Possible antecedents of current suburban-oriented housing policies in Philly

VICKI VALERIO / Inquirer Staff Photographer "I absolutely love this community," said Chester Chatman, with fellow Yorktown residents Arlene Moore (left) and Katie Atkins. The North Philadelphia development, bounded by 13th and 10th Streets and Cecil B. Moore and Girard Avenues, was built 45 years ago and marketed to middle-class blacks.

The article, "Experiment now cherished home," from the Inquirer, discusses the Yorktown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the home of Mayor Street and other prominent African-Americans involved in city affairs. From the article:

It began as an "experiment" in urban housing: a suburban-style development built in the heart of the city to be marketed to middle-class African Americans. With its cul-de-sacs, off-street parking, garages and close-knit neighbors, Yorktown has endured in north-central Philadelphia for 45 years. And its residents - including Mayor Street and folks who have lived there since the community of 635 three- and four-bedroom brick houses opened - say Yorktown is one of the best places to live in the city.
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This is interesting because it's the opposite of the experience of Stanley Lowe, once a community organizer in Pittsburgh. At the time, he favored demolition of historic houses, and the construction of suburban-style automobile focused houses in their place, to provide "new" housing options comparable to what were available in the suburbs. Soon enough he figured that the problem wasn't historic residential building stock, but the general issue of city abandonment/suburban outmigration. Lowe's story is recounted in chapter four of the book Changing Places.