COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

Community Assessment

Logan Philadelphia Community Assessment

Description of the Community

Logan is a neighborhood which is situated at the upper North Philadelphia in the Philadelphia city, in the United State of America. This neighborhood, at first, was a plantation part of James Logan, who was William Penn's advisor. Pennsylvania's founder was William Penn. The total area of Philadelphia is 1.597 sq. miles and the total population is 52,133 in which the population density of Logan is 15,736 people per square mile while the rest of Philadelphia is 11,234 people per square mile (United States Census Bureau, 2002).

Logan is located approximately at the intersection between Lindley Avenue and Broad Street. Logan neighborhood is surrounded by the neighborhood of Hunting Park to the southern part and from the western part; it is surrounded by Ogontz and Nicetown-Tioga, Germantown. While, on the eastern part, it is surrounded by Olney and Feltonville and finally from the north, it is surrounded by Fern Rock.

In the single-family houses, a total population of 5,500 people live which are semi attached and rows set along the streets' rectangular grid. As the area has suffered from economic decline, there is almost 20% rate of vacancy in those housing units. According to the 2000 census, the racial makeup of Logan is 5.47% Latinos or Hispanics, 4.90% Asians, 82.94% African Americans, 6.57% Whites and 2.93% other races. There was a decrease in the Logan population between 1990 and 2000 censuses by 14% (www.city-data.com).

The Broad Street Subway was formed in 1928 which formed a means of modern transportation in the neighborhood. There is flourishing bus routes and streetcars network which allowed the community to be marked as a developmental neighborhood which was at first considered as a suburban community of Philadelphia. Principal schools are the Birney Elementary School at 9th Street and Lindley Avenue and (formerly Jay Cooke Junior High School) Jay Cooke Elementary School at 13th and Louden Streets And Logan Elementary (currently in a different region as defined by the School District of Philadelphia) (United States Census Bureau, 2000).

The main hospital is Albert Einstein Medical Center (AEMC), also a significant employer in the region. As of autumn 2008, Quality Community Health Care has opened the Cooke Family Health Center. CFHC is open to residents of Logan and the surrounding area located within Jay Cooke Elementary School (www.abclocal.go.com).

In the past factories were clustered in a few areas; historically they were diverse, and included Mrs. Smith's Pies on Lindley Avenue and the Fleer Baseball Card Gum Company near 10th Street and Lindley. Four block commercial districts of retailers and neighborhood businesses stretch along Broad Street and the parallel Old York Road (www.city-data.com).

Interviews of Three Community Members

Interviews were conducted of three different members of the Logan community about the neighborhood of Logan. These interviews were conducted to determine the types of violence which are most frequently prevailing in the community. The opinions of the community members about the violence and the problems faced by them due to this violence were also determined through this interview. The members were also asked the most possible way to reduce or eliminate these acts of violence.

The first interview was conducted with a high-school ...