Stop Complaining About Your Neighborhood: Make Change at These Organizations

What do you do when you want your voice heard on great ideas you have to support your neighborhood? Let's say you want to organize a block party or have a seat at the table for zoning decisions about that vacant lot in your neighborhood. It turns out it's pretty simple to get involved and have influence. Here's how. In this episode, we're listening back to my conversation with Violet Cobra Whalen, a reporter at Billy Penn. She breaks down how to get involved in your neighborhood and all of the inner workings of very local civic engagement. It's Monday, August 3rd. I'm Trinery and let's make some impact in our neighborhoods. Violet, thanks so much for being on the show today. What do you love most about your neighborhood that you live in here in Philly? Thanks so much for having me. So I live in Center City, kind of right between Market East and the Gaborhood. I really like how neighborhood-oriented our city is. So in my area, although it's between these two neighborhoods, I feel like each street that you go on kind of has its own distinct culture. I love how many community events there are. I love the stores that I go into on my block, getting to know the people at my local coffee shops, the places that I go to get food, and the stores that I go to. I find that there is just so much diversity and culture down any street and in all of our neighborhoods here. Oh, for sure, especially the neighborhoods that you mentioned. Have you ever participated in like a neighborhood block party or helped organize a cleanup? I've definitely walked through neighborhood block parties. There was an event by Philly Aids Thrift, I believe, a few months back, and it was kind of considered a block party that was over in like the old city area. I like things like that, art fairs, kind of cultural festivals. I feel like I've been in those kind of all over. Center City tends to have a lot of them, so I'm pretty lucky with where I'm at and where I live. Yes, that's what I love about Philly too. And I've lived in so many different neighborhoods in the city. And I volunteered in a lot of different neighborhoods. I taught a free journalism class in Mantua. I organized a children's book drive with the Temple University Black Alumni Alliance. I volunteered on Thanksgiving Day at Columbia North YMCA and at Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philly. And I volunteered. and handed out free water and Gatorade during the Broad Street run with the North Philly Aztecs football and cheerleading organization. So, yeah, those are ways I've given back as well. What if I want to have an even bigger hand in making Philly better along with the podcast and our reporting that we do? Are there easy ways and accessible ways to get involved in Philly? Yeah, absolutely. So that was what one of my recent reports was on. I talked about registered community organizations. So there are kind of these two distinct groups that I was talking about and kind of trying to differentiate in between. There are civic or neighborhood associations. They're a little bit more informal, casual.

And then civic or neighborhood organizations can also be RCOs. RCOs essentially just mean that they have the ability to help influence and help to kind of give their opinions about zoning decisions, development, and all those things that happen in their neighborhoods. So if you are someone looking to get involved, most of these organizations are fairly easy to get involved in. Most of them have websites that have calendars. A lot of these meetings are via Zoom. A lot of the time. there are multiple RCOs or neighborhood associations that are in different areas. So if there are different interests that you have or different kind of developments that you're interested in in your area, you can look into these different ones and kind of see what they focus on. And I'm sure a lot of them also have like social media presence. So you can find them that way as well. Let's break some of this down. One of the types of neighborhood organizations is a civic or neighborhood association. What kinds of activities can these organizations bring to a neighborhood? Yeah, so with these different organizations, a lot of them will have like meetings. So, you know, you can go talk about different issues in the neighborhood. A lot of times that focuses on kind of like trash pickup, education policies. Sometimes it's like parking. It can be things like inner city, as big as the inner city bus debate. And that was with the Northern Liberty's Neighborhood Association. Yes, that's correct. So, yeah, a lot of these focus on different events and things happening in their neighborhood. A lot of them can be partners for events as well, like, you know, these block parties that you see, farmers markets, all that stuff, just depending on who was hosting those events and like whether or not they partner. So, yeah, it can be anything from like kind of the human interest angle of it, like these block parties, kind of fun events as we think of them, to more serious things like meeting. on trash pickup is the one example I keep using, but it kind of seems like one that a lot of the neighborhood associations will talk about. And it's also a good way to go and network as well. A lot of the meetings are pretty informal and welcoming. So it's just a good way to get to know your neighbors. I've been told as well. How do neighborhood groups, neighborhood associations, civic associations get their funding? So yeah, my understanding of it is that it's a mix of things. It can depend. Some of these in my research seem to require dues and some have voluntary dues as well. There's also fundraising operations. So some of these events that I've discussed, like these block parties and everything, will be raising money for these kinds of things. And then also there can be donations, sponsorships, and in less common cases, grants. So it's a mix of things. And again, it depends.

neighborhood association to neighborhood associations. So these different neighborhoods in Philadelphia, they're all going to look different in their funding structure. Okay, Violet, now let's talk about the registered community organizations. What are our CEOs responsible for? Yeah, so registered community organizations are groups in different neighborhoods throughout the city, and they focus on development and zoning. They don't solely make the decisions, but they hope to be a part of making the decisions for development, zoning, different ordinances in these neighborhoods. They don't just have to be the neighborhoods that they're in. They can also be things like the Democratic and Republican wards in those areas, as well as other organizations. The city of Philadelphia has a list. I believe there's over 200 on there and a map tool that you can use to find the ones that are nearest to you. Yeah, sometimes I see like friends of something. Are they civic and neighborhood associations or are they registered community organizations? So that's a fence. That's another reason why I wrote the story because I would kind of get confused on that too. So civic associations can be RCOs and most of them. are. It just depends. Again, that's going to look different for every neighborhood. But yeah, a lot of the time when you see those, they are RCOs. They're only RCOs if they've followed those city's guidelines and applied to B1. Again, most of them are, but RCO is just kind of this next step up in designation. to say that they have fulfilled what the city would consider its guidelines to be an RCO and be allowed to give their opinion on these zoning and development decisions. Right. And when I heard you say that, I was also thinking, wow, this is interesting that these associations have, not that they have opinions, but. they could have influence. Talk to me a little bit about that. How much does city council take the opinions of RCOs into account when approving development or making zoning laws and changes in a neighborhood? Yeah. So again, I think that that depends neighborhood to neighborhood developer to developer too. I did speak to a developer for this story who was telling me that he found the input of these RCOs helpful. And he found that it was a good way to kind of not just be looking at things from the development perspective, which is what is the best use of this land, you know, like. Here's this building that I really want to put forth how is the best way to financially do this. But he said hearing from these RCOs and people who actually live in the neighborhood is a good way to make sure that you're maintaining the neighborhood's cultural lens, making sure that you won't be making people upset. He said it's a good way to kind of stop problems before they might come up when it comes to that kind of development. Yeah, it sounds like some developers want to...

have better relationships, like you said, and not have these contentious issues that might come up later down the line. It also seems, though, like if people are concerned about development or, let's call it what it is, sometimes gentrification in their neighborhoods, this is their first stop to make those concerns heard through the RCOs, right? Yeah, that's right. And I think a good example of this is Philadelphia and Chinatown Development Corporation. So they are an RCO and they were a big opponent of the proposed 76ers arena at Market East. So as I'm sure a lot of your listeners will be familiar with, this was a big thing in the news, especially last year. They were trying to put a 76ers arena in Chinatown. And there was a lot of controversy around that, just feeling like that would take away the authenticity and culture in the area. It would also. create things like a lot more traffic. Just a lot of people in Chinatown did not feel like it was the right decision. So the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, which is an RCO, was able to kind of voice those concerns to council members, to legislators, and give a voice to the voiceless, essentially. I spoke to the leader of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, who did tell me as well that they were able to lead kind of group meetings in English and Chinese so that people who may not have necessarily felt as comfortable. going out and voicing their concerns would be able to put those forth. And I think that that's where it kind of shows that RCOs can be this important conduit between their residents and, let's say, city council, these other kind of legislators and people. It just gives them a voice in place to feel comfortable at the table, whereas I'd assume a lot of those people would not. be comfortable or willing to put their opinions forth in other settings. Right. I'm thinking like a city hall, a hearing or something like that. It seems like these groups are kind of like an extension of local government as well as community voices. We've got more on ways to get involved in your neighborhood after the break.

I want to go to a point you mentioned earlier. Some registered community organizations aren't tied to neighborhoods, but they're serving more for advocacy or political groups. What are some examples of this in Philly? So, yeah, for example, there are a lot of Democratic wards, Republican wards as well in the city that are being represented here. Through my reporting, I didn't get the chance to speak to these organizations, but just from what I can assume and gather through my own research. And these are different wards and different parts of the city as well. So, you know, it's Democratic and Republican. wards, you know, North Philly, South Philly, kind of all around the city. So from there, I would assume that these are good ways for these different political groups to advocate for themselves and their interests in terms of development in the areas that they're in. So yeah, Democratic and Republican groups in North Philly might want different things. And this RCO designation is a good way for them to have a seat at the table as well beyond, you know, traditional city council and that other kind of advocacy. What are some big issues in the city right now that registered community organizations are working on? Yeah, so I think a big example would be this inner city bus terminal. They are planning to move this to Philbert Street, where it used to be the old Greyhound bus station. So a big part of advocating for moving this from Northern Liberties was the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association's efforts, just kind of consistently meeting with developers, kind of seeing where a better place could be to move this bus terminal because for those who are not. familiar right now, it is just under the bridge where the Spring Garden L station is, where they are having a lot of these buses go. I've gotten on these buses myself. It can be a little bit confusing. There's a lot of them there. It creates a lot of traffic. So, you know, these are the kind of decisions that are being made and, I guess, discussed and debated by these neighborhood associations. So transportation is a big one. Like I said, as with civic associations, RCOs are also talking about trash and other things. Several of them told me during the trash track, for example, that was one thing that they talked about. And I actually did speak to several neighborhood associations as well in that reporting, just kind of about how they saw that going for their neighborhood. Some felt like it was handled better than others, just depending on where they were at. Did they feel that they could be a good resource for... neighbors to go to when they had questions that weren't being maybe like answered immediately. Yeah. Yeah. So I spoke with Jeff Hornstein. He is the president of the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association. He also worked in Queen Village.

kind of RCO Neighborhood Association landscape as well when he lived there. And he was just telling me that, you know, as someone who wanted to get really involved in his own neighborhood when he started, this ended up being a really good way for him to get involved. And he said that as more people came in, he hoped that at least the neighborhood associations that he ran were places that people could go to get their questions answered. And then same again with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation. They were also saying they felt like they were a resource specific to the area that they were in as compared to, you know, other resources like city council where, for example, it might not be as easy for people who are not native English speakers to be able to go and get help there. So from who I spoke to, yes, it does seem like a good way to get information, especially when there's limited resources and help. Are these neighborhood groups evenly distributed throughout the city? So from what I have seen, there are definitely several areas where they are more concentrated. For example, I recall looking in West Philly and there were like seven right on top of each other kind of in the same area. And especially, for example, if you have. like a Democratic or Republican ward kind of on top of the area that you're in as well. That can complicate things. When I was speaking to a developer about this, he said it might just be, it would kind of just be a better use of resources if a lot of these RCOs were to. come into one and kind of pool their resources and not have to be all separate. But he did admit that he was not as familiar with the process of what that would look like. I do get the sense that a lot of these are very distinct to, for example, even down to the streets, the houses that are on those streets, that kind of thing. So I think there is some benefit in them being smaller. They're able to serve a very specific portion of their community. From my look at the map, it did seem like most areas were covered, just some of the bigger. more congested areas like Center City, the University City area of West Philly seem to have more. What do you think it says about Philadelphia? It sounds like, man, like we are, we want to get involved and we want our voices heard. But maybe there's something to it though. Maybe it's, um, these organic or more organized ways, then rather just like marching down City Hall with a blowhorn, it is about organizing. It is about working with your neighbors a little bit more. Yeah, yeah, and I would agree. It seems like there are a lot of people here who want to get involved. I don't think that that surprised me, especially just reporting on all of these very niche and specific nonprofits. As I do, you know, you can find...

anyone in just about any sector that's passionate about just about anything. So it makes sense that people in their neighborhoods are very passionate. Also, a lot of our reporting centers around different neighborhoods in general, their different attitudes, how they feel about different things in businesses. What a lot of these people told me in reporting in my story is that Philly is a neighborhood-oriented city. So it makes sense to me that... these people could all rally around their neighborhood and then get involved through their neighborhood. That kind of feels like a good entry point given this attitude of wanting to be neighborhood oriented and get involved that way. Viol, do you get a sense that there is inclusion in these civic organizations or the more formal registered community organizations? Because I also wonder if... It's a generational thing. Are there more lifelong Philadelphians in it? Or are there newcomers to the city involved? Are there more young people? What's your take? Yeah. So again, I think... This is going to depend Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Association RCO to RCO. Hornstein, who heads the Northern Liberty's Neighbors Association, did tell me that he feels like he wishes he would see more young people involved. In my generation, I will say, as a younger person, I don't hear. What generation are you? Hold on. Right. So I am Genzi. I don't feel like I hear a lot of people talking about getting involved in their neighborhood association. And to be fair, it's not something that I've explored yet either. It's something that through my reporting I've been more influenced to go towards. It does seem like it leans more towards an older crowd, but again, I'm only looking at this representative sample of who I had interviewed. Maybe there's like other ways that Gen Z is getting involved. Yeah, absolutely. And I would say, you know, through protests we see in the city and other kind of advocacy, we definitely see a lot of Gen Z people in there as well. But I definitely think that there is value for Gen Z voices to be in these spaces as well. And yeah, I definitely think that there are a lot of older Philadelphians, it seems like, in these groups, but it seems to me that through my reporting, there's the opportunity for everyone to get involved and the encouragement too as well. And I like how you mentioned that some of the meetings are on Zoom because I'm thinking as a millennial and a parent, I may not be able to always like. go to like the local church or the local rec to like go to a meeting. But I could hop on a Zoom real quick while I'm making dinner. So that's another great way to get involved. Violet, thank you so much for this amazing conversation and really breaking it down for me on CityCast Bailey today. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. We'll have a link to Violet's reporting from Billy Penn in our show notes.

That's all for today here on CityCast's Philly. If you enjoy this episode about how to get involved and have influence in your neighborhood, share this with a neighbor. Also, rate the show, leave us a review, and hit that subscribe button. Be sure to sign up for our morning newsletter to learn more about what else Philly's talking about. And don't forget, you can support the show and get great perks by becoming a CityCast-Filly neighbor at membership.citycass.fm. slash Philly. All right, we'll be back tomorrow morning with more news. from around the city. Bye.