The sad part is that these areas of Philadelphia really were getting better for a while - from about 2005 through about 2017. There was a conscious effort to develop underdeveloped areas of the city - bring stores in like Walmart and Home Depot. Bring in more restaurants. It actually got nice in certain formerly-bad areas like Aramingo Avenue. Then everything went to Hell as Defund the Police took hold. Now urban professionals are leaving formerly good areas and moving to the suburbs or other cities. Businesses are moving to the suburbs too. Most big business development projects in the Philly area are outside of the city in Conshohocken, King of Prussia or north of the city. This is happening in a lot of citys so Philadelphia is not unique. But its a shame to see the progress that was being made stop and reverse.
Same thing happened to Baltimore except there the decline started with the riots- which happened for no significant reason. It’s a hell hole now. A priest I know has been stuck up twice, pistol whipped once- at 4pm on a Friday.
New Mayor coming.