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Authorizing the Committee on Law & Government and the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold joint hearings to examine the relationship between public safety and the economic vitality of neighborhood commercial corridors, and further to explore any and all broad-based, neighborhood-focused, and inter-governmental public safety initiatives that have worked in the City in the past, and have worked or are working in other cities.
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WHEREAS, Neighborhood commercial corridors are the economic arteries of our City. The businesses located on commercial corridors offer needed goods and services, and contribute to the neighborhood identities that make our City an attractive place to live, work, and shop; and
WHEREAS, The businesses located on Philadelphia's neighborhood commercial corridors, many of which are small businesses, also provide opportunities for Black entrepreneurs, other entrepreneurs of color, and immigrant entrepreneurs, and help build household wealth; and
WHEREAS, Safe, clean, and vibrant commercial corridors are necessary to establish and maintain the overall safety, health, and wellbeing of the surrounding neighborhood and its residents; and
WHEREAS, While commercial corridors in our City have benefited from external assistance via the City, Community Development Corporations (CDCs), Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), and/or Chambers of Commerce, there can still be great disparity between the type of assistance a commercial corridor receives depending on its neighborhood, history, and surrounding anchor institutions; and
WHEREAS, Since the first COVID shutdown occurred in March 2020, followed by the civil unrest later in 2020, and now with the COVID-19 Delta variant, businesses along commercial corridors experienced, and continue to experience, an economic blow that they never expected. All of them are doing their best to survive, but unfortunately, many have closed; and
WHEREAS, As we look forward and try to envisio...
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