For a city like Philadelphia, smaller is not better. To survive as a viable city, it has to attract new people. If it keeps losing population - and most of the folks exiting are middle class - then what will be left is a city that is increasingly poor. That is a city that cannot support itself. Sooner or later, there simply won’t be enough taxpayers to pay for the services needed.

If you want to see an example of such a place, go to Wikipedia and type in “Camden, N.J.”

So, encouraging new people to settle in the city is a good thing. In fact, Mayor Michael Nutter has set as a goal of his administration increasing Philadelphia’s population by 75,000 over the next decade.

Outside of Center City, one area that has grown in population in recent years is a triangle of land that runs along the Delaware River north of Vine Street and south of Lehigh Avenue. It consists of three neighborhoods: Northern Liberties, Fishtown and Kensington.

Unlike Center City, where much of the growth has come from Boomers moving in from the suburbs, the growth in Fishington — as the northern portion of the neighborhood is sometimes called — is coming mostly from young families, drawn to the area by its affordable rowhouses and its dense, urban feel.

Fishtown library

Many of these families are members of the “creative class” that cities so desire. (There may be more new artist studios per capita in Fishtown than anywhere in the city.)

To recap: Population growth is good. Reviving neighborhoods is good. Attracting young families is good.
So why is Mayor Nutter picking on Fishtown?

It sure seems that way from the ground level - from the 1200-block of E. Montgomery Ave, in Fishtown. There sits the neighborhood’s library - scheduled to be closed as part of budget cuts ordered by the mayor. Across the street is the neighborhood’s public pool - also scheduled to be shut down. A few blocks up is the fire station for Engine Co. 6, scheduled to be downsized.

“It’s a perfect storm,” said neighborhood activist A.J. Thomson. “Why would you remove something that young families see as an asset from one of the few neighborhoods that is gaining in young family population?”

Good question.

If you want a barometer of Fishtown’s revival, look no further than its library.
The Fishtown Community Branch of the Free Library is a small branch - only 3,059-square feet -. That began its life in the late 19th Century as a stable. Later, it served as a Fire House. It was converted to a library in the 1950’s and renovated in 1999. It is a bright, well-designed, welcoming place.

Despite it’s small size, it is among the city’s leaders in terms of visitors and items circulated. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of visitors who came through its turnstile went up 25% (from 36,898 to 45,971 ) and the number of items checked out rose by 87% (from 26,924 to 50,439).

Thomson said that the library is the common gathering place for old and new Fishtown, not to mention the African American students who attend Penn Treaty Middle School, which is next door. They have been coming in greater numbers lately the school library closed in June with the transfer of librarian Irene Sliwa. (The state of libraries in the public schools is a disgrace, but that is another story for another day.)
Ask older Fishtowners why their neighborhood is suffering so many cuts and closures and they have an answer.

Fishtown is now and has always been an enclave of Germans, Irish and others (most recently, Albanians) who are white and working class. The city is majority black. The mayor is an African American. Ergo, when it came to cutting services, he focused on white, working class neighborhoods.

Add to that view, this irony: Fishtown is the site of one of the two casinos to be built in Philly, a project vehemently opposed by some residents, especially the newer arrivals. To them, the situation is like a bad joke.

The bad news is: we’re closing your library and pool. The good news is: You’re getting a casino!
I don’t subscribe to the race theory when it comes to Fishtown. It doesn’t comport with the facts. The cuts made by the administration are falling on blacks and whites alike. I see no race-based decisions.
But, there are class elements in the plan when it comes to libraries. As I wrote before in this space, poor neighborhoods were exempted from library cuts. The city’s richer neighborhoods were, too. That leaves working class neighborhoods to bear the brunt.

I see another factor behind the cuts. Nutter has surrounded himself with very bright people, many of whom come from out of town. (Example: Siobhan Reardon, the new library director, comes from Tarrytown, New York.) They are a professional class of bureaucrats versed in the esoteric tools of their trade.
To them, this exercise of downsizing city government is a statistical problem. It involves numbers, not people.
Sitting in City Hall, unaware of the realities of Philadelphia, you could look at the tiny Fishtown Library and ask yourself: Why does that place exist? How did it come to be?
Do we really need it?
From a statistical standpoint, the answer may be: No, we can do without it. It’s not important enough to save.
It’s the right decision when it comes to the numbers. It’s only a disaster when it comes to the real life of a city.