CDC a good plan for the neighborhood

Posted 10/16/13

by Pete Mazzaccaro Posed shots of people holding checks are pretty common in local weeklies. Grants are made and received. Cash awards are won. People are happy to receive money. This week we have a …

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CDC a good plan for the neighborhood

Posted

Arnie.101713

by Pete Mazzaccaro

Posed shots of people holding checks are pretty common in local weeklies. Grants are made and received. Cash awards are won. People are happy to receive money.

This week we have a similar photo on the cover, but it is by many degrees a bigger deal than similar pictures we've run in these pages in the past. It's not every day that a check is made out for $850,000. Even a ceremonial check.

That ceremonial check represents a smart windfall for Chestnut Hill business leaders who will now have $85,000 a year over 10 years to fund a new Community Development Corporation. That money is a redirection of business taxes that Chestnut Hill Hospital has been paying the city. Now that money will stay right here in Chestnut Hill.

The idea behind the CDC is a pretty easy to describe as a win-win.

Chestnut Hill gets to establish a legitimate CDC – an organization that will be eligible for much more robust funding from outside sources. Hopefully with that funding, the new CDC will be able to make things happen that previously were not possible because the money just wasn't there.

It's also a win for the hospital, which now can apply a good chunk of its city business taxes directly to improving its own neighborhood.

It's also a reminder of just how important the hospital is to the neighborhood. The hospital is the neighborhood's largest employer whose employees buy lunch, dinners and other things on the Avenue. It is also a major donor, supporting local events like the Pastorius Park Concert Series in the tens of thousands of dollars. And now it is directly funding neighborhood development.

That's a big deal.

In every way, the partnership seems to be a good idea at a good time. There's every reason to have high expectations that this CDC will produce big things.

The Kids Edition

Chestnut Hill artists start young. And the Local likes to give young artists an early start by providing a place to display their best work in our annual Kids Edition. We're doing this edition later than we've done in the past, in part to feature it at a time when the season is busier and more people are reading the paper.

There are some important "rules" worth mentioning.

First, all submissions should be clearly labeled "Kids Edition" on either the envelope in which it is sent or on the subject line if it is emailed as a jpg attachment. Send physical copies to the Chestnut Hill Local, Kids Edition, 8434 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19118. Email submissions to pete@chestnuthilllocal.com. Remember to put Kids Edition in the subject line.

As in the past, we're looking for drawings, paintings, creative photos and sketches. We're also looking for stories and poems, but they must be short. Stories and poems must be a page or less in length. Visual arts must also be no bigger than one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper unless it is emailed in.

We always get a lot of submissions and do our best to run as much as we can, but space is limited.

Send them in by Friday, Nov. 1. The Kids Edition will be published on Nov. 7.

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