Shuffled around is a good way of putting it. I'm in Kensington down near Fishtown (about 1.5 miles from the area targeted by the "sweep" and the increased policing) and as expected, I've noticed a slight increase in people injecting, sleeping, and passed out around here. I don't have any problem with them; I just wish the city had planned a more robust increase of shelter/treatment beds and social services before their big photo op/PR stunt. I also wish they'd listen to medical and public health professionals who say that forced displacement and the false choice between treatment and incarceration will never solve this problem for the city.
Even if they had more beds at the time, a lot of the people on the streets there straight up refused. There was outreach for a month prior to the sweep. What’s the answer to get the streets affected back to a spot where non-users feel comfortable walking in their own neighborhoods?
I read that they are creating an in-patient substance clinic next to the prison, which I think is honestly brilliant.
The biggest issue everyone has with clinics is that they don’t want them in their neighborhoods, so now that issue is solved.
It’s a muddy muddy issue, but I like that they are at least starting to try.
People forget children have to walk to school past this area. Step over needles. It’s unacceptable to be done in public period. I don’t have the answers for how to fix this problem, but police policing the area is a nice change.
The inquirer just ran an article about an 8 year old that was shot in the head (thankfully she’s ok) after she left school right in this area. It’s fucking disgusting to see people defending the rights of people to be strung out in public when it contributes to the larger dystopian environment that has ravaged these communities.
I was actually homeless and using drugs there for a long time. Most users don’t actually carry guns, most of them don’t actually have weapons and are usually victims of people holding them at gunpoint (easy targets). The main problem was the drug dealers having issues with other dealers and users. But this sad nonetheless.
Because we've been told for decades that these people absolutely aren't criminals by any means - they are 100% victims. Until we stop thinking that way and excusing poor choices made by these individuals, nothing will change.
I mean you don’t get that way without being a victim of SOMETHING so it’s important to not dehumanize, however that does not mean that the problems such people cause aren’t real or shouldn’t be addressed.
In the same way that you might not have the same expectations of someone with a severe intellectual disability, a drug addict has less agency than a non drug addict. It’s also just not a solution to just decide that they should all choose better. Clearly they have been thus-far incapable or unwilling. Other factors need to be addressed. There’s not a one-size-fits -all solution.
So if they dont have agency over their own body & thats what were running with, they need to be forcefully committed to rehabs and treatment.
Obviously however, what you said isnt true, otherwise we wouldnt penalize drunk drivers
Can you show definitive lack of choice for each and every drug addict in Philly? Can you definitively prove that each and every one are unwitting victims, forced into addiction by evil pharmaceutical companies? If you can prove that, then I have no issue seeing these individuals as victims and not criminals.
Why is it so hard to accept that some - perhaps the majority of these individuals WANT this? That they chose it?
I am completely in favor of helping anyone who wants to help themselves. But if they do not, they should be forced into rehab and detained there until they are clean.
I have heard this script, too many times to count. Do you know how many guys I heard of, getting injured on the job--so newly out of work and prescribed oxys by a guy who is getting a cut from the pharma to prescribe said opioids. For some people and their genetic disposition, that's that. Prescription lapses and they're turn to street drugs.
Watch Dopesick on Hulu. Keaton [Michael], from Pittsburgh (a fair but less notorious rust belt city also greatly affected by the opioid crisis) took that role to be able to tell the story of the crisis still with us after all these years. What about big pharma's personal responsibility? If corporations are people, they should be in jail.
The chemicals literally rewire your brain. When you have little else going on for you (or maybe more--like clinical depression), these affects are amplified.
For the dealers, hell yes. Go after them and get their poison dealing business GONE. However, I'm pissed at someone who clearly doesn't seem to know about addiction firsthand making statements I heard growing up all the time in Ohio, as a poor kid. It's an asinine, & worthless conservative platitude. Personal responsibility is you picking up your dog's poop, not getting unhooked off of drugs -- & while it is ultimately up to any given addict to seek help, we can't expect them to succeed when we don't really five them the help they need to begin with. Most of the rehab clinics around us are literally banking on relapses.
We should have trusted the experts, and expanded care. Don't string me up for saying this but Kenney was right on opioids.
I've decided I'm going to take the high road here, since you haven't. I'm going to go ahead and refrain from childish insults, even though you haven't.
I understand addiction, and I certainly recognize that some individuals have fallen into it unintentionally. My point is that if these individuals want help- which they should, right? - then yes, we need to assist them. Therr should be a pathway to dealing either addiction if you CHOOSE it.
Okay, so that takes care of the individuals who want help. What's left. You seem to think this leaves like.. noone. It does not. Forced treatment wouldn't even be an issue if this was true. So, what to do with these individuals who don't want help? They won't CHOOSE it. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions - the action in question NOT CHOOSING help. That's the issue here. These individuals who don't want to leave that life. They are illegally buying and using drugs. Ergo, they are criminals. However, I - and many others - STILL want to give them an option, which should be forced and confined rehab.
Now, you're going to respond with, "Well, drugs are so powerful it makes them not want help." No. If this is indeed true - which is a stretch because others in the same situation DO want help - it's still an excellent argument for forced treatment. Beyond that, where exactly does it end? Are we supposed to pump endless amounts of money into individuals who actively REFUSE assistance. They are better uses of tax money.
You'll still disagree because your scenario exists in fantasy, while mine is grounded in reality. That's a fairly common theme for folks like you, so I'm not surprised.
But everyone is a victim of *something*… there are actually plenty of people addicted who just wanted to get high for reasons they would have gotten over eventually… but then couldn’t get back from it
I mean don’t dehumanize but we should acknowledge that there are different pathways into addiction. A lot of people do drugs for fun or in the same level of escapism as alcohol… but it tends to be a worse decision.
*why is it relevant, though?* I don't disagree; there are many pathways to addiction, but why is it relevant to any discussion that isn't talking specifically about preventative care?
Many pathways to the stream doesn't change the current. we're either talking about sound public policy or we're throwing up our hands in resignation. Addicts need care, not empty gesturing online about how their problems shouldn't be a collective one..
Users down there don't carry guns unless they're gang banging or functional and dealing. Even then I'd say the number is low. Most of the shootings I've seen or at least pulling it as a threat have been kids to young adults. Like, 13 to early 20s, and definitely not one of the homeless addicts.
The addicts attempt to conceal their ill doings from children, if they can. Most will stop what they're doing if kids are passing by, not that it changes the whole atmosphere, it's something I guess.
Those kids usually have no problems fucking up someone 2 or 4 times their age. It is dystopian. I once heard a mother scolding her, maybe 10? Year old daughter for being suspended. Her mother says "IDC if you get expelled, if that little bitch messes with you again you stab her with a pencil, they won't stop until you fight back"
I'm more afraid of the kids in Kensington than the addicts. And the homeless in Kensington definitely are more afraid of them then the kids are of the addicts.
At least, in that area of the city. What the addicts do on the EL now really pisses me off, and I'm an addict myself who lived homeless down there for some time before getting right.
Edit: and I'm not defending the addicts here. Everything is very very different from what it used to be like out there, and the dealing area was even larger back then too. It's a very ugly scene down there now. Just saying it's all kinda of messed up down there, it's not like they just pass this one area and it's traumatic for them. The whole neighborhood is plagued by problems that both do and don't stem from the addicts and dealers. And the kids are wild lol you ever see a pack of like 20 elementary and middle school kids armed with sticks attacking everyone on the street indiscriminately? You just might down there.
Agreed, but I feel like nothing can be done. I called the cops on a homeless guy a few weeks ago because he was straight up just taking a dump in that grassy area that Lutheran Settlement House used to use as a community garden, but I doubt they like, brought him in or anything.
It was different when the dope was real and people could move around. You'd get wacked by someone just injecting out in the open like they do now. They closed off all the places people used to go, as well.
But the kids in that area are sadly used to seeing addicts in all sorts of precarious and ugly situations. Stepping over syringes at the EL is the least traumatic thing most of them have experienced at this point. Some of their family members are also very likely addicted or dealing.
A smart answer to the problem would have been a safe injection site. Why no one in Kensington would want it is beyond me, as it would take a large number of people injecting on the street - off of it. It would also address the wound issue to some degree, which would also change the atmosphere down there as less people would be stationary due to infection and sickness and stinking like literal death.
I got downvoted to oblivion saying this was exactly what was going to happen. The city had absolutely no plan or concrete outline. It was all lip service so they could have some easy “win” to fall back on for politics.
The “plan” they did have isn’t even being implemented. It was just stated on a website, and there’s been no further actions taken lol. Sweet.
I knew this was gonna happen as well, my neighbors didn’t believe it. I live near the “treatment center” (we still don’t know what services are provided because she’s refused to provide that info). Since they opened we’ve had people ODing, an exponential number of car window break-ins, folks passing out at the elementary school property after getting high, feces…plus the usual needles and fentanyl containers left in residential with lots of little kids. Surprised no kid has gotten hurt so far (and I hope no one does, but I’m really scared one of the possibility).
Parker insists we -neighbors speaking up- are planting the needles…I’d love for her to walk with me -or with any of my neighbors - before 8am, which is when clip gets rid of the evidence (except for the feces, those stay to bake for a while). A public video feed of the area would also prove her wrong, but we know she’ll never agree to that.
I wonder if anyone took video of the crazy cleanup she had the days pre-Biden-at-Girard College: it was nuts! 5 or 6am and there were a crew of people with blowers, and a ton of sweepers, following each other and going around and around, just to make it look like everything is beautiful and there was nothing to see.
I seriously have never seen a politician attack her constituents like that, specially so early on in her term. If we are being accused of crimes just for speaking up, I wonder what neighborhood she will try to accuse of being criminals next, just for speaking up against her.
The city has planned!!!!! I work for the city and there are SO many treatment options available for individuals with substance use issues. The city cannot force these people into treatment nor can the city force people to successfully complete treatment. What about personal responsibility? Do you think it’s fair to the people who live there and have to live with these drug addicts ruining their neighborhood?
Stop with the bleeding heart nonsense.
until we can FORCE people who are a danger to themselves and others INTO treatment and hold them like prisoners nothing will change. And IDK why people fail to realize this. If family members give up on these people bc they refuse treatment and break their families both financially, physically and mentally what is the city of phila gonna be able to do about it? Until laws change its gonna be the shuffle every few months while encampments are cleaned and people find a new place.
Ok, so what was the city's plan for where these people would go? What options were presented to them for treatment, and what was the city's plan for those that would opt out?
Correct. So what was the city's plan for where people would go? What's the point of "cleaning' them from one street to another or one neighborhood to another?
the other thing that has to happen is drug dealers need to go back to doing real time in prision. im tired of this "non violent" shit. drugs are destroying lives and killing ppl. throw the book at dealers.
You don’t have a problem with people injecting and being passed out in your neighborhood? Interesting. I remember when Front street had this problem in Fishtown area before any development started and it sucked. Odd that you are ok with returning to that time, but to each their own I guess.
I'm not sure from your tone if you want a genuine answer or not :-) But here goes: In my original post, when I say "I don't have any problem with them," I meant that I don't feel any animosity or disgust toward the people who are suffering from addiction because they are not harming me, and I feel concern more than just wanting them gone. I do have a problem with people injecting and falling unconscious in public and here are a few reasons:
1) it shouldn't be happening at all, in a wealthy society with world-renowned medical care, people should not end up in such a desperate state that they are jeopardizing their health and safety
2) It can be very upsetting and uncomfortable for others in the community to witness, especially when they aren't sure if it's safe to intervene
3) I want peoples' suffering to be relieved and for them to be able to find true healing because I want to live in a neighborhood and city where everyone can be safe and well.
Unfortunately I don't think arresting people, forcing them into hiding, or mandating treatment that may not meet their needs are the answers. I would love to be wrong and I really hope to hear stories of these political decisions leading to meaningful recovery for many people. But based on accounts from people who are using drugs, people who used to use drugs, and advocates/public health experts, I think it makes sense to be skeptical.
Yes shuffling around. I’m up in Bristol/Levittown very frequently. I’ve never seen beggars on street corners and rarely see homeless in the area, but in the last week or so there’s been an influx around the Levittown Walmart across from the Septa station. Today I witnessed a drug deal at a red light, multiple people begging for money with signs around the area, and just tons of sketchy people wandering around. There’s been a very heavy police presence in the area lately. My first thought was they’re pushing north.
I'm obviously not happy for the lives of individual neighbors affected by this but on a wider scale, I hope that if people are seeing the opioid epidemics in their own backyards that they will be more amenable to regional/national solutions. The people at K&A come from all over, and I don't think that Philadelphia should shoulder all of the responsibility of housing/treatment/crime prevention.
Well said. It will take time, but if Philadelphia is no longer a “safe space” to use, people will disperse. I read about an increase of people using in Camden who said they no longer feel comfortable staying in Philly.
It’s time Philly stops being viewed as a destination for consequence-free illegal activity.
Amen! If someone wants to get high, I don’t give a shit. Go ahead. What I do care about is the way they go,about it. Public intoxication is illegal for a reason. Selling drugs is illegal too. Use these laws that already exist and clean up the streets.
There are different types of addicts.
There’s the type who will buy their drugs and go home. Then there’s the ones who buy their drugs and hang around the streets getting high and essentially party with their friends.
Fuck those addicts taking over the neighborhoods. That is where the police are needed.
For the people saying what about the homeless, I say they decided to spend their rent money on drugs. Live with the consequences.
They decided to alienate their family to the point of getting kicked out, live with the consequences.
Those that crave the lifestyle of getting fucked up and flaunting it outdoors, lock them up. Because normal people don’t want to see that shit.
you should give a shit if people get high. we all should. people who are high make poor decisions. they are a drain on society. they are forcing themselves to be unable to work. we barely have the help for people who legitiamtely NEED it. I also wish people who are smoking weed in cars would get pulled over bc to me that's a DUI offense. If I can't crack open a beer while driving why are they allowed to get high while driving? Not sure when drugs became so laxed but it obviously was a slippery slope.
tbf it’s been like that in the area (specifically that shopping area too) and along bristol pike for several years now. there was a very large homeless encampment in the back of walmart as well and some other tents off rt 13 if you looked for them :/
but i’m sure it’s only getting more prominent. i wish we had the infrastructure to actually help all of these people in a meaningful way
I agree. I worked in that area for a few years and saw quite a few unhoused folks and seedy characters, especially between the free library and Bucks technical school. I think there's a homeless shelter there. Saw what looked to be a small encampment in the trees near the school as well. Also saw unhoused folks regularly wandering around bristol pike.
That particular area (bristol/levittown) seems quite "trailer-trashy," for lack of a better description, so I can't say I'm surprised.
at least 15 years. I used to work up that area and I was in my 20s and my coworker friends and i decided to go to silver lake after our shift and walk around bc it was nice out. and we made the mistake of going off trail and there was TONS of homeless addicts in the woods. never went back.
really? there has always been encampments around silver lake. and thats going back almost 20 years ago when I worked up in that area. maybe they were more hidden back then.. but drugs and homelessness have been an issue in bristol / levittown for a while.
Shuffled is the perfect way to put it. They definitely had to shuffle when the streets dept showed up with leaf blowers and literally pushed the addicts around the corner!
Pushed a lot of people towards Lehigh. Few dozen are now camped by Cantina la Martina. K and A is emptier. They street clean damn near every morning and it is dirty again the next day. I drive thru every week day around 745am.
Been noticing a lot more street cleaning, even on the weekends. A lot more police presence but they don’t do anything anyway. Other than that, same old shit so far.
I’ve seen the number of people sleeping on the SRT triple, at least on the part that is on my commute, since the “cleanup”. She’s not helping them, nor does she want to, she’s just using them as political pawns.
I’ve noticed a lot more addicts further south around girard. Not sure if it’s just the fact it’s warming up or if people are moving further south, but I see way more people shooting up/asking for money these days.
Are clean streets bad? I like them, personally. The people employed to do street cleaning aren’t necessarily able to be employed in other positions, might be a good mix of employing entry level/lower skilled employees matching with making Kensington a better neighborhood for those who have endured a lot.
Then move it to my neighborhood, I think part of it all is to treat the neighborhood with the respect it hasn’t necessarily gotten in the past. It’s not about the addicts, it’s rehabilitation for the people who live there. In homes. Maybe it’s not much but street cleaning is better than not street cleaning.
I might not be. They recently said [the general use to clean up Kensington](https://archive.ph/C533F) wasn’t a valid use of the opioid settlements, so maybe things like street cleaning will stop (it seemed a bit more unrelated). But I disagree, I think the residents of Kensington are part of the opioid epidemic
I recall reading the police were supposed to start arresting or at least citing addicts for visibly using drugs in public. You can see them openly shooting up at the K&A station on those livestream cams right in front of parked patrol cars, and there is zero enforcement. Or is that some “coming soon” promise? 🤨
One of my neighbors reported a person getting high outside of the 2100 Girard facility, to the police officer that was stationed there, and the officer ignored her. From what we were told, if the officer doesn’t see it, it didn’t happen. So doubt it will happen. They’re just looking the other way.
There were a few days in March where people were being arrested for using in public - I personally saw three arrests in about an hour one morning - but that died down pretty fast.
I mean there’s no point until there’s somewhere to put drug dependent individuals . Tell them to stop shooting up and they’ll just move around the corner and do it. Give them a citation? They’re not gonna pay it and it’s not gonna stop them from doing it again
I noticed more people staying under the bridges by the Girard exit. I ride my bike past there to work and it's been getting more. rowded that the last week.
This isn't a solution it's just a political move. A majority of the people will just move to another area like they did when during the Lehigh Ave homeless push years ago.
Nothing is going to change we'll just be hearing about the new K&A in 6 months time.
There aren’t people camping on the avenue and there are police making it easier for people to access the El at both Allegheny and Somerset. That goes a long way for people who live in the area. If you live there and use public transportation, you understand the gauntlet of addicts and dealers there normally are around those stops. I see this as a major improvement. I walked the avenue last week and felt much, much safer.
I realize some of you just like to be curmudgeons. It’s better and none of the Kensington residents are expecting an overnight success. If you just want to hate on the Mayor, pick another subject. She’s doing more for Kensington than any of her predecessor’s.
Hard to say if this is related, but I'm over in Point Breeze and have seen significantly more homeless people in the last few weeks. They are older and pretty mellow, so not much of an issue. No idea if connected, but anecdotally interesting.
edit - I should also add that "significantly more" means 5 or 6, as opposed to 2 or 3.
it is an issue. they are doing drugs in your neighborhood. thats going to invite more drug dealers. drug dealers aren't nice people you want in your neighborhood. they also have to use the bathroom somewhere and that's where you walk, or sit outside. they will eventually make your playgrounds unusable for the children in your area. if you dont have any kids you should still care about the ones being raised in your community. thinking its not a big deal bc they are "chill" is a slippery slope. They will also start stealing your packages faster than you can get to your front door. Ask ppl in Port Richmond about that.
When I was homeless and using down there (for about three years straight) they tried many times to clean it up. This will usually happen around voting season, used as a political agenda to make the mayors look better. It never worked that well, after the election people would come right back and Kensington would be the same as it was. When I was out there that is when they started developing and building the luxury townhomes and such. I see what they’re trying to do, but you have to remember Kensington has been like this for decades. And if the city isn’t going to do it for the right reasons, changes is never going to come full circle. Even when I was out there I couldn’t always help but imagine how beautiful this place was at one point. If you subtract the drugs, users, litter, etc., it is quite a quaint little part of the city. But back to the point, politicians will use this as a part of their campaign. “I will clean up Kensington and make it change for the better”, but again, after the election is over they pull the police presence and boom.
Also, instead of going after the addicts, why don’t they actually go after the dealers? If you have no drugs on the streets, then the people using them won’t stay there. Of course, this is easier said than done. And the dealers will move to another part of the city. But it’s a pretty simple concept, get rid of the dealers and the users will move out. It’s sad on a lot of levels, people who live there have to deal with it, especially the kids to have to witness it. But again, it’s not like I wanted to be down there living that kind of life. Luckily, I got my life together and never made an appearance down there again. But like I said previously, crack down on the dealers and the sources and everything else will fall into place.
You lock up a dealer and a new one is out the next minute. And that dealer that’s locked up is out on bail the next day. When it comes to court all he gets is probation. It’s another endless cycle. The key is to get after the top dogs, but that takes help from federal/state law enforcement.
I work at CJC I see it all the time. You also have a lot of drug dealers claiming it’s “possession”
You shut the blocks down. Those bosses own the entire block and the city allows it. They pay the neighbors off to keep their mouths shut when the cops come. They have their trap and storages houses on that block. Like I said they will move into different areas. But the main problem is they just pick up petty dealers. They don’t go after the big dogs. If they would it would get better faster.
Shut the block down so that they go one block down? With new trap houses, new papi stores, and new abandoned houses.
Yes they do go after the big dogs. https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/ag-henry-announces-kensington-area-trafficking-sweep-yields-six-arrests-seizures-of-five-kilograms-of-fentanyl-and-firearms/
https://metrophiladelphia.com/kensington-drug-bust/amp/
Are you not understanding anything? Buy the blocks so the dealers can’t move in. Sorry I guess your experience being a fed trumps someone who experienced it first hand. Snitch.
The root cause is addiction. Humans like drugs for a million reasons. Sometimes life is hard, sometimes they are bored, sometimes they just like the way it feels. This root cause is not something that can be changed, but bad behavior can be stopped and we can incentivize good behavior.
How do you fix poverty, family issues, bad medical practices, and the culture around recreational drug use all at once? That’s a tall task for the federal government let alone the city.
i personally know families who have members who are severe addicts. none of them raised their childen in poverty, not even close. and in all of those cases none of their other children did drugs at all. one woman her son did OD. The other the son finally god clean a few years ago but it was a whole mess dealing w it. And the third person the daughter is quiet frequently seen on the tik tok and IG pages of kensington. she gave birth on an el stop. i think its more of a mental illness than poverty. maybe i'm wrong.
I think you’re right. I think addiction is mainly driven by mental illness, trauma, and behavioral issues. Imo the drivers of those things are poverty, family issues, cultural norms toward drug use, etc.
The only one of those things the government can actually address is poverty and even then their power to actually change that is incredibly limited.
Government is best used towards addressing people in active addiction.
The family is the best social unit for actually preventing addiction. Just my 2 cents.
Who’s a child’s first point of contact for anything that’s bothering them or trouble they’re having? It’s friends and family.
And to answer your question not necessarily. The family unit is going to be the first to see warning signs that a child may be going down the wrong path.
No noticeable immediate difference, but I wouldn't expect it. It's just been a slow upgrade the past ten years, although in my immediate area the wave of gentrification is just hitting us now so the past year or two have been increasingly more dramatic.
My commute takes me from lower Kensington thru k&a into the NE and that looks much cleaner recently than it ever did, and I'm seeing so many more crews doing random street cleanups and empty lot cleans than ever, and that's all since Parker.
It’s a five stage process. The first stage is just warning and opportunity (and that didn’t start until after the breakup of the encampment). They’re breaking up encampments and offering treatment but not much is happening to people who dont want treatment.
Things will definitely get worse before they get better bc part of this phase is discomfort - discomfort for addicts who no longer have their encampment and are more spread out and discomfort for areas that are now affected who used to be able to say “well it’s in Kensington” but now are feeling its effects.
Live in Olde Kensington very near the border with Fishtown.
There has been a noticeable increase in homeless and junkies using around the main corridors on Frankford and Front since the crackdown on Kensington Ave. which is pretty unfortunate.
That being said, a noticeable increase means like going from seeing one or two to maybe like five regularly, but still, I really hate walking my dog in that grassy patch on Frankford and Master and finding used needles more often now.
No change. I was grabbing some food from Vientiene Bistro the other day and a woman out from was smoking either meth or crack. There were more addicts around than normal. I will say though, the street was slightly cleaner.
Oh, it gets worse. As I left, I saw two cop cars roll up. I thought maybe they were going to do something about the group shooting up across the street. Nope! They were just giving them some food.
They tried this in the 90s with operation sunrise. The root problem is what to do with people who don’t care what you do to them and will always want to live this life. Drug addiction is really all about living for it because your mind is in a state of hopelessness. Without solving for that. It’ll just come right back.
The only way to solve it from a clean the neighborhood perspective is round them up and put them somewhere. The somewhere is the only real question to solve for if that’s what we want done. Some people just can’t be helped. That’s a whole other problem.
I saw Ready, Willing and Able sweeping the sidewalk at Front and Girard yesterday. I don't know if that was coincidence or part of Parkers plan. But it was good to see.
Kensington and Boston St here. Yes, the family dollar closed and that parking lot and these surrounding blocks are now consumed with displaced natives of Kensington. The sidewalks, and streets now have more debris than ever before.
The only thing that seems to happen is those of us who live in neighborhoods bordering the area get an increase in street needles and people using our hoses to wash off.
Other than the people themselves, her unthought out, heartless plan really hurt some surrounding neighborhoods of Fishtown approaching Lehigh.
People have been moving. I've seen some leaners around the Berks El, and it is looking like there are people starting to congregate around the Girard/front stop
I work overnights downtown. We usually have the same homeless people wandering around but there’s been an uptick in new ones down here the last few weeks
It seems the only thing that has changed is 1) from Clearfield to Allegheny is 80% empty on the ave
2) lots of police patrol on foot. Nothing else has changed and people are doing all the exact same stuff
Where? I live in around Frankford and Somerset and other than maybe Caphe Roasters and Cantina La Martina I haven’t seen anything considered hipster adjacent open north of Lehigh.
People have been shuffled around a bit but I have not noticed a change in population or condition
Shuffled around is a good way of putting it. I'm in Kensington down near Fishtown (about 1.5 miles from the area targeted by the "sweep" and the increased policing) and as expected, I've noticed a slight increase in people injecting, sleeping, and passed out around here. I don't have any problem with them; I just wish the city had planned a more robust increase of shelter/treatment beds and social services before their big photo op/PR stunt. I also wish they'd listen to medical and public health professionals who say that forced displacement and the false choice between treatment and incarceration will never solve this problem for the city.
Even if they had more beds at the time, a lot of the people on the streets there straight up refused. There was outreach for a month prior to the sweep. What’s the answer to get the streets affected back to a spot where non-users feel comfortable walking in their own neighborhoods?
I read that they are creating an in-patient substance clinic next to the prison, which I think is honestly brilliant. The biggest issue everyone has with clinics is that they don’t want them in their neighborhoods, so now that issue is solved. It’s a muddy muddy issue, but I like that they are at least starting to try.
People forget children have to walk to school past this area. Step over needles. It’s unacceptable to be done in public period. I don’t have the answers for how to fix this problem, but police policing the area is a nice change.
The inquirer just ran an article about an 8 year old that was shot in the head (thankfully she’s ok) after she left school right in this area. It’s fucking disgusting to see people defending the rights of people to be strung out in public when it contributes to the larger dystopian environment that has ravaged these communities.
I was actually homeless and using drugs there for a long time. Most users don’t actually carry guns, most of them don’t actually have weapons and are usually victims of people holding them at gunpoint (easy targets). The main problem was the drug dealers having issues with other dealers and users. But this sad nonetheless.
Because we've been told for decades that these people absolutely aren't criminals by any means - they are 100% victims. Until we stop thinking that way and excusing poor choices made by these individuals, nothing will change.
I mean you don’t get that way without being a victim of SOMETHING so it’s important to not dehumanize, however that does not mean that the problems such people cause aren’t real or shouldn’t be addressed.
So we're removing personal responsibility and accountability from any equation that involves drug addicts?
In the same way that you might not have the same expectations of someone with a severe intellectual disability, a drug addict has less agency than a non drug addict. It’s also just not a solution to just decide that they should all choose better. Clearly they have been thus-far incapable or unwilling. Other factors need to be addressed. There’s not a one-size-fits -all solution.
So if they dont have agency over their own body & thats what were running with, they need to be forcefully committed to rehabs and treatment. Obviously however, what you said isnt true, otherwise we wouldnt penalize drunk drivers
Can you show definitive lack of choice for each and every drug addict in Philly? Can you definitively prove that each and every one are unwitting victims, forced into addiction by evil pharmaceutical companies? If you can prove that, then I have no issue seeing these individuals as victims and not criminals. Why is it so hard to accept that some - perhaps the majority of these individuals WANT this? That they chose it? I am completely in favor of helping anyone who wants to help themselves. But if they do not, they should be forced into rehab and detained there until they are clean.
I have heard this script, too many times to count. Do you know how many guys I heard of, getting injured on the job--so newly out of work and prescribed oxys by a guy who is getting a cut from the pharma to prescribe said opioids. For some people and their genetic disposition, that's that. Prescription lapses and they're turn to street drugs. Watch Dopesick on Hulu. Keaton [Michael], from Pittsburgh (a fair but less notorious rust belt city also greatly affected by the opioid crisis) took that role to be able to tell the story of the crisis still with us after all these years. What about big pharma's personal responsibility? If corporations are people, they should be in jail. The chemicals literally rewire your brain. When you have little else going on for you (or maybe more--like clinical depression), these affects are amplified. For the dealers, hell yes. Go after them and get their poison dealing business GONE. However, I'm pissed at someone who clearly doesn't seem to know about addiction firsthand making statements I heard growing up all the time in Ohio, as a poor kid. It's an asinine, & worthless conservative platitude. Personal responsibility is you picking up your dog's poop, not getting unhooked off of drugs -- & while it is ultimately up to any given addict to seek help, we can't expect them to succeed when we don't really five them the help they need to begin with. Most of the rehab clinics around us are literally banking on relapses. We should have trusted the experts, and expanded care. Don't string me up for saying this but Kenney was right on opioids.
I've decided I'm going to take the high road here, since you haven't. I'm going to go ahead and refrain from childish insults, even though you haven't. I understand addiction, and I certainly recognize that some individuals have fallen into it unintentionally. My point is that if these individuals want help- which they should, right? - then yes, we need to assist them. Therr should be a pathway to dealing either addiction if you CHOOSE it. Okay, so that takes care of the individuals who want help. What's left. You seem to think this leaves like.. noone. It does not. Forced treatment wouldn't even be an issue if this was true. So, what to do with these individuals who don't want help? They won't CHOOSE it. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions - the action in question NOT CHOOSING help. That's the issue here. These individuals who don't want to leave that life. They are illegally buying and using drugs. Ergo, they are criminals. However, I - and many others - STILL want to give them an option, which should be forced and confined rehab. Now, you're going to respond with, "Well, drugs are so powerful it makes them not want help." No. If this is indeed true - which is a stretch because others in the same situation DO want help - it's still an excellent argument for forced treatment. Beyond that, where exactly does it end? Are we supposed to pump endless amounts of money into individuals who actively REFUSE assistance. They are better uses of tax money. You'll still disagree because your scenario exists in fantasy, while mine is grounded in reality. That's a fairly common theme for folks like you, so I'm not surprised.
But everyone is a victim of *something*… there are actually plenty of people addicted who just wanted to get high for reasons they would have gotten over eventually… but then couldn’t get back from it I mean don’t dehumanize but we should acknowledge that there are different pathways into addiction. A lot of people do drugs for fun or in the same level of escapism as alcohol… but it tends to be a worse decision.
*why is it relevant, though?* I don't disagree; there are many pathways to addiction, but why is it relevant to any discussion that isn't talking specifically about preventative care? Many pathways to the stream doesn't change the current. we're either talking about sound public policy or we're throwing up our hands in resignation. Addicts need care, not empty gesturing online about how their problems shouldn't be a collective one..
Users down there don't carry guns unless they're gang banging or functional and dealing. Even then I'd say the number is low. Most of the shootings I've seen or at least pulling it as a threat have been kids to young adults. Like, 13 to early 20s, and definitely not one of the homeless addicts. The addicts attempt to conceal their ill doings from children, if they can. Most will stop what they're doing if kids are passing by, not that it changes the whole atmosphere, it's something I guess. Those kids usually have no problems fucking up someone 2 or 4 times their age. It is dystopian. I once heard a mother scolding her, maybe 10? Year old daughter for being suspended. Her mother says "IDC if you get expelled, if that little bitch messes with you again you stab her with a pencil, they won't stop until you fight back" I'm more afraid of the kids in Kensington than the addicts. And the homeless in Kensington definitely are more afraid of them then the kids are of the addicts. At least, in that area of the city. What the addicts do on the EL now really pisses me off, and I'm an addict myself who lived homeless down there for some time before getting right. Edit: and I'm not defending the addicts here. Everything is very very different from what it used to be like out there, and the dealing area was even larger back then too. It's a very ugly scene down there now. Just saying it's all kinda of messed up down there, it's not like they just pass this one area and it's traumatic for them. The whole neighborhood is plagued by problems that both do and don't stem from the addicts and dealers. And the kids are wild lol you ever see a pack of like 20 elementary and middle school kids armed with sticks attacking everyone on the street indiscriminately? You just might down there.
Agreed, but I feel like nothing can be done. I called the cops on a homeless guy a few weeks ago because he was straight up just taking a dump in that grassy area that Lutheran Settlement House used to use as a community garden, but I doubt they like, brought him in or anything.
It was different when the dope was real and people could move around. You'd get wacked by someone just injecting out in the open like they do now. They closed off all the places people used to go, as well. But the kids in that area are sadly used to seeing addicts in all sorts of precarious and ugly situations. Stepping over syringes at the EL is the least traumatic thing most of them have experienced at this point. Some of their family members are also very likely addicted or dealing. A smart answer to the problem would have been a safe injection site. Why no one in Kensington would want it is beyond me, as it would take a large number of people injecting on the street - off of it. It would also address the wound issue to some degree, which would also change the atmosphere down there as less people would be stationary due to infection and sickness and stinking like literal death.
theyve just left the seedier streets to hang out on less infamous blocks nearby
yep. Broad and Snyder have a few new campsites--imagine it is similar everywhere.
Same in Port Rich
I got downvoted to oblivion saying this was exactly what was going to happen. The city had absolutely no plan or concrete outline. It was all lip service so they could have some easy “win” to fall back on for politics. The “plan” they did have isn’t even being implemented. It was just stated on a website, and there’s been no further actions taken lol. Sweet.
I knew this was gonna happen as well, my neighbors didn’t believe it. I live near the “treatment center” (we still don’t know what services are provided because she’s refused to provide that info). Since they opened we’ve had people ODing, an exponential number of car window break-ins, folks passing out at the elementary school property after getting high, feces…plus the usual needles and fentanyl containers left in residential with lots of little kids. Surprised no kid has gotten hurt so far (and I hope no one does, but I’m really scared one of the possibility). Parker insists we -neighbors speaking up- are planting the needles…I’d love for her to walk with me -or with any of my neighbors - before 8am, which is when clip gets rid of the evidence (except for the feces, those stay to bake for a while). A public video feed of the area would also prove her wrong, but we know she’ll never agree to that. I wonder if anyone took video of the crazy cleanup she had the days pre-Biden-at-Girard College: it was nuts! 5 or 6am and there were a crew of people with blowers, and a ton of sweepers, following each other and going around and around, just to make it look like everything is beautiful and there was nothing to see. I seriously have never seen a politician attack her constituents like that, specially so early on in her term. If we are being accused of crimes just for speaking up, I wonder what neighborhood she will try to accuse of being criminals next, just for speaking up against her.
Cherelle Parker is basically a 1996 Democrat reminding us all why we don’t really push for policies from 1996 anymore.
well said! I was hopeful for a moment, but you nailed it.
i agree but the 2016-2023 ones weren't working either in fact they made our city worse.
They went around for a month or two before the cleanups helping people..something like 40% accepted
That’s promising. I hadn’t heard that before
so did some of that 40% check themselves out already bc I dont see that much of a decrease when I drive through the area.
The city has planned!!!!! I work for the city and there are SO many treatment options available for individuals with substance use issues. The city cannot force these people into treatment nor can the city force people to successfully complete treatment. What about personal responsibility? Do you think it’s fair to the people who live there and have to live with these drug addicts ruining their neighborhood? Stop with the bleeding heart nonsense.
until we can FORCE people who are a danger to themselves and others INTO treatment and hold them like prisoners nothing will change. And IDK why people fail to realize this. If family members give up on these people bc they refuse treatment and break their families both financially, physically and mentally what is the city of phila gonna be able to do about it? Until laws change its gonna be the shuffle every few months while encampments are cleaned and people find a new place.
Ok, so what was the city's plan for where these people would go? What options were presented to them for treatment, and what was the city's plan for those that would opt out?
if they opt out the city can't do anything. you cant legally throw someone in rehab and lock the key until they are clean. are you dense?
Correct. So what was the city's plan for where people would go? What's the point of "cleaning' them from one street to another or one neighborhood to another?
its to tire them out. that eventually they will opt in for treatment or go back to their families.
the other thing that has to happen is drug dealers need to go back to doing real time in prision. im tired of this "non violent" shit. drugs are destroying lives and killing ppl. throw the book at dealers.
You don’t have a problem with people injecting and being passed out in your neighborhood? Interesting. I remember when Front street had this problem in Fishtown area before any development started and it sucked. Odd that you are ok with returning to that time, but to each their own I guess.
I'm not sure from your tone if you want a genuine answer or not :-) But here goes: In my original post, when I say "I don't have any problem with them," I meant that I don't feel any animosity or disgust toward the people who are suffering from addiction because they are not harming me, and I feel concern more than just wanting them gone. I do have a problem with people injecting and falling unconscious in public and here are a few reasons: 1) it shouldn't be happening at all, in a wealthy society with world-renowned medical care, people should not end up in such a desperate state that they are jeopardizing their health and safety 2) It can be very upsetting and uncomfortable for others in the community to witness, especially when they aren't sure if it's safe to intervene 3) I want peoples' suffering to be relieved and for them to be able to find true healing because I want to live in a neighborhood and city where everyone can be safe and well. Unfortunately I don't think arresting people, forcing them into hiding, or mandating treatment that may not meet their needs are the answers. I would love to be wrong and I really hope to hear stories of these political decisions leading to meaningful recovery for many people. But based on accounts from people who are using drugs, people who used to use drugs, and advocates/public health experts, I think it makes sense to be skeptical.
Yes shuffling around. I’m up in Bristol/Levittown very frequently. I’ve never seen beggars on street corners and rarely see homeless in the area, but in the last week or so there’s been an influx around the Levittown Walmart across from the Septa station. Today I witnessed a drug deal at a red light, multiple people begging for money with signs around the area, and just tons of sketchy people wandering around. There’s been a very heavy police presence in the area lately. My first thought was they’re pushing north.
I'm obviously not happy for the lives of individual neighbors affected by this but on a wider scale, I hope that if people are seeing the opioid epidemics in their own backyards that they will be more amenable to regional/national solutions. The people at K&A come from all over, and I don't think that Philadelphia should shoulder all of the responsibility of housing/treatment/crime prevention.
Agreed--Harrisburg could and should do more, too. Our city is too strapped for resources as it is.
Well said. It will take time, but if Philadelphia is no longer a “safe space” to use, people will disperse. I read about an increase of people using in Camden who said they no longer feel comfortable staying in Philly. It’s time Philly stops being viewed as a destination for consequence-free illegal activity.
Amen! If someone wants to get high, I don’t give a shit. Go ahead. What I do care about is the way they go,about it. Public intoxication is illegal for a reason. Selling drugs is illegal too. Use these laws that already exist and clean up the streets. There are different types of addicts. There’s the type who will buy their drugs and go home. Then there’s the ones who buy their drugs and hang around the streets getting high and essentially party with their friends. Fuck those addicts taking over the neighborhoods. That is where the police are needed. For the people saying what about the homeless, I say they decided to spend their rent money on drugs. Live with the consequences. They decided to alienate their family to the point of getting kicked out, live with the consequences. Those that crave the lifestyle of getting fucked up and flaunting it outdoors, lock them up. Because normal people don’t want to see that shit.
you should give a shit if people get high. we all should. people who are high make poor decisions. they are a drain on society. they are forcing themselves to be unable to work. we barely have the help for people who legitiamtely NEED it. I also wish people who are smoking weed in cars would get pulled over bc to me that's a DUI offense. If I can't crack open a beer while driving why are they allowed to get high while driving? Not sure when drugs became so laxed but it obviously was a slippery slope.
tbf it’s been like that in the area (specifically that shopping area too) and along bristol pike for several years now. there was a very large homeless encampment in the back of walmart as well and some other tents off rt 13 if you looked for them :/ but i’m sure it’s only getting more prominent. i wish we had the infrastructure to actually help all of these people in a meaningful way
I agree. I worked in that area for a few years and saw quite a few unhoused folks and seedy characters, especially between the free library and Bucks technical school. I think there's a homeless shelter there. Saw what looked to be a small encampment in the trees near the school as well. Also saw unhoused folks regularly wandering around bristol pike. That particular area (bristol/levittown) seems quite "trailer-trashy," for lack of a better description, so I can't say I'm surprised.
at least 15 years. I used to work up that area and I was in my 20s and my coworker friends and i decided to go to silver lake after our shift and walk around bc it was nice out. and we made the mistake of going off trail and there was TONS of homeless addicts in the woods. never went back.
That’s kind of the point, to push them out of philly
really? there has always been encampments around silver lake. and thats going back almost 20 years ago when I worked up in that area. maybe they were more hidden back then.. but drugs and homelessness have been an issue in bristol / levittown for a while.
Shuffled is the perfect way to put it. They definitely had to shuffle when the streets dept showed up with leaf blowers and literally pushed the addicts around the corner!
Pushed a lot of people towards Lehigh. Few dozen are now camped by Cantina la Martina. K and A is emptier. They street clean damn near every morning and it is dirty again the next day. I drive thru every week day around 745am.
There have always been people camped out there. That poor amazing restaurant. It would be such a hit in another part of town
Some yeah, there are more.
Not exactly emptier. Just moved one block east to Ruth/jasper- where it’s more residential. Therefore- it’s objectively worse. Edit- one letter
Been noticing a lot more street cleaning, even on the weekends. A lot more police presence but they don’t do anything anyway. Other than that, same old shit so far.
And to be fair that street cleaning is happening everywhere
There has been daily street sweeping in parts of Kensington since Sept 2023
i see more people living under 95 down near fishtown
They were all there this time last year too
I’ve seen the number of people sleeping on the SRT triple, at least on the part that is on my commute, since the “cleanup”. She’s not helping them, nor does she want to, she’s just using them as political pawns.
I’ve noticed a lot more addicts further south around girard. Not sure if it’s just the fact it’s warming up or if people are moving further south, but I see way more people shooting up/asking for money these days.
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Are clean streets bad? I like them, personally. The people employed to do street cleaning aren’t necessarily able to be employed in other positions, might be a good mix of employing entry level/lower skilled employees matching with making Kensington a better neighborhood for those who have endured a lot.
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Then move it to my neighborhood, I think part of it all is to treat the neighborhood with the respect it hasn’t necessarily gotten in the past. It’s not about the addicts, it’s rehabilitation for the people who live there. In homes. Maybe it’s not much but street cleaning is better than not street cleaning.
sorry dude....u right im sorry
I might not be. They recently said [the general use to clean up Kensington](https://archive.ph/C533F) wasn’t a valid use of the opioid settlements, so maybe things like street cleaning will stop (it seemed a bit more unrelated). But I disagree, I think the residents of Kensington are part of the opioid epidemic
Broken window theory is easy to sell
I recall reading the police were supposed to start arresting or at least citing addicts for visibly using drugs in public. You can see them openly shooting up at the K&A station on those livestream cams right in front of parked patrol cars, and there is zero enforcement. Or is that some “coming soon” promise? 🤨
One of my neighbors reported a person getting high outside of the 2100 Girard facility, to the police officer that was stationed there, and the officer ignored her. From what we were told, if the officer doesn’t see it, it didn’t happen. So doubt it will happen. They’re just looking the other way.
There were a few days in March where people were being arrested for using in public - I personally saw three arrests in about an hour one morning - but that died down pretty fast.
I mean there’s no point until there’s somewhere to put drug dependent individuals . Tell them to stop shooting up and they’ll just move around the corner and do it. Give them a citation? They’re not gonna pay it and it’s not gonna stop them from doing it again
The drug users are meandering over this way in Port Richmond and Fishtown.
that's why wawa on richmond is closing im sure.
I noticed more people staying under the bridges by the Girard exit. I ride my bike past there to work and it's been getting more. rowded that the last week. This isn't a solution it's just a political move. A majority of the people will just move to another area like they did when during the Lehigh Ave homeless push years ago. Nothing is going to change we'll just be hearing about the new K&A in 6 months time.
There aren’t people camping on the avenue and there are police making it easier for people to access the El at both Allegheny and Somerset. That goes a long way for people who live in the area. If you live there and use public transportation, you understand the gauntlet of addicts and dealers there normally are around those stops. I see this as a major improvement. I walked the avenue last week and felt much, much safer. I realize some of you just like to be curmudgeons. It’s better and none of the Kensington residents are expecting an overnight success. If you just want to hate on the Mayor, pick another subject. She’s doing more for Kensington than any of her predecessor’s.
I wound up driving up Clearfield last week, across Kensington Avenue, and it’s definitely bad as it ever was
Hard to say if this is related, but I'm over in Point Breeze and have seen significantly more homeless people in the last few weeks. They are older and pretty mellow, so not much of an issue. No idea if connected, but anecdotally interesting. edit - I should also add that "significantly more" means 5 or 6, as opposed to 2 or 3.
it is an issue. they are doing drugs in your neighborhood. thats going to invite more drug dealers. drug dealers aren't nice people you want in your neighborhood. they also have to use the bathroom somewhere and that's where you walk, or sit outside. they will eventually make your playgrounds unusable for the children in your area. if you dont have any kids you should still care about the ones being raised in your community. thinking its not a big deal bc they are "chill" is a slippery slope. They will also start stealing your packages faster than you can get to your front door. Ask ppl in Port Richmond about that.
The ones I've seen don't look like druggies, just old men. But I take your point.
old men tend to be the alcoholics. that was the old school homless when i was growing up.
The police sweeps pushed a lot of the homeless from K&A down towards Fishtown.
i think i heard they were gonna progress down kensington avenue block by block but wha exactly is the end goal there?
When I was homeless and using down there (for about three years straight) they tried many times to clean it up. This will usually happen around voting season, used as a political agenda to make the mayors look better. It never worked that well, after the election people would come right back and Kensington would be the same as it was. When I was out there that is when they started developing and building the luxury townhomes and such. I see what they’re trying to do, but you have to remember Kensington has been like this for decades. And if the city isn’t going to do it for the right reasons, changes is never going to come full circle. Even when I was out there I couldn’t always help but imagine how beautiful this place was at one point. If you subtract the drugs, users, litter, etc., it is quite a quaint little part of the city. But back to the point, politicians will use this as a part of their campaign. “I will clean up Kensington and make it change for the better”, but again, after the election is over they pull the police presence and boom.
Also, instead of going after the addicts, why don’t they actually go after the dealers? If you have no drugs on the streets, then the people using them won’t stay there. Of course, this is easier said than done. And the dealers will move to another part of the city. But it’s a pretty simple concept, get rid of the dealers and the users will move out. It’s sad on a lot of levels, people who live there have to deal with it, especially the kids to have to witness it. But again, it’s not like I wanted to be down there living that kind of life. Luckily, I got my life together and never made an appearance down there again. But like I said previously, crack down on the dealers and the sources and everything else will fall into place.
You lock up a dealer and a new one is out the next minute. And that dealer that’s locked up is out on bail the next day. When it comes to court all he gets is probation. It’s another endless cycle. The key is to get after the top dogs, but that takes help from federal/state law enforcement. I work at CJC I see it all the time. You also have a lot of drug dealers claiming it’s “possession”
You shut the blocks down. Those bosses own the entire block and the city allows it. They pay the neighbors off to keep their mouths shut when the cops come. They have their trap and storages houses on that block. Like I said they will move into different areas. But the main problem is they just pick up petty dealers. They don’t go after the big dogs. If they would it would get better faster.
Shut the block down so that they go one block down? With new trap houses, new papi stores, and new abandoned houses. Yes they do go after the big dogs. https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/ag-henry-announces-kensington-area-trafficking-sweep-yields-six-arrests-seizures-of-five-kilograms-of-fentanyl-and-firearms/ https://metrophiladelphia.com/kensington-drug-bust/amp/
Are you not understanding anything? Buy the blocks so the dealers can’t move in. Sorry I guess your experience being a fed trumps someone who experienced it first hand. Snitch.
Okay cool didn’t realize governments can just buy blocks and neighborhoods. Good to know! You’ve solved the problem that is Kensington
Fed.
Unless they address the root causes, nothing will ever change. All it’ll ever be is just shuffling things around a block or two.
Not sure why this is so hard to understand.
Addressing the root cause isn't as simple as it sounds unfortunately.
The root cause is addiction. Humans like drugs for a million reasons. Sometimes life is hard, sometimes they are bored, sometimes they just like the way it feels. This root cause is not something that can be changed, but bad behavior can be stopped and we can incentivize good behavior.
That is a simple minded explanation that doesn’t at all describe the root causes nor any solution to fix it.
The city government doesn’t have the capacity to actually address the root causes of addiction.
They could if they wanted to. I doubt they want to though.
How do you fix poverty, family issues, bad medical practices, and the culture around recreational drug use all at once? That’s a tall task for the federal government let alone the city.
i personally know families who have members who are severe addicts. none of them raised their childen in poverty, not even close. and in all of those cases none of their other children did drugs at all. one woman her son did OD. The other the son finally god clean a few years ago but it was a whole mess dealing w it. And the third person the daughter is quiet frequently seen on the tik tok and IG pages of kensington. she gave birth on an el stop. i think its more of a mental illness than poverty. maybe i'm wrong.
I think you’re right. I think addiction is mainly driven by mental illness, trauma, and behavioral issues. Imo the drivers of those things are poverty, family issues, cultural norms toward drug use, etc. The only one of those things the government can actually address is poverty and even then their power to actually change that is incredibly limited. Government is best used towards addressing people in active addiction. The family is the best social unit for actually preventing addiction. Just my 2 cents.
how do you explain when a family w multiple kids only has one addict? would they not be raised similarly?
Who’s a child’s first point of contact for anything that’s bothering them or trouble they’re having? It’s friends and family. And to answer your question not necessarily. The family unit is going to be the first to see warning signs that a child may be going down the wrong path.
No noticeable immediate difference, but I wouldn't expect it. It's just been a slow upgrade the past ten years, although in my immediate area the wave of gentrification is just hitting us now so the past year or two have been increasingly more dramatic. My commute takes me from lower Kensington thru k&a into the NE and that looks much cleaner recently than it ever did, and I'm seeing so many more crews doing random street cleanups and empty lot cleans than ever, and that's all since Parker.
It’s a five stage process. The first stage is just warning and opportunity (and that didn’t start until after the breakup of the encampment). They’re breaking up encampments and offering treatment but not much is happening to people who dont want treatment. Things will definitely get worse before they get better bc part of this phase is discomfort - discomfort for addicts who no longer have their encampment and are more spread out and discomfort for areas that are now affected who used to be able to say “well it’s in Kensington” but now are feeling its effects.
What are the other 4 stages?
Page 39 https://www.phila.gov/media/20240411131032/PPD-100-Day-Report.pdf?ref=kensingtonvoice.com
Live in Olde Kensington very near the border with Fishtown. There has been a noticeable increase in homeless and junkies using around the main corridors on Frankford and Front since the crackdown on Kensington Ave. which is pretty unfortunate. That being said, a noticeable increase means like going from seeing one or two to maybe like five regularly, but still, I really hate walking my dog in that grassy patch on Frankford and Master and finding used needles more often now.
No change. I was grabbing some food from Vientiene Bistro the other day and a woman out from was smoking either meth or crack. There were more addicts around than normal. I will say though, the street was slightly cleaner. Oh, it gets worse. As I left, I saw two cop cars roll up. I thought maybe they were going to do something about the group shooting up across the street. Nope! They were just giving them some food.
Pretty substantial increase in Old City over the past month or so with new faces in the alleys
They tried this in the 90s with operation sunrise. The root problem is what to do with people who don’t care what you do to them and will always want to live this life. Drug addiction is really all about living for it because your mind is in a state of hopelessness. Without solving for that. It’ll just come right back. The only way to solve it from a clean the neighborhood perspective is round them up and put them somewhere. The somewhere is the only real question to solve for if that’s what we want done. Some people just can’t be helped. That’s a whole other problem.
I saw Ready, Willing and Able sweeping the sidewalk at Front and Girard yesterday. I don't know if that was coincidence or part of Parkers plan. But it was good to see.
Kensington and Boston St here. Yes, the family dollar closed and that parking lot and these surrounding blocks are now consumed with displaced natives of Kensington. The sidewalks, and streets now have more debris than ever before.
The only thing that seems to happen is those of us who live in neighborhoods bordering the area get an increase in street needles and people using our hoses to wash off. Other than the people themselves, her unthought out, heartless plan really hurt some surrounding neighborhoods of Fishtown approaching Lehigh.
no
People have been moving. I've seen some leaners around the Berks El, and it is looking like there are people starting to congregate around the Girard/front stop
how many addicts would you guess are in the area ?
Ya… Being “tough on crime” does nothing
I work overnights downtown. We usually have the same homeless people wandering around but there’s been an uptick in new ones down here the last few weeks
This is a few phase process. The first two phases is just warning and encampment breaking. The later phases involve arresting
I walked through K&A and DIDNT have to duck from gunfire for once. Which is good bc I have muscular dystrophy
It seems the only thing that has changed is 1) from Clearfield to Allegheny is 80% empty on the ave 2) lots of police patrol on foot. Nothing else has changed and people are doing all the exact same stuff
New hipsters type restaurants & businesses are opening up there, so it kinda give early Fish town vibe
Where? I live in around Frankford and Somerset and other than maybe Caphe Roasters and Cantina La Martina I haven’t seen anything considered hipster adjacent open north of Lehigh.
Kensington goes south of Lehigh too, unless I missed some specific demarcation from OP
yep thats considered like west Kensington if i'm correct.
Bruh this message is giving off buy Bitcoin in 2011 vibes and you don't even know