The State of the Fishtown District 2024
A Look Back at the Fishtown District:
As we look back on the past four years of the Fishtown District, I’m reminded by the comments from Forbes Magazine, in the May 2, 2018 article by Peter Lane Taylore entitled,“ How Fishtown, Philadelphia Became America’s Hottest New Neighborhood”, by calling our beloved hamlet the national model of neighborhood rebirth and rejuvenation. People come from far and wide to patronize our buzzing commercial corridor fronted with wine bars, renowned eateries and farm-to-table restaurants, coffee shops, couture boutiques, yoga studios, world-class entertainment venues, art galleries, dance schools, start-ups, and professional services. All of this created a self-supporting micro-economy that caused people to forsake all other areas to come live, shop, work, and play in our historic, yet chic, neighborhoods. We never forget that it is because of all of your time, talent, and treasure that this corridor expanded its existing, working fabric without tearing the old-school threads apart.
The Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District:
The property/business owners banded together in 2019 to create the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District so that your resources could directly impact our economic quarter for corridor cleaning and maintenance, greening, enhanced security and public safety, local marketing and promotions, capital improvements and parking, master-planning, business advocacy, event planning, economic development, and constituent service. Our commitment to you and these goals was all-encompassing as was your commitment to this District, and it is our mission to protect and reward this passion. The pandemic of 2020 threw many obstacles in our way, but our shared strength, fortitude, and resolve carried us through, and that determination continued to lead to new paths of vitality for all. The Fishtown District never strayed from our dedication to bringing you the resources and attention to allow your businesses to succeed through those uncertain days. Accordingly, we remained vigilant in bringing our members access to capital, whether it was Federal, Commonwealth, or Municipal Grants, as well as Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, and other loan programs so that we could protect our stakeholders’ investment in the Fishtown/Kensington communities. Our commercial corridor received 10% of all of the local grant funding distributed to the entire business community of the City of Philadelphia, and issued over ten (10) microgrants to our members for $1,000.00 each to help restart and energize the local economy! All the while, our dedicated staff never stopped working to protect the people of this District.
After the Pandemic – Clean & Safe
Once the fog began to clear from the stressful times of the pandemic, and “mourning” became “morning”, we enhanced our cleaning services with our “crew in blue”, Ready, Willing & Able, and later with the addition of the newly formed Fishtown Community Corp, we acted immediately to ensure that our streets and sidewalks were clean and beautiful. The City of Philadelphia rewarded us with these efforts by awarding us $81,000.00 per year from the “Taking Care of Business Clean Corridors Program” to grow our cleaning team, and enhance our ability to “sweep sidewalks and remove litter.” The Fishtown District is proud that we are the only Business Improvement District in the City to receive this distinction. The Fishtown District then took the unique public safety steps of employing “Fishtown Ambassadors” to walk our corridor, check in on our businesses, render help/aid, de-escalate difficult situations, and call for assistance from the necessary department/agency. This, coupled with our Business Security Camera initiative by placing cameras (with license plate reading capability) at high-traffic intersections, has led to quicker police response, expeditious investigations, and a better feeling of physical and emotional safety for all who visit, live, and work within our commercial corridor.
Planning for the Future
It is important that the Fishtown District not only plan for today but also protect the continued vitality of our commercial corridor for decades to come. To that end, we partnered with ISA Architects to prepare a “Vision Plan” to meet these goals and allow for great accessibility and connectivity to our neighborhoods. Through prolonged collaboration with our stakeholders, residents, elected officials, and City and Commonwealth Departments, we came up with a beautiful vision for the future that focused on the “personalities” for intersections, and chose Front Street and Girard Avenues, Front Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue (Pedestrian Plaza), and Frankford and Lehigh Avenues, respectively. These changes, along with our “Frankford Avenue Connector Project” bridge the gap between our locale and the Delaware River. The Fishtown District completed the pedestrian plaza and the rest are in progress. We are humbled and honored that we have been able to fund capital improvement projects like these, as well as other public safety and beautification efforts by obtaining grant funding totaling approximately $1,296,743.50!
2024 has seen the fruits of our collective labor rewarded, with the Philadelphia Inquirer calling the Fishtown District “the hottest neighborhood in the City”, and the Philadelphia Business Journal calling the Fishtown/Kensington corridor a “Boomtown”. As you review all of our attached Annual Reports, I hope that you share our pride in what we have been able to accomplish together. There is still much to be done, and many things to improve upon. Our joined discussions and efforts will continue to make the Fishtown District the premier location to live, shop, work, play, and stay!