This week’s column covers an unproductive conversation about public transit in Harrisburg, historic preservation, and what to do with the city’s incoming fiscal windfall.
Transit takeover
PennDot’s budget hearings are usually focused on the things the department has direct control over, i.e., Pennsylvania’s state-owned roads and bridges. On Monday, however, the hearing turned into a transit-bashing fest. Senate Republicans used the meeting to push their own plan to exhaust the state’s transportation reserves rather than adequately fund operations.
There’s just one big problem: The senators frequently did not know what they were talking about.
Republican State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick asked about the status of the King of Prussia rail project, which has been canceled for almost three years. Her fellow GOP State Sen. Jarrett Coleman asked if SEPTA considered raising fares, which climbed from $2 in November 2024 to $2.90 last year in September, a near 50% increase.
PennDot’s leaders could have done a stronger job defending themselves. In particular, their inability to produce a list of projects was mystifying. Many of the volunteer transit advocates I know could do so on the spot. It was clear to me that the most knowledgeable person in the room was Delaware County’s Democratic State Sen. Tim Kearney, himself a regular SEPTA rider. At one point, Harrisburg’s State Sen. Patty Kim, a Democrat, suggested that PennDot bring charts next time to help explain complicated financial maneuvers.
There’s a role Republicans in the General Assembly could play in ensuring SEPTA’s fiscal health, if they were willing to do their homework instead of grandstanding. While SEPTA is more efficient with its use of revenue than critics have claimed, there are still ways to save money and bring down the capital deficit. They are just politically difficult. It would be a lot easier for SEPTA’s board to tell the good people of Eddystone, Angora, or Eddington they are losing their low-ridership Regional Rail stops if they could add “because Harrisburg made us.”
Historic revocation
Regular Shackamaxon readers know that while I love our city’s history, that doesn’t mean I expect everyone else to love it, too. After a coalition of neighbors challenged the Washington Square West Historic District, Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Hall revoked the district, granting a major victory to homeowners who resented their inclusion in the city’s largest and most nebulous historic zone.
Some residents objected to being part of the district because of the high costs usually associated with making the necessary modifications required to bring their properties in line with the city’s strict codes for historic properties.
Preservationists, to put it mildly, are miffed. They feel the ruling is deeply unfair and should be overturned.
Instead, they should treat this as a learning opportunity. The Washington Square West district really was a step too far. While historic districts typically focus on specific architectural styles and eras, this district covered more than a thousand buildings from before the Revolutionary War until after the Second World War. While advocates describe working with the historic commission as painless, everyday homeowners often disagree.
Additionally, covering the city in preservation districts will have an impact on overall housing supply and, as a result, costs. A recent analysis by CityLab shows how New York’s preservation rules have led to many smaller, more affordable apartment buildings being converted into urban mansions. This means exchanging multiple working- or middle-class residents for one extraordinarily wealthy household.
While local preservationists commissioned a study they claim debunks this concern, the document’s results fall into the category of correlation, rather than causation. If density and population are growing in historic districts, it is probably because people tend to put historic districts where development is most lucrative. If people truly believed that designation brought only benefits with no drawbacks, we may as well designate the entire city.
A more exhaustive and balanced report, for the Journal of the American Planning Association, is clear: Historic districts make neighborhoods wealthier, whiter, and more educated than the cities that host them. Many other studies agree.
Future flush
According to reporting by my Inquirer colleague Sean Collins Walsh, Philadelphians may soon experience a new reality in civic finance: extra cash.
For decades, City Hall struggled to pay the bills, as pension costs and low wages sapped the public purse. Now, the city is looking at the prospect of having a budget surplus of $400 million and a fully funded pension system by 2032.
It is important we begin the discussion now on what to do with that money.
There is no shortage of need in this city. The school district, affordable housing, SEPTA, parks and recreation, the libraries, and the city’s workforce all have strong arguments to make when it comes to which agencies should receive that money. The boldest course of action, however, might be to set the city on a new economic course entirely by reforming our local tax code.
Despite Philadelphia’s high tax rates, the city generates relatively little income. Boston spends just over $7,000 per resident, New York City spends over $13,000, and even Baltimore spends over $8,000. Philadelphia spends just $4,250. This gap can’t be fixed by raising our taxes even higher. It requires growing our economy.
Alongside tax reform — which should attract new businesses — the city should eliminate the restrictive zoning overlays that add significant costs for entrepreneurs in Philadelphia.
If the City of Brotherly Love could generate as much tax revenue per resident as Charm City or the Hub, City Hall would have more than $12 billion to spend each year. That’s enough money to make a major difference.
