All six of Birch�s stages of urban development are visible in the City of
Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs or adjacent rural areas. Specifically, stages two
through six appeared in the trip I took from City Hall to my house in Northeast
Philadelphia. While in order to observe Birch�s stage 1, I had to travel to a suburban area
North of my house. Interestingly, the very soil, on which my 45 year-old house now rests,
was once plowed by a farmer, before a famous developer named, Korman, and his
associates bought it and developed it. Sixty to seventy years ago or less, the area minus
my house and thousands of others would be associated with Birch Stage One, as the land
was home to more wild animals and farmers� crops than people, with the only houses
standing being relatively large farm houses. Today, my fully developed area would be
associated with Birch Stage 3 with some overlap to Birch Stage 4, given the recent trend
of nearby houses being converted to duplexes. (see p.1**) Perhaps, one day my area will
be labeled by another Birch Stage, such as stage 5 -- �thinning� or stage 6-- �recapture.�
At this point, it is hard to imagine such an active area degrading, but history proves it
happens. Kensington, which was once called �a city within the city� because of its
population and wealth of jobs, is the perfect example. Now, the area is worn-out,
run-down, and infested with crime and �praying� to be recaptured. Not only are Birch�s
stages useful to describe urban development, but they reflect the cyclic phenomenon of
land development. The following is a description of the areas that I observed during my
trip and an attempt to associate them with one of Birch�s stages.
The area from Michael Road to Holland Road exhibits Birch�s stage 1 of the rural
area. This area displays low population density, as it is lightly speckled with isolated
single family farm houses. The area also presented very large �mansion-esque� homes with
private parking areas. Proximal to many of these homes is a small brook that is populated
by waterfowl, such as Canadian geese and ducks. I did not witness any security window
bars, gates or large fences surrounding the perimeter of anyone of these homes. The cross
street which is the transition zone or buffer to this area is Street Road. (see p. 2-4)
This rural neighborhood is extremely opulent and beautiful. Every home in this
particular section is large to enormous. The �construction theme� of each house does not
drastically disrupt the rural quality of the area. It seems much attention was paid to the
architecture of each house, as well as its encircling landscaping, in order to blend the
dwelling in with the rural surroundings. The materials used to build these homes are very
earthy and organic, unlike the synthetic sidings and fiberglass used to construct more
urban and lest costly housing. Most of the windows are made from wood and many even
have leaded glass. A plethora of stone is used to give rise to the walls of most of these
structures. In several of the houses, the stone walls are made up of dissimilar,
non-repetitive stone units. In other words, the stones are not like red bricks and must have
been painstakingly pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. From the road, not many of these
houses are visible in their entirety. Instead, many of the lines of the structure are broken by
a tree and/or its limbs or shrubbery. Moreover, the wide spacing between dwellings
augments the rural feel of the neighborhood. It complements the tranquillity and
peacefulness that was preserved by the architecture and landscaping. Also, apparent is the
routine maintenance these home owners invest in their homes. While the homes are
demonstrative of pre-World War One construction, their stability and function do not
suffer outwardly as a result. I didn�t notice much exterior lighting around the homes.
Finally, this neighborhood was not in the vicinity of any really large shopping areas and
therefore is not subject to many passer-bys.
I feel that if there is a crime problem in this area at all it would be burglary of home
or theft of nearby items, such as automobiles, patio furniture or bicycles. These problems
could exist, since there are not security measures around the homes like fences. I observed
two bikes left unattended in the front yard of one house. Such would be very risky in a
more-populated or urban area. I suspect a majority of these home owners have bare bones
when it comes to home security. This suspicion arises from seeing those bikes and
unchained valuable iron lawn furniture. The pervasive attitude in the area could be: �Hey,
there aren�t criminals around here why should I lock my bike or worry about my outdoor
furniture.� This sentiment is typical in a low crime area, yet is also very naive and
short-sighted. To be concise, prevention and precaution now saves pain and expense later.
I would be willing to bet many of these houses employ only common door and windows
locks. I saw only one alarm sticker in one of the windows of a house. In the city, these are
usually placed around the exterior of many homes to act as deterrents to potential
burglars. This leads me to believe that many of the residents did not have home burglar
alarms. Furthermore, many of the houses in this section lacked proper exterior lighting. In
my opinion, it is always a good idea to take the precaution of properly lighting your home.
A properly lit home does not provide burglars with the cover to commit illegal actions
around a property. Also making these homes susceptible to burglary are the many points
of entry into the homes. Most of these dwellings had at least three or four doors, as well
as a multitude of windows. The array gives the thief a selection from which he will select
the darkest, weakest and quietest point of entry. Herein may lie the one flaw of the
aesthetically pleasing wooden windows, which are easier to pry open. Finally, a burglar
could make an easy escape route through the woods. The fact that the population density
is low also works in the thief�s favor, as his chances of running into a bystander are low.
Even if the thief was spotted near the house, the extensive landscaping would give him
great places to hide.
The area from Hulmeville Road to Deerfiels Court exhibits Birch�s stage 2 of first
wave development. The cross street of Byberry Road is the center of the transition zone.
Driving through this section, I did notice many new housing structures with window bars
or security gates. However, fences may appear around some of these houses after
construction ceases. (see p. 5)
This neighborhood, which is made up of between 200-400 homes is under new
development with construction occurring or new construction having occurred (last
two-three years) in greater than five percent of it. One block was especially rich with new
construction, having five new single-family dwellings built recently. There were several
pieces of large equipment and building material throughout this neighborhood. Several
houses in the area were still being worked on, as indicated by unfinished (untucked)
capping around the windows, un-shingled roofs, and wooden �framed-out� structures. In
stark contrast to the aforementioned houses of the stage one area, houses in this area were
made more economically with cheaper, synthetic materials and simpler construction design
employed.
I would conjecture that the major crime problem in this area is theft. With
construction taking place, thieves have access to an abundance of equipment, tools and
building supplies left outdoors. Illegal dumping could also be another crime problem in
this section. Contractors have piles of materials such as sand and crushed stone, as well as
some waste containers that offer disguise to a potential illegal dumper, who figures his
behavior will not look that suspicious. The potential criminal may also be more apt to
commit the crime, because he/she feel less guilty, believing the wealthy contracting
company will easily get rid of the waste. To address these problems, the companies doing
the work could hire a private security company to patrol the work-site after working
hours. While adding definite expense to the project, the security company can keep a
dedicated watchful eye over the area, unlike the local police, who must patrol a much
broader range. Beneficially, the security company can notify police and detain the
perpetrators until the police arrive. When considering the potential cost of replacing stolen
equipment or materials, hiring a private security company may be advantageous. Of
course, the police is another agency that can prevent illegal dumping and theft. They
would be most effective if they were informed in advance of past malfeasance, as they
could increase patrols in this area.
The area from Deveraux to Brous exhibits Birch�s stage 3 of a fully developed
residential area. (see p. 6-7) There are many multi-family homes in this stage and
population density is high. In this area, I did not notice any window bars or many fences
around the neighborhood houses. The cross street which is the transition zone between
this area is Frankford Avenue. This neighborhood can be described as tidy and nice. The
streets were free of litter and garbage. Many of these houses sit atop slight hills with half
of their front yards being a small slope. The walls of all of the houses are made of
repetitive red-brick, which is more economical than quarry stone and more secure than a
wooden frame. The homes were landscaped moderately, unlike the stage one houses, with
small shrubbery and bushes. There were not many trees in this section. Many had small
concrete porches with short, artistic wrought iron fences wrapping them. Awnings over
entrances and new vinyl windows were also common-place. Each roof was shingled. To
my surprise, I did not see many people outside during my drive through this section. With
the high population density, I expected to see more. I am attributing the scarcity to the
inclement weather.
One major crime problem in this neighborhood is auto theft and auto-burglary of
audio and other items. The neighborhood is lower to middle-middle class and auto
theft/burglary is a mainstay crime in these areas. To address this problem of auto theft,
neighbors should take measures to protect their vehicles from thieves, such as equipping
their car with the club, an ignition or fuel kill switch, or auto-alarm. Intuitively, a car
owner in this area should probably invest in a car alarm, as it attracts attention and a
densely populated area has plenty of attention to elicit. Unfortunately, neighbors hearing
the alarm often peek out of their window fearing it is their vehicle being tampered with.
instead of looking just out of good-will. (Note to these people: Make sure your alarm
sounds like your neighbors�!) The police can fight this crime problem and even have a
special major crimes unit dedicated to auto-theft. If car thieves are exceptionally active in
an area, patrols can be increased and even modified. Modified patrols would come in the
form of unmarked cars, surveillance or �sting� operation with a decoy car. To find such
overactivity, police statistically analyze neighborhoods using filed car theft reports as data.
This not only allows police to establish a zone to watch, but affords them with a time
frame, in which their efforts will be most fruitful. In other words, if the data indicates that
auto theft is hottest in this neighborhood when the local high school is dismissed at 3 PM,
the police know to heavily patrol this neighborhood during this time.
Residential burglary is also a problem in this area with its peak hours taking place
during working hours. This daylight crime doesn�t seem so stealthy, but is very effective
as the family is at work or school. The best safeguards against this form of crime would be
a burglar alarm with battery back-up and cellular connection (non-wire connection) to an
observation center. If an experienced criminal believes there is something in your house
that is worthwhile, he will try to beat the alarm by cutting the power supply and even the
phone line so that the alarm can not communicate with the alarm company. As criminals
become more high-tech, potential victims must take stronger preventive measures. One
non-high tech measure is owning a guard dog, which is still an extremely effective way of
protecting your property. Some robbers are much more afraid of a ferocious dog than a
siren or even a cop. Dogs usually innately protect the house, however this behavior can be
amplified through training. One excellent book for training your dog to guard is the
Kohler Method for Guard Dog Training.
The area from Rising Sun Avenue to American Street represents a mixture of
Birch�s stage 4 -- �packing,� stage 3-- �developed,� and stage 5 -- �thinning.� The street
had row houses on both sides with each having about twenty houses. Almost every house
had a porch that was fully enclosed with wrought iron -- top to bottom like a cage with a
locked latch. These cages protected the front door and street level windows. There were
not bars on the upstairs windows of these homes. I only saw 2 to 5 houses that did not
have entrances to the homes that were fortified with wrought iron. I did happen across the
occasional boarded up house -- indicative of thinning, but this was more towards
American Street and not so pronounced. The cross street, which is the transition zone
between this area and the next is American Street. (see p. 8-12)
The residential section of this area is neat and orderly, but the commercial area
with its many autoshops is rather dirty. In front of the houses, I only saw the occasional
soda can or McDonalds wrapper in the gutter. In front of or adjacent to these commercial
shops were abandoned cars and trash like broken glass and car debris. The residential part
of the street was heavily congested with multiple vehicles. This makes me believe that
there are large families living in the houses on this block. Another clue that many of these
are multi-family dwellings are the two front doors some of the houses have. The cars
were mostly 80s economy cars with there being a concentration of Japanese compact cars.
The few residents that I saw in this section were outside conversing with other people
under cover, because of the rain. The majority of the residents appeared to be Hispanic,
although there were a pretty good amount of African Americans residents as well. Despite
the neighborhood being populated with lower-income people, the houses looked clean and
bright -- some red brick, some painted brick, some siding. These neighbors have added
flare to the community by using simple decorative tricks like putting planters on the
outside of their homes (some even crafted out of recycled car tires). The bars enclosing
their porches were frequently painted a vibrant bright color like white or red. Not many
were painted black, which would be to reminiscent of prison bars. Almost all of the
windows and doors of these homes looked to be in good condition. It looked like a lot of
these homes actually have had new windows and doors. Every house was also lit up
during this late rainy afternoon.
Judging from the wrought iron fortified homes, I believe that home burglaries are a
major fear in this section, although they might not be in actual major problem. These
houses with their �caged� protection do not appear to be easy targets. The majority of
these homes even had bars on their little basement windows. Evidently, security is of
major importance to the residents of this section. To deal with their fear and/or crime
problem, the community must take several measures and petition the help of the police.
First, people living in this section should keep their properties well lit at night. This will
make a burglar less likely to attempt to burglarize your home in fear that he could be seen.
The home owners who do not have fortified wrought iron parties should try to put
protective bars on their windows. They could also try to strengthen their door and
windows with extra locks. Another good idea is to invest in a home burglar alarm. Home
burglar alarms are a good idea because the authorities are notified once the alarm is
activated. The police can play another part in stopping burglaries in this section. The
police have to determine when this area is experiencing the most burglaries. In order to
do so, they must review their records to see when the crimes are occurring in this section.
Then they can target their patrols routine at these times. Residents of this section should
also be informed by the police when burglaries are happening in this area. This could be
done at a meeting at the local church where police could offer tips to the residents on how
to protect themselves against burglaries. If the police do not seem responsive, the
neighbors could write letters to the police chief or mayor of the city .... even enlist the help
of the media.
The block of Rush to Cambria exhibits Birch�s stage 5 of thinning. In this stage,
there are a lot of homes that have become multifamily converted, although many are
boarded up. Population density has decreased and the homes will be referred to as old
slums shortly. A lot of older people will choose to remain in their homes despite the
change. The cross street which is the transition zone between this area is Broad street. In
this section, I counted a total of twenty-nine houses that had bars on their windows.
There is only nine houses without bars on their windows. (see p. 13-17)
This block that exemplifies the thinning stage can only be described as disastrous in
my opinion. I use this term because I can see an area that was once beautiful. Riding
through this section now, all that can be seen is chaos and disorder. Many homes on this
block have not been maintained. Many homes on these blocks have been boarded up,
either by the city or the owners. A lot of homes are missing their windows and even roofs.
They just sit there being exposed to the elements. These homes have become dilapidated.
They pose a threat to the safety of the surrounding residents. Very few homes in this
section were in good condition. They show little signs of upkeep. Their was trash around
the exterior of many homes.
I feel that there are three major crime problems in this area. First, it seems to me
that many property owners in this section that are guilty of abandoning their property.
These abandoned houses can and do serve as areas for drug dealing and different criminal
activity, such as squatting, arson and prostitution. Abandoned homes are also dangerous
for this neighborhood. The structure of these houses make them subject to collapse and
fire. These homes are an imminent danger to the community and an eye sore. Secondly, I
believe that drug activity is another major crime problem in this area. My personal
experience allows me to posit that drug offenses are a major crime problem in North
Philadelphia. I am a commuter student at Temple University. When I leave campus there
is almost always some individual standing outside the parking lot or wandering the campus
begging for money. Their stories are always unbelievable and judging from their sunken
and pin point eyes they are most likely looking to purchase drugs with the money they
receive from begging. During my research activity, I also noticed several street corners
around which if you went slow enough and stared the males congregating on the corner,
you would be asked to buy drugs. Third, juvenile delinquency and truancy are other major
crime problems in North Philadelphia. I noticed during my afternoon ride through this
section that there was a large amount of youths roaming this section. It was rather early in
the morning and I wondered why these kids were not in school. These kids who most of
them appeared to be teenagers can get involved in serious crimes.
The major crime problems in North Philadelphia each exist for different reasons.
People abandon their property because they may be unable to maintain their home.
Maintaining a home is expensive and many people cannot afford to. A rental property can
be abandoned when the landlord feels that he or she is not receiving the desired rent from
their property. Landlords can choose to sell their property or board it up if the home
requires too much work to sell it for a decent price. Residents of this community may
have left their home as a reaction to the crime in the area. Indiscriminately, they will sell
their home or abandon the property. Drug activity exists in this section because the
demand for drugs is so great that it surpasses the demand for legal commodities. Selling
drugs is profitable. People learn where and how to buy drugs through word of mouth and
as a result it spreads outwards in a contagious fashion. Potential buyers become attracted
to the neighborhood. The juvenile truancy and delinquency that exists in North
Philadelphia feeds this problem. Since, children lack effective role-models, such as good
parents and teachers, they steer away from school and into the streets. Without an
education they lack the tools needed to get and hold a good job and, resultantly, start to
sell and use drugs.
There are different ways to deal with each of these extremely difficult problems in
North Philadelphia. First, those who choose to abandon their property should have to
fore-fit their land. Abandonment of property should also be made a felony and the
financial penalty for committing the act of abandonment should be ten thousand dollars,
which would cover some cost of demolishing or restoring it. I�m in favor tearing houses
down and creating after-school centers for kids with libraries and basketball courts. Of
course, funding would be difficult to come by, but creative means could be taken to
address this. What would happen if some of the Philadelphia 76ers were asked to help or
donate? Or the Eagles or Phillies? Getting children on the right path early would take care
of a lot of problems. Stats have shown that an educated child is less likely to use drugs,
being from the inner city or not. Furthermore, that youth is less likely to sell drugs or steal.
Role models are a key component and so is education. A push must be made to invest
money in these areas, because investing money here now will save money from having to
be spent in other areas later. Attractive after-school activities like school sports and
tutoring must be made commonplace, as they present the children with a positive outlet
for energy and frequently good role models, in the form of coaches. Plenty of local and
state agencies throughout Philadelphia have created attractive activities for youths in their
own neighborhood. Now, North Philly has too few.
If a child comes to one of these community centers, they can receive a variety of
different services. There may be a technology center where the child can learn through
interactive media on the Internet, receive tutoring or be offered help with his/her
homework. A child can also choose to engage in athletic activities and other forms of
entertainment at the center. The most important aspect of these centers is that adults are
present to supervise the children, since this presence is often what the children lack at
home. A drastic approach that has been employed by other major cities is punishing the
parents for kids� truancy by bringing them into custody to answer for their child�s
behavior. Programs like this, although drastic could be a positive step in curing youth
truancy in this section. Many schools are trying to keep their students in school, but the
parents don�t provide the foundation.
To immediately counter existing drug activity of North Philly, the police need to
take a pro-active approach. A policy must be created to make it expensive for the user.
To do this, we must employ methods like undercover policing. Under cover policing
involves such operations as the �buy and bust.� Through this, the police may catch a
potential buyer driving into this neighborhood looking to purchase drugs or cuff a dealer.
The area from 13th street and Susquehanna to Dauphin street exhibits Birch�s
stage 6 of Recapture. (see p. 18-21) The cross street which is the transition zone between
this area is Lettery street. The area displays new housing on land that was likely once
home to boarded up houses or vacant. There are very large wrought iron fences
surrounding both housing areas (new and old houses) on each side of the street. There is a
total of sixty bars on each side of the block. This neighborhood is definitely a guarded
community with bars on every window, some access-ways and fenced in parking areas.
Looking at this community it appears that security is of major importance to the residents
as even the playground for the children is enclosed behind a large wrought iron fence. The
major crime problem for residents of this community is burglary. Just looking at the
exterior of this community, I can see that the residents have taken great measure to
protect themselves against burglary. I feel that this community�s major crime problem of
burglary exists because the poverty that exists in this community, as well as the
ever-present drug problem. Criminals come in the form of mendicants and drug addicts,
who are desperate for their next meal or high.
The residents of the community have already taken positive steps in preventing
burglaries in their community by fortifying their homes with bars on the windows, gated
entrances, fenced in perimeters around the homes and a parking lot that is surrounded by a
large wrought iron fence. The police could also play a big role in reducing the problem by
reviewing all of their calls for service to this area and creating a composite that predicts
burglary location and time. Thereafter, they could increase patrols in this location during
this time. Of course, increased police patrols act as a deterrent effect against potential
burglars and they will be rewarded by catching people in the act of burglary. Also, the
residents of this community could organize a neighborhood watch group. A neighborhood
watch group can do routine patrols around the community at different time during the day.
The watch group can prevent against illegal activity of any kind and can report all illegal
activity to the police. This watch group could also indirectly reduce crime in their area by
getting help for junkies and homeless people in their area. I am sure that often a burglary
victim knows the perpetrator and has even had the criminal in their house before. After all,
a thief is going to go for the best score. If he knows the contents of the house and the
layout, it makes the act easier. So, by performing some �community service� and helping
others, neighbors are indirectly helping themselves.
Ultimately, my study reflects a correlation between geography and urban
development for City of Philadelphia and its suburbs. Clearly, as one travels from the city
to the suburbs, the areas one encounters can be labeled by decreasing stage numbers of the
Birch classification system. Simply, one is more likely to encounter a Birch stage 1 or two
being further away from the city and in a suburban location. Likewise, the higher stages
the Birch urban development description system are concentrated in the inner city. In
addition, mixtures of stages are apparent in areas, although some mixtures are more
common than others. For example, characteristics of stages three and four are far more
likely to be found together than a mixture of aspects of stages one and four. Conclusively,
analysis of this same route would be intriguing in 50 or even 25 years time. It would
probably demonstrate the powerful and perplexing cycle known as urban development