This directory is here to help neighbors learn about diversity in Mt. Airy and amplify work that folks are doing right now.

It’s an inexhaustive list put together by your neighbors at the Mt. Airy Neighborhood Diversity Initiative (MANDI). Want to add to the list, or learn more about MANDI? Get in touch below.

Feel inspired and ready to take action? The neighborhood orgs section is full of places to start!

<aside> 💡 Did you know?

• Both West Mt. Airy Neighbors (1954) and East Mt. Airy Neighbors (1965) were founded with a focus on preventing racist “block-busting.”
• Long before the growth of its Black population in the 2nd half of the 20th century, Mt. Airy already had a sizable Black population. It was concentrated in the Sharpnack section, an industrial village from the 18th century that was densely populated by the 1890s. (Perkiss, Making Good Neighbors)
• In May 2024, a 2-bedroom apartment on E. Sharpnack St. in the new Mt. Airy Meadows development rented for $1,850/month and up. A newly renovated 3-bedroom rowhouse on W. Sharpnack St. sold this year for $449K.
• A 2016 Pew study of gentrification in Philadelphia found that there were 14 census tracts that were majority Black in 2000 but not in 2014. Nearly all of those were bordering Center City or near a major university but one was in East Mt. Airy. (Read the study: Philadelphia’s Changing Neighborhoods) </aside>

<aside> ❤️ Neighborhood organizations doing diversity work

West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) (MANDI is one of WMAN’s committees)

East Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN) (MANDI is also an EMAN committee)

Mt. Airy CDC Housing Counseling

Germantown Jewish Center

Unitarian Universalists of Mt. Airy Social Justice Committee

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<aside> 📰 Learn about diversity and Mt. Airy

Mt. Airy: A Legacy of Intentional Integration (Philadelphia Fed)

Mapping Our Community: Residential Segregation in Mt. Airy and in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Fed)

Nuanced View of Mt. Airy's Racial History (Chestnut Hill Local)

Mt. Airy Church Carries on Long History of Diversity, Inclusion (Times Herald)

Some Philadelphia Neighborhoods Are Walking a Line Between Boom and Bust (Next City)

What's Behind the Racial Homeownership Gap in Philadelphia? (Philadelphia Fed)

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<aside> 📢 Learn about strategies we can take

Rent control Does Philly Need Rent Control? (Philadelphia Citizen)

Homebuyer assistance Advancing Homeownership Opportunity: An Update on Recent Innovations (Penn)

Support for home repairs 6 Programs That Can Help You Repair Your Home for Free or at a Low Cost (Inquirer)

Inclusionary zoning & affordable housing development Inclusionary Zoning Has Failed to Deliver on Affordable Housing Promise (Inquirer)

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<aside> 👥 Neighborhood Facebook groups

Go Mt. Airy (Mt. Airy CDC)

Mt. Airy/Cedarbrook Community

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About the Mt. Airy Neighborhood Diversity Initiative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ34zYCVEGg

<aside> 📔 Read “What We Love and What Would Cause Us to Leave,” MANDI’s report on listening sessions with Black residents of Mt. Airy.

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MANDI’s Core Principles

• Our group of neighbors from Mt. Airy came together to learn more and to identify strategies for preserving neighborhood racial and economic diversity.
• To maintain our community’s strengths, we need a comprehensive understanding of the neighborhood’s history and the factors contributing to decreased racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity in Mt. Airy in recent years