With rampant construction of new rental housing all over Philadelphia, why are whole families being wiped out by a fire in ancient PHA housing?
Non-working smoke detectors in an overcrowded row home in Fairmount. Automatic fire doors failing to close in a old high-rise in the Bronx. These are considered affordable housing in cities where market rate housing is forcing small Mom & Pop landlords out of the affordable rental market. As a result, families live in cramped apartments because it’s all they can afford.
Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist Will Bunch says it’s more than just a problem with rental housing stock, it’s a broken society.