One of the most elusive goals in cities today is how to create affordable housing for working and middle class residents. It’s something we hear about in cities from expensive San Francisco to relatively affordable Pittsburgh, and is increasingly an issue in places such as Dallas, Houston and Miami.
We’ll examine different aspects of housing in the Saving the City documentary series about how to make cities better places.
While filming in Philadelphia, we ran into the fascinating story of Yorktown, a pioneering community from the late 1950s and early 1960s where redevelopment mostly got things right. Philadelphia’s Yorktown was envisioned as an integrated new neighborhood for middle class and first-time homebuyers in the heart of the city. Most notably, it attracted Black buyers, who were shut out of other parts of Philadelphia and its suburbs. They bought most of the new homes in Yorktown and were able to participate in the American dream of stable home ownership.
Comprised of 635 single-family homes, Philadelphia’s Yorktown continues to fulfill its original mission today even as there is turnover from the original homebuyers, several of whom we interviewed for our story.
A handful of other 1960s redevelopment projects aimed at creating integrated middle-class communities also remain desirable places to live, such as Lafayette Park in Detroit and St Francis Square in San Francisco. So it can be done.
Meet Rochelle Johnson Gray, who grew up in Yorktown and later moved back to the neighborhood. Watch more videos.
Check out our Yorktown preview video. Contact us — Check out our work and let us know what you think.
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