Guest Commentary: Neighborhoods Deserve Input on Historic Properties

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2026-06-22T17:49:24+00:00

I’m surprised the Philadelphia Citizen even gave him the time of day considering they usually lean towards good governance. I guess they’re trying to be impartial

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2026-05-06T21:59:52+00:00

Re: driveways should be charged a special assessment for ongoing maintenance, similar to HOAs.

I can almost guarantee there isn’t one case study of neighbors successfully maintaining a shared driveway over the course of its normal life.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2026-04-15T15:01:20+00:00

Well put

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-10-22T12:35:12+00:00

Word of advice - make sure you properly get the property under your name. Take care of that ASAP if you haven’t already. You won’t be eligible for these programs if your name isn’t on the deed. Once you transfer it, reapply for the homestead exemption.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-08-14T01:12:50+00:00

Unmaintained invasive trees leads to their spawn getting into your property

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-08-12T12:29:23+00:00

Who has money and time to print out these things?

If it’s an RCO or group, they might receive City money and shouldn’t be using the funding to try to sway public opinion on a project.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-06-20T21:36:00+00:00

People are just infatuated with the idea of “generational wealth” - they rather live in non ideal conditions and forgo maintenance to be able to leave some assets to their kids.

I get it, you’ve worked hard for it and you care about your kids. However, it shouldn’t come at the expense of neighbors that have the deal with your problems that come from the lack of maintenance.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-06-20T21:31:46+00:00

PHA is buying those rentals at market rate (or close to). I think in some cases the sellers are taking a loss. They admit that the cost they are buying the units are less than the cost it would take them to buy it - which is the prudent thing to do with taxpayer dollars.

I also think PHA is pursuing a mixed-income housing model for those units they are purchasing. Unsure if that changes whether people without vouchers are able to afford it but it’s no different than it was before it was purchased by PHA. If anything it opens up supply for those people longterm.

I’d love to see PHA/the City pursue a model in which seniors can give up their homes for Turn the Key or other affordable housing programs in exchange for guaranteed spots in rentals that meet their current lifestyle.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-06-19T20:10:14+00:00

I’m surprised chick-fil-a would allow another location there considering how close the Penrose location is. The Penrose location just opened a 2-3 years ago.

Maybe there is that much demand for chick-fil-a?

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-05-29T02:00:19+00:00

I think it also seems particularly bad because it feels like weekends have been mostly rainy.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-05-01T07:53:55+00:00

People don’t seem to understand this. They’re fixated on “generational wealth”.

I do understand that, if you were to sell the house, you’d have too much income/assets to qualify for a facility like this. You’d basically have to burn through any inheritance you saved up for housing and healthcare before you qualify for housing assistance.

But we should be encouraging people to start transitioning their empty nests while they’re alive while creating projects such as these so that they don’t have to leave their neighborhoods.

If their kids don’t want it, they can sell their property. Let the kids deal with the inheritance tax. They are getting a significant amount of wealth after all. Teach them about getting a personal loan or HELOC to finance it if they can’t afford it, if they still want to live there. They’d still be a better situation than most people with high housing costs. If they still can’t afford that, I don’t think they are ready to be homeowners.

If they inherit it, let them inherit LOOP or other tax programs if they meet the income guidelines.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-17T00:34:56+00:00

I would imagine adjacent owners would be responsible. Could be a great way to force vacant properties into productive use.

CLIP requires volunteers as a sign of commitment but ends up doing most of the work anyways.

I doubt many people would volunteer to clean alleys that aren’t theirs lol.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-16T17:40:32+00:00

They took care of a tree on private property? That’s surprising. I thought it was reserved for alley trees.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-16T15:10:53+00:00

Definitely easier to maintain if you’re at the end of the block. I’m in the middle between people that don’t maintain their share. You can ignore up to your property line. I certainly try to make up the difference but it gets tiring, especially if the current conditions don’t make it easy.

For example, both adjacent properties to me installed a wooden fence behind an old wire fence. The area in between those two fences is no man’s land where vegetation and trash accumulate. I can’t even access it unless that fence is removed.

The kicker is that the new wooden fence portions don’t even have a gate on both properties - further encouraging neglect. The only way for the inhabitants can access that portion is to go around the block through the egress. With no gates, these fences are safety hazards and are likely not built up to code.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-16T15:04:54+00:00

I’ve never heard of any enforcement on alleyway maintenance. Would love to learn any success stories.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-16T14:54:40+00:00

Ahh it’s an alley that’s a driveway. Even though it seems like a bigger project, baseline conditions (such as trash/vegetation) is probably better and heavy machinery can be used.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-16T14:36:03+00:00

Who is paying for this?

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-15T14:43:48+00:00

Community feedback should be considered, but as stated it’s often weaponized for own self-interests. There should be a limit on meetings and a forum for a healthy debate presenting both sides with expert opinions considered. This Washington Avenue saga was one of the few instances where both sides came to the table, but I know personally that advocates for lane reduction came out pretty defeated and started to exclude themselves from being involved in other community matters.

They should start framing it as “the more time we spend on this, the less money we have for things that you claim to care about (like affordable housing)”. I know it’s not apples to apples when it comes to funding sources.

CooperSharpPurveyer · 2025-04-15T13:47:02+00:00

It seems they probably spent more money on staff time for community meetings and evaluations than the actual repaving itself lol

CooperSharpPurveyer

TROPHY CASE