Powelton and Drexel

These are things that I don't think should have been allowed to happen in Powelton:

1. Security patrols by Drexel employees,

2. Sworn police paid by Drexel,

3. Drexel-branded security kiosks,

4. Closing of Race from 33rd to 34th,

5. Purchase of the ?? site 3500 block of Spring Garden,

6. Purchase of the bus terminal,

and many others.

NOW: I do understand that each of things brings benefits to the neighborhood, and I also accept responsibility for not being vocal enough in opposing them. While I feel that PVCA has yielded entirely too much to Drexel, I don't think that PVCA has gone any further than the will of the full neighborhood would dictate.

But to me personally these have been tactical and strategic failures that significantly harm Powelton. The net cumulative result is that Powelton is now an effectively branded extension of Drexel.

We have a powerful private institution dictating the future shape of the neighborhood, albeit in mostly benign ways. Drexel is a good institution, capable of doing great good for its students, staff, and even the surrounding community. But Powelton should have a destiny of its own shaped by the people who choose to live here.

-- BenDugan - 11 May 2013