FAQ

No. The Fashion District has 79% occupancy and is open 360 days per year, offering consistent foot traffic and a slate of jobs that pay year-round. Families in our neighborhood have described it as one of the few low-cost places to take their kids for either free performances and events or time at the arcade or movie theatre.

The arena would be open for at most 150 events annually, meaning most jobs there would be seasonal and tenuous. During game days, the sudden influx of 18,500 people traveling to one location will likely drive away those who would normally be patronizing other local businesses. Attendees are more likely to patronize businesses inside the arena than in the surrounding neighborhoods. On non-game/event days, an entire city block will be left empty—very near to the convention center, which is also routinely empty.

This doesn't sound like thoughtful urban planning suitable for those who live and work in the area. Repurposed malls, however, have recently proven to be successful community hubs in many other metropolitan areas.

76Place developers claim their privately funded arena will have different economics, but studies show all arenas come with hidden public costs like infrastructure and municipal services.

Their plan is to “gift” the land to the city, then lease it back, avoiding property taxes.

Tax exemptions are public subsidies, whether the arena is privately funded or not—and 76 Devcorp hasn’t ruled out using state or federal funds.

We do—badly. We do not, however, think we need to sell our city to predatory developers in order to advocate for that.

We also see through the false promises behind Community Benefit Agreements and other offers from major developers during a project's planning stages.

The project realistically stands to threaten the already dismal state of public transportation in the city: bus stops and subway entrances will be moved entire blocks, traffic congestion will require buses to be rerouted on game days, and construction can't take place while Jefferson Station's rail line is electric—which is to say operational.

Philadelphia deserves world class transportation, and building an arena isn't going to get us there.

Technically correct; meaningfully wrong. The arena site is on a block of Market Street that sits directly between Chinatown and Washington Square West; our neighborhoods will be directly impacted. Councilman Squilla identified us as key stakeholders in the early stages of our fight.

The true meaning of NIMBYism dates back to social justice-oriented development in which neighbors objected to developments like low-income housing, needle exchanges, and other infrastructure for poor and marginalized populations.

Wealthy developers and their allies have unfortunately appropriated the term in recent years as an ad hominem attack on anyone who doesn't think the free market will solve the housing crisis.

We have mobilized to prevent three billionaires from owning a major chunk of Center City. We do not believe they have your or our best interest at heart.

Our group is truly just a few neighbors working to stop predatory development from encroaching on our community. We have paid for occasional flyers, button supplies, banners, and this website, but that's basically it. If we look suspiciously professional, it's because several of us work in design, art, and writing.