Anti- Gentrification

In Philadelphia, a lot of communities are beginning to get gentrified. This means that a lot of buildings are getting replaced a newer and more expensive buildings. Through gentrification, a lot of meaningful buildings are getting removed. The Anti-Gentrification team hopes to prove that 1) land is wealth & as refugees who’ve been displaced from our countries already due to American imperialism, we are committed to protecting our communities from being displaced again due to gentrification, 2) gentrification is “Development” that generally happens in lower income neighborhoods for a higher income class that makes it too expensive for people who have lived there for a long time to continue to live there, and 3) community development without displacement is possible.

Anti- Gentrification Campaign was found in May 2019 when VietLead found out about Hoa Binh Plaza is going to close due to Streamline- a real estate developer that wants to demolish the hxstorical plaza that has served Southeast Asian & other minorities groups in the neighborhoods and tri-states (DE, NJ, PA) area for the past 30 years to build a luxury apartment that long terms resident in Philadelphia can not afford.
In June 2019, we held a community meeting to gain community support against the demolishment of the plaza.
July 2019, there was a ZBA (Zoning Board Adjustment) hearing and we held a rally. The decision was pushed back largely due to the community organizing that put pressure on the developers to rethink their plan promised another hearing date.
In the Spring semester, we organized our annual Lunar New Year event in front of Hoa Binh Plaza to push for another hearing date since July 2019!