We drove through North Philadelphia yesterday, on our way home. Having human beings - children - live there is a crime against human rights. Our country has not been bombed, we have not suffered a huge earthquake, devastating tropical storm, alien invasion. There is no excusable reason for people living in conditions which are harsher than most third world countries experience. The devastation is worse than in the South Bronx, or East New York, because instead of pockets inside the city, they go on for miles and miles. Miles of blocks which are occupied to, what, 10, 15% of capacity? The rest of the buildings are boarded up, burned or razed to a rumble. Their inhabitants can not live in dignity, their children do not have access to an acceptable education.
In Germany, many cities have lost a large part of their industries and know a similar decline in population, or at least, in wealth. Some of their city halls are buying blocks after blocks, relocating their inhabitants to other areas and turning the deserted houses into parks. Urban management.
No pics.
