Tom Ferrick's "Fishtown Blues"

It's Our City: Tom Ferrick: Fishtown Blues:

To recap: Population growth is good. Reviving neighborhoods is good. Attracting young families is good.
So why is Mayor Nutter picking on Fishtown?

It sure seems that way from the ground level - from the 1200-block of E. Montgomery Ave, in Fishtown. There sits the neighborhood’s library - scheduled to be closed as part of budget cuts ordered by the mayor. Across the street is the neighborhood’s public pool - also scheduled to be shut down. A few blocks up is the fire station for Engine Co. 6, scheduled to be downsized.

“It’s a perfect storm,” said neighborhood activist A.J. Thomson. “Why would you remove something that young families see as an asset from one of the few neighborhoods that is gaining in young family population?”

Good question.