Publications

Delivering Youth Services in Philadelphia: The Integrated Youth Services Project
March 2008
Details the challenges and opportunities facing the diverse collection of youth services providers and funders in Philadelphia.

To Move Ahead: A Briefing Paper on Philadelphia Housing and Community Development Issues
Ashley Frampton, ed., February 2008
Completed as a Fall semester project by John Kromer’s Politics of Housing and Community Development class (GAFL 569), contains recommendations for addressing eleven key housing issues, including homelessness, inclusionary zoning, and the reorganization of the City’s housing agencies.

A Housing Strategy for Allentown’s Downtown Neighborhoods
John Kromer, November 2007
Plan for addressing blight, housing code violations, and negligent rental property management in residential communities adjacent to Allentown PA’s central business district through a more aggressive use of municipal powers, combined with better public agency collaboration and the promotion of housing preservation opportunities.

MyVote1 National Election Report
Christopher Patusky, Allison Brummel, & Timothy Schmidt, August 2007
Summarizes the results of the 2006 MyVote1 National Election Hotline project.

The Philadelphia SchoolStat Model
Leigh Botwinik, Christopher Patusky, Mary Shelley, 2007
Describes how the Compstat and CitiStat models were adapted for the Philadelphia School District, what performance improvements occurred after implementation, and which features of the approach seemed to be the biggest contributors to improvement.

SchoolStat White Paper
Leigh Botwinik & Christopher Patusky, January 2007
Describes the Philadelphia SchoolStat performance management system that was implemented during the 2005-06 school year.

Philadelphia Residential Tax Abatements: Accomplishments & Impacts
John Kromer, December 2005
Documents the results of research completed by the Fels Institute of Government and the Cartographic Modeling Lab on residential property tax abatements administered by the City of Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) between 1997 and mid-2005.

Vacant Property Reclamation & Development in York, PA
John Kromer, March 2005
Provides policy and program recommendations to address housing vacancy and abandonment in the city of York.

Recent Trends in Immigration to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Who Came and Where Do They Live?
Christopher Patusky and Johnny Ceffalio, August 2004
Examines immigration trends in Philadelphia over the past few decades.

West Philadelphia Initiatives: A Case Study in Urban Revitalization
John Kromer & Lucy Kerman, 2004
Offers a comprehensive assessment of Penn's urban revitalization efforts in West Philadelphia.

Vacancy Inventory & Reinvestment Strategies for Reading, PA
John Kromer, 2004
Discusses the issue of vacant property in Reading, PA, and how to organize resources as an economic development priority for the city and its neighborhoods.

Vacant Property Policy & Practice: Baltimore and Philadelphia
John Kromer, October 2002
Describes how the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia are responding to the challenge of blight and vacant real estate.

For more information, contact Allison Brummel, Director of Projects, at brummel@sas.upenn.edu.