The Budd Company site, at the corner of Wissahickon and Hunting Park Avenues, is one of four potential sites in the city for a gambling casino.
Residents from the immediately adjoining neighborhoods, Nicetown and East Falls, have joined together to oppose gambling at this location. I believe that residents and community associations throughout the Northwest ought to join our neighbors in this fight.
How Gambling Will Harm Our Communities
We should stand in alliance with our neighbors in Nicetown and East Falls first because they face a serious threat to their community. The proponents of the casino, lead by Donald Trump, tell the neighbors that it will benefit them. But, with good reason, most of the neighbors have not accepted this claim. They know that casinos create many social ills: gambling addiction, alcohol and drug use, prostitution, and street crime.
Despite the promises of the developers, the neighbors also know that low income residents usually do not benefit much from the jobs created by casinos. (A trip to Atlantic City is all one needs to see that.) Casinos create some well paid jobs that require specialized training. They will not be filled by the residents of the community. Casinos also bring many low-skill dead-end jobs that will not bring great benefits to the residents of the community.
The neighbors of Budd Building also are worried that the casino will bring about an extraordinary growth in traffic that will, in
turn, require a widening of roads in the area and new ramps for the Roosevelt Boulevard. These new and expanded streets may force many local residents from their homes. Even though local residents are willing to bear some burdens for development of the right kind in this area, they are not willing to pay dearly for benefits that will be all too small.
A Better Alternative for the Site
We should also block the Trump Casino because the Budd Company site could, if developed properly, make a tremendous contribution to all of Northwest Philadelphia. It is no accident that Trump wants to locate a casino there. The Budd Company Building is an extraordinary beautiful industrial building with large windows and a rooftop penthouse. It is on a site incredibly well served by both roads and public transit. It is close to the Roosevelt Boulevard, City Line Avenue, and the Schuylkill Expressway. It is close to the R6 train. And the R8 train runs right by the property.
With a little imagination and some public investment, this site should be a major commercial and entertainment center for Northwest Philadelphia and beyond. The Budd Company Building itself could be the site of an urban mall with a wide range of stores that appeal to the diverse tastes in our area. It could house both funky stores along the lines of the nearby Material Culture and the supermarket so desperately needed in Nicetown. It could house artists’ studios. It could be a site for a multiplex movie theater—the Northwest has only theater complex—and for restaurants and bars both large and small. There could a dance club or a fine restaurant in the penthouse with outdoor dining on the rooftop that would have an incredible view of center city. And with all the parking in the area, the old building could be surrounded by a few higher quality big box stores—say a Best Buy or Home Depot—that appeal to the diverse residents of Northwest Philadelphia. There would be room for offices at the site as well, such as the Temple Hospital administrative offices that plan to locate there. And, once this commercial and entertainment center were up and running, we could expect new residential redevelopment of the many old (and empty) factory buildings in the area.
Right now we residents of the Northwest frequently travel outside of the city to do our shopping. Those of us who live in Germantown and Mt. Airy go to the mall on Cheltenham Avenue. Those who live in Chestnut Hill go to the mall on Chemical Road. This incredible site at Wissahickon and Hunting Park could be the magnet that draws residents from the Northwest to do most of our shopping in the city. And it is so close to City Line Avenue, that the site could draw some suburbanites back into the city.
With a diversity of stores and restaurants and entertainment venues, this area could generate jobs by the thousands. Some would be in small locally owned stores. Others would be in the chain stores that would undoubtedly find this area attractive. Many of these jobs in chain stores would be on a career track that led local residents who started in sales and clerical work ultimately up to managerial positions.
To Make the Dream a Reality
What would it take to make this dream a reality? To begin with, we need an R8 train station right at the Budd Company building. With a new station, the R8 would bring residents from Center City at one end, and from Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill at the other to the area. (And it would help if SEPTA made creative fare that would let those of us who take the R8 to work to get off and do some shopping or have dinner on our way home for a small additional fee.) It would take some rebuilding of access roads from the Roosevelt Boulevard. And it might take some public subsidies to jump start the development process.
Industrial buildings elsewhere in the city and country have been recycled for commercial and entertainment uses
Why can’t we do that here in a tremendous site close to transportation and, also, to some of the wealthiest sections of the city and suburbs?
What would kill this dream? A garish, overbearing casino with “Trump” emblazoned in lights together with the ambience and kinds of attractions that would make the area entirely unwelcome for other, better kinds of commerce and entertainment.
We can have slots machines and strippers at Wissahickon and Hunting Park Avenues. Or we can have a movie theater, a supermarket, sophisticated shops, and major retailers. The choice is ours to make if we in the Northwest organize to force our political leaders to think beyond the immediate attraction of gambling money and focus on our long term interests in the site. Ralph Wynder has done a splendid job of leading the multi-community coalition that is fighting the Trump Casino. He needs all of our help.