After a recent rally against an existing plan to bring the Philadelphia 76ers arena next to Chinatown, the city hosted a town hall for community members to speak for and against the potential development, according to Philly Voice.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said she empathized with locals as a Philadelphia native but did not disclose her personal stance on the arena.
”Before you make large decisions like this, it is very important that all stakeholders and people impacted have an opportunity to have their voices heard — because you will impact generations,” she told the crowd, which grew large enough that the venue administered two overfill rooms to accommodate all attendees.
Some speakers spoke about potentially detrimental effects to Chinatown businesses and residents, including speeding up gentrification and raising nearby rents. One activist mentioned that the campaign to halt construction was historically backed, having “fought against the highway, convention center, stadium, casino, and now, arena,” Audacy reported.
Another speaker against the development shared her perspective as a Brooklyn native, recalling traffic and pollution around the Barclays Center after its completion in 2012, Philly Voice reported. At the time, some locals supported its development to “represent Brooklyn,” as one resident said to The New York Times, but some local business owners worried about non-patrons parking to attend games at the Barclays Center and costs associated with hiring security.
The Barclays Center, too, started as a source of protests, but it developed into a venue of protesting for social causes, as in the 2020 protests following the killing of George Floyd, The New York TImes further reported.
In 2020, Inglewood, California, residents had similar conversations around the National Football League stadium built that year. Some complained that the city’s priorities were out of order, with an X user pointing out that city government put allocations towards the stadium that they felt could have used to fund public education or clean up streets, according to Forbes.
In Philadelphia, members of the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) discussed the increase in jobs associated with the construction and maintenance of the new 76ers arena, Philly Voice wrote. Citing the neighborhood’s racial and economic demographics, speakers spoke of the arena’s potential to offer opportunities to disenfranchised groups. Some were also careful not to pit Black and Brown communities and AAPI communities against one another.
After the town hall on September 11, neighboring New Jersey released its first rendering of a potential arena in Camden, a southern New Jersey city next to Philadelphia, after its initial pitch earlier in September. Camden, home to one of three Rutgers University campuses that faces some of the state’s highest crime rates, has seen similar developments with unused historic properties being bought out by the University earlier this year.
But some pointed out at the town hall that there could be a way to satisfy many community needs.
“We believe that there is a path forward that will protect the residents and small businesses of Chinatown and improve the long-term success and stability of the community,” Daisy Cruz, an SEIU leader in support of the arena’s construction, said.
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