New York Times Hails Philly As Anti-Gentrification Capital of the Free World

The Times has a piece out on various city programs designed to stem the tide of gentrification by offering tax relief to homeowners in rapidly-appreciating neighborhoods. Philly, it claims, is doing the most in this regard with a couple of newish programs.

Philadelphia, undergoing a resurgence during which the city has had its first population increase since the 1950s, appears to have enacted the most comprehensive measures to safeguard longtime homeowners.

The first, the Homestead Exemption, allows most homeowners to reduce the assessed value of their house by $30,000 for tax purposes, while a second law, called Gentrification Protection or LOOP, short for Longtime Owner Occupants Program, is more narrowly focused on protecting homeowners from increases to their property tax bills because of gentrification.