It’s 2039. Here’s How We Made All Our Neighborhoods Great Again.
Roland Kassis, the developer who made Fishtown's Frankford Avenue what it is today, sits down with Philly Mag home and real estate editor Sandy Smith to explain how what he did there spread throughout the city.
Roland Kassis will discuss how Philadelphia’s development community kept the good vibes flowing over the next 20 years at this year’s ThinkFest.
“City of homes.” “City of neighborhoods.” Both of these epithets have been applied to Philadelphia over its 337-year history.
And Philadelphia has long taken pride in its strong, tight-knit neighborhoods filled with rowhouses anyone could afford.
Now, in 2019, some worry that this city is disappearing, headed down the path of cities like New York and San Francisco where only the very rich and the very poor can afford to live.
At this year’s ThinkFest, Roland Kassis, the developer who made Fishtown such an appealing place to live today, reports back to me from the future to tell me how we managed to avoid that fate. How we continued the cycle of renewal that has brought new life and energy to the city’s heart and surrounding neighborhoods. How we tapped the energy and drive of the residents of neighborhoods now disfavored and helped them return them to favor without having to leave themselves. And how we made it possible to get a great cup of coffee no matter what neighborhood we live in.
The debriefing will take place at ThinkFest 2019, which takes place November 14th at Penn’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Don’t let the future pass you by — get your tickets here.
