alabama or Mississippi.

If you are going to claim that you care about Newark's lack of affordable housing and its environmental issues, atleast also pretend to care about it in Philly. Because what is happening in Newark is not exclusive to here. Developers all over are buying up properties and making the new housing more expensive than the current economy of those cities can actually support without outside residents moving in. Philly is going through the same housing unaffordability as Newark, but somehow because of Newark's 4 superfund sites its a bad look yet not in Philly with 40 more (many of which are literally steps away from Center City and a few in predominately black North Philly).

Love you calling me delusional because I have a differing opinion about Newark's nightlife and access to mass transit and walkability. Nightlife is up for debate, as I would put up the Ironbound's options up against most cities, but access to mass transit and walkability when Newark's population density is higher than Philly's and much more concentrated because of the smaller city limits... come on

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sutisuc t1_jaeewso wrote

I thought you were done with this debate? What happened?

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Aggravating_Rise_179 t1_jaeg7jr wrote

Edits from my boss took a bit longer than I thought, so decided to entertain this nonsense for a bit longer.

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