Samiya Rubaiya
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.
3:17:17
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.
