Growth and Structure of Cities Senior Theses (2006-2007)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10066/20

Browse

Browsing Growth and Structure of Cities Senior Theses (2006-2007) by Subject "Philadelphia (Pa.)"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Housing in Philadelphia, 1890-1920: apartment houses for a "city of homes"
    (2006-11-01T20:51:09Z) Wisniewski, Linda
    "The dominance of the "morally desirable" single-family dwelling in Philadelphia in the late nineteenth century distinguished the city from other urban areas where multi-family dwellings were an economic necessity for residents...Residential and business directories as well as census data from 1900 and 1920 demonstrate that Philadelphia's reputation as a "city of homes" was partly a perception that overshadowed an increasing population of hotels and apartment houses...The development of apartment housing in Philadelphia, especially in the neighborhoods, depended upon the same segregating forces that enabled the development of the single-family dwelling. In the end, residents of these multi-family dwellings were in transitional phases of their lives where the single-family dwelling would not have been suitable."
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Progress at a profit? an analysis of Edison Schools, Inc. in Philadelphia
    (2007-06-20T16:06:22Z) Roberts, Jennifer
    Philadelphia public schools have a long standing history of academic and fiscal crises. After many unsuccessful reform movements, state officials were forced to confront these issues once again with a highly experimental and controversial solution: hiring a for-profit educational management organization to run Philadelphia’s ‘worst’ schools. When Edison Schools, Inc. and ambitious entrepreneurs initially came to Philadelphia, they were convinced they could turn Philadelphia’s under-funded, under-achieving schools into successful, cost effective institutions while simultaneously turning a profit. They did not, however, anticipate a fierce resistance movement and protests and demonstrations riled the streets of the city in discontent. While teachers and staff members were worried about job security, control within their classrooms and salaries and wages, parents became frustrated with a seemingly lack of concern for their children’s safety and educational quality. Community members and certain city officials were offended by Edison’s ignorance for conditions in urban schools and students blocked off city streets chanting, “We are not for sale!” Three years later in 2004, the debate surrounding Edison Schools, Inc. has hushed. This thesis explains that the resistance movement has changed in the past three years and offer explanations for this shift in attitudes. By investigating the ways that four major parties, (staff members, parents, community members and students) have reacted to Edison during its tenure, I argue that the present controversy surrounding Edison Schools, Inc. in 2004 is a very different debate from 2001. Through this shift in attitudes, beliefs and response, it becomes evident that the debate is no longer about whether or not privatization is an effective means of school reform, but rather, if Edison was qualified enough to provide the urban schools with a education comparable to other successful schools. I conclude that the debate over privatization that began as a fear of an attack on traditional education slowly transformed into vocal struggle for educational equity. This paper also discusses what can be learned from this debate and what lies in the future for Philadelphia schools. As this reform movement demonstrates the complexities of urban school reform and the tendency to shift blame rather than address the fundamental issues at hand, the crisis of education in Philadelphia schools is revealed. The paper concludes that no reform movement will be successful without a thorough addressing the greater societal problems of racism, poverty, and inherent educational inequity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Providing security in the city of brotherly love : an analysis of the restructuring of policing and its consequences for the city of Philadelphia
    (2006-12-08T19:00:57Z) Burgwyn, Ted
    The most profound change that has occurred in policing over the past fifty years was characterized by Bayley and Shearing in 2001 as the "restructuring of modern policing." While this restructuring involves many dzfferent aspects, the one that could potentially have the biggest impact is the growing influence of the private security industry in the realm of policing. This paper describes the history and the socio-political factors that have contributed to the restructuring of policing and the changing roles of both the public and the private sectors as they relate to security provision. The main purpose is to evaluate the consequences restructuring has had on both the quality of security provision in general and the rights of individual citizens. Many academics believe that the lack of an effective mechanism of accountability for private security guards, as well as the liability issues that arise as private and public sectors interact within the business of policing, means that restructuring will have a negative impact on the city. Some even believe that restructuring is creating a "widening net of social control, "as increased interaction between public and private providers of security leads to invasions of privacy and individual liberties. Using Philadelphia as a case study, the argument put forth in this paper goes contrary to the received academic opinion. In my view, restructuring is having only a limited effect on both the public police and the rest of the city's population. Contrary to what is commonly found in the literature, the effects of restructuring in Philadelphia have, for the most part, been positive. The city has indeed benefitted from whatever restructuring has taken place; given the continuation and development of current policy, benefits will accrue in the near future.