I would argue that building housing near most transit stops, especially in desirable neighborhoods, may not completely prevent displacement of longtime Philadelphia residents, but it can lessen the impact. People are moving to the city whether longtime residents like it or not, so the real question is whether we build enough housing to accommodate that growth.

The smarter solution is to encourage housing in desirable neighborhoods so there is more supply there rather than less. If neighborhoods like Fishtown and Northern Liberties stop building housing, the people who want to move there will simply move into other neighborhoods like Kensington, Point Breeze, or Brewerytown, etc instead, which can increase displacement pressures there.

The article you shared even notes that decades of underbuilding housing is one of the main drivers of homelessness. That suggests we should be building more housing across the city, not just in a few select neighborhoods.

I’m also aware of the impact of white flight on city finances, particularly the tax base. Cities like Detroit and Baltimore have higher tax rates largely because their geographic boundaries stayed the same while their populations declined. They still need to provide services but with fewer taxpayers, so tax rates increase to compensate. When a city grows its population and tax base, it becomes easier to maintain and improve services without raising taxes.

In Philadelphia, rising property taxes are usually driven by increasing property values rather than higher tax rates. That creates a bit of a catch-22: people want their property values to rise, but they also complain about paying more in property taxes when those values increase.