Philadelphia Weekly

Man with the plans: The Roxborough Development Corporation's Bernard Guet envisions a revitalized Ridge. (Photo by Michael Persico)

Follow Ridge Avenue through Roxborough, and you'll pass shops hawking takeout, check cashing, insurance, and second-hand and discount goods. "For rent" and "for sale" signs adorn vacant windows, and crowds of teens wander past people waiting for the bus, walking dogs or pushing shopping carts.

Scattered along the stretch, which officially extends from the intersection of Main Street in Manayunk to Domino Lane, are harbingers of a new Roxborough--an independent coffee shop, a yoga studio, a SuperFresh supermarket and the neighborhood's first Starbucks.

Roxborough seems on the cusp of something, and a handful of people are working to ensure revitalization of both business and residential areas is the result.

"Roxborough has always been a good neighborhood, but maybe because it was a good neighborhood, nobody thought it should be the next neighborhood," says Bernard Guet, executive director of the Roxborough Development Corporation (RDC), the nonprofit leading the charge toward improving the community just east of Manayunk.

With grants totaling more than $2 million, the RDC has taken the first step in making the Ridge, as the avenue is colloquially called, the neighborhood's go-to destination.

"We're going to be able to make an impact," says Guet. "We're talking about green stuff like trees, street furniture, sidewalks, pedestrian lighting."

Roxborough has been here before. The initial 2004 unveiling of the master plan generated excitement, with streetscape updates and promises of an influx of businesses, but not much more.

"Nothing was happening because there was no [RDC] executive director," says Guet. Funds for the revitalization--including grants from the city totaling $1.7 million--sat in the coffers.

Volunteers stepped in, but without someone leading the charge and working to obtain matching funds, momentum stalled.

"It's really complicated, but when you get grants, you always need a matching grant," says Guet, who helped the RDC gain $500,000 in matching funds last year through the ReStore Philadelphia Corridors Program, part of the city's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.

Capital in place, Guet met with the city early this month to set the Ridge Avenue Revitalization Master Plan in motion. In addition to the streetscape, plans include decorative gateways, pedestrian-friendly walking and meeting areas, upscale new businesses and community improvement through growth that will eventually encompass the whole area.

Part of the plan includes a zoning overlay, which will help architecturally and visually unify an area that over the years has gained a less than stellar reputation for its declining curb appeal.

"All it takes is a neighbor who's not going to take care of [their property]," says Guet, and an entire area can decline. "People don't have the right to do whatever they want with their yard, [such as] eliminating the landscaping. This comes from other areas. It's starting to come to Roxborough, and we want to avoid that."

Low housing prices have resulted in an influx of absentee landlords, along with students and other renters with no power or investment in the area. This has meant a decline in aesthetics and--a touchy subject across the city--residents paving their yards for parking.

"What may seem like an easy solution snowballs," says Jennifer Barr, a community planner at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, who has worked with the RDC on a zoning overlay for the area. "If you do it, and your neighbor does it, Roxborough might end up looking like a bizarre parking lot with houses plopped in."

The challenge is balancing the needs of all parties, from the business community to families that have lived in the area for generations to newcomers looking for a safe, affordable place to call home.

"It's very important you have a happy community to have a successful business corridor," says Guet. "If the residents aren't happy, they're not going to go and shop."

"We think Roxborough does a really good job. They're organized and have a lot of buy-in from the neighborhood," says Barr. "It's important to plan and have buy-in before you start spending money."

And if all goes as planned, things should start rolling by late spring. All in all, Guet is optimistic about the project's potential. "Not only can it make people feel good in the area, but it's going to say to the world, 'Something is happening.'"