Title
Authorizing the Council President to appoint a City Council Housing and Economic Development Task Force.
Body
WHEREAS, The Mayor's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative ("NTI") proposal has stimulated public discussion about neighborhood revitalization, community development, and how best to allocate limited resources to achieve agreed upon ends; and
WHEREAS, Other cities have successfully engaged in public discussions about the implementation of City-wide strategies designed to meet three key goals: retaining population, increasing population, and catalyzing revitalization sufficient to make a difference in physical and economic terms; and
WHEREAS, While there is broad agreement in Philadelphia that the goal of revitalization efforts should be to attract and retain population, there has been little discussion about how to achieve those goals given limited resources; moreover, the goal of attracting population might require different approaches than the goal of retaining existing population; in addition, the need to develop City-wide strategies for creating affordable housing and market-rate housing opportunities for current residents must be addressed as part of an attraction/retention program; and
WHEREAS, This is an appropriate time for Philadelphia to seek local and regional knowledge, technical skills and talent across the public, private and non-profit sectors, and to examine best practices in cities that have successfully met the challenge of urban revitalization, to help develop a long-term housing and economic development strategy appropriate to Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, For these reasons, Council deems it appropriate to authorize the creation of a Task Force to advise Council as it makes decisions concerning the NTI and other housing and economic development matters; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Council President is hereby authorized to appoint a City Council Housing and Econom...
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