Mosaic II American Cities (Final Paper) Ashley Goodwin

As a student of Temple University - an educational institution uniquely situated in a less

than affluent part of town - I have witnessed, first hand, the unfortunate poverty and crime that

infects the area. Most interestingly, I have also witnessed the general misunderstanding between

local residents and students. A misunderstanding that I believe contributes, and even increases,

the crime rate in the area. Although students such as myself may not be able to completely

eliminate the circumstances that give North Philadelphia such a bad reputation, I am confident

that we could show improvement with a little patience and open-mindedness.

If I were to help run an organization with my fellow citizens, I would aim to implement a

system which creates greater harmony between temporary residents (students) and permanent

residents (locals). Although I do not condone the unfavorable actions of some local residents,

including the all-too familiar burglaries, muggings, and other types of physical violence often

executed upon naive college students, it would be beneficial for more people to realize why these

instances occur. Much of the problem has to do with Philadelphia’s own city planning, which

Jane Jacobs so intricately sheds light upon. “There is a widespread belief that Americans hate

cities. I think it is probable that Americans hate city failure, but, from the evidence, we certainly

do not hate successful and vital city areas” (Jacobs).

A city is a beautiful thing. There is no place else the overflows with such a great

abundance of diversity and creativity. The “bad stuff” such as crime and poverty comes as a

byproduct by many years of injustice and social discord, as well as the suffocating instance of

people simply being within too-close quarters of one another. (Reference my paper #2 where I

mention the idea of impoverished citizens growing up with unequal access to the same resources

and opportunities as their more privileged counterparts, causing said citizens to be caught in a

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vicious cycle of unsatisfactory achievement). The many years, and even centuries, of inequality,

explains why many locals are the way they are, and act the way they act, which is often by

violent means, for they know no other way. More people should realize this, and use their

knowledge to seek better means, and travel greater lengths, to fix the problem.

The many oblivious suburban-bred students of Temple University unknowingly

contribute to their own victimization. I am continuously surrounded by my fellow peers who

complain about the slums that surround their university. They are appalled that they must share

their space with so many uneducated, lower class people. What I have come to realize, though, is

that we students are the ones pervading their space. A space that many locals have resided in for

nearly their whole lives!

Speaking from personal experience, I often hang around my boyfriend’s house a few

blocks off Temple’s campus. He lives on Wilt street, which is a quiet street primarily inhabited

by locals. He does not live near many students. One of his neighbors is a kind, gentle, elderly

woman who has lived in the area for over sixty years. She enlightened me to the circumstances

of these locals: students come and go, often times not living in the same house (row home) for

more than a year or two (unlike the residents who call this part of town their permanent home).

The students move in, have their loud, wild parties (that can be heard through the paper-thin

walls of the surrounding row homes, which are SO close together that it is impossible to drown

out the neighboring sounds), and then they leave. The locals know this. They are aware that their

college-aged neighbors will not be their neighbors for long. So, they take advantage of the fact

that these ignorant young people do not care about the upkeep of their space or about being

decent neighbors. It is unsurprising that these obnoxious students are being treated badly by local

residents. These residents have seen injustice. They know how it feels to be looked down upon

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and treated poorly by the very kinds of people who are intruding on their space and invading on

their otherwise quiet lifestyles. It is all one big misunderstanding! The students feel like they are

the victims, but the locals are being victimized just the same.

More students should imagine the tables being turned. What if their serene, suburban

town was constantly being permeated by temporary residents who come, party, trash the space,

and leave without a care in the world? These quiet suburban towns would start to care less and

less about keeping the peace, because they know the peace will be constantly broken by

temporary hooligans. As always, it is a vicious cycle, and it is difficult to pinpoint who is to

blame.

This leaves us with the question: what to do? Obviously, I would need many hours of

research and planning and many people to help me come up with an actual system to combat this

issue (which is a story for another day, and cannot be fit into this three page paper!) But first and

foremost, we need to implement education. The students of this area need to better understand

the situation they are dealing with, and how they are seen in the eyes of the locals. By simply

being aware of why the locals act so bitterly towards them, they could act more respectfully, and

maybe, someday, the local residents will act more respectfully towards them.

People also need to be aware of the physical structure of the homes in North Philadelphia.

This is not the suburbs. Houses are not separated by an acre, or even ANY sort of land. The

houses are side-by-side, not much different than the space between bedrooms of the homes that

these suburbanites grew up in. Therefore, if we are to live so close physically, we must learn how

to live close socially as well. The whole layout of row homes in a main part of the problem - it is

simply too close for comfort! But the attitudes of the students and the locals - two enormously

different classes of people - also play a large role in the instances of crime and thus, unsafety of

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the area. This should be considered in order to create harmony among our fellow citizens. If we

want to solve the problem of North Philadelphia, we must first shed our ignorance and solve the

problems within ourselves. The citizens of North Philadelphia must come together, and find a

way to live comfortably among each other. Because obviously, the current plan is not working

out.

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