PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Samiya Rubaiya, Youth Advocate from Kensington
3:16:09
ยท
103 sec
Samiya Rubaiya, a youth advocate from Kensington, speaks in support of the Arrow Linen rezoning plan, emphasizing the need for affordable housing in District 39. She shares her personal experience with housing affordability issues and argues that the proposed development is crucial for providing homes for working-class families in the area.
- Rubaiya highlights the struggle of rising living costs in the city, which she experienced firsthand with her family.
- She stresses the importance of maximizing the number of affordable homes, even if it means taller buildings.
- Rubaiya urges the city council to support the proposal, stating that it creates opportunities for families to live and thrive in the community.
Samiya Rubaiya
3:16:09
Okay.
3:16:09
Thank you.
3:16:10
Hello, everyone.
3:16:11
My name is Samia Rubaiya, and I'm a proud youth advocate and Kensington neighborhood native.
3:16:16
When I was 6, my family briefly moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia.
3:16:19
At first, it felt like a vacation.
3:16:21
But before we could settle into the quiet, we returned to Kensington.
3:16:24
The truth is no place compares to the culture and community that thrives in District 39, especially in neighborhoods like Windsor Terrace and Kensington.
3:16:31
Yet my family's return wasn't easy.
3:16:33
My father, an employee of the DOE, and my mother, then a medical assistant, could not afford the city's rising costs.
3:16:39
Even then, the cost of living pushed us out.
3:16:41
And for many people today, particularly working class families, the struggle continues.
3:16:46
I've seen the effect of the crisis firsthand.
3:16:48
Rent increases forces families in to crowd into smaller spaces, forcing familiar faces in our neighborhoods to ask around, sometimes even to me as a teenager, if we know of any vacant departments.
3:16:59
This proposal represents a critical chance to ease that burden.
3:17:02
The Arrow Linen rezoning plan provides an opportunity to support a significant amount of affordable homes in a neighborhood that has seen little affordable development in years.
3:17:11
In a city where working class families are being driven further from opportunity daily, this is a step we cannot afford to ignore.
3:17:17
We must be clear.
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Either we support affordable housing or we don't.
3:17:20
I understand that some people are concerned about the height of the proposed buildings.
3:17:23
We cannot let this overshadow what is truly at stake.
3:17:26
Reducing the height of the proposed buildings would severely limit the number of homes that we can build.
3:17:31
This is especially critical in a district where the median income far exceeds that of which many can afford.
3:17:36
This proposal, creates a space for those families, providing them with the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in the wonderful community that I call home.
3:17:46
Maximizing the number of affordable homes is what matters the most, and I urge the city council to support this proposal.
3:17:52
Thank you.