OPPOSITION TO REDISTRICTING 194TH DISTRICT
I am writing as a long-term resident of West Mt. Airy (50 years) and wish to oppose any change to our legislative districts to combine Chestnut Hill with Roxborough and Mt. Airy with an area east of Stenton Avenue. At first glance, this remapping looks racially motivated, because you are creating a "majority white district (Chestnut Hill and Roxborough)" and a "majority Black District (Mt. Airy and East of Stenton Avenue)." It also makes no geographic sense whatsoever, give the huge barrier of the Park being between Chestnut Hill and Roxborough. This proposal splits up two existing geographically coherent districts, the 194th and the 200th, and instead knits parts of the these districts together with little in common. Redesigning the proposed maps so that the 194th is entirely west of the Wissahickon Creek Park and the 200th entirely east of the park would actually correct this existing problem. Although I live in West Mt. Airy, Chestnut Hill feels like a continuum of my community. I shop and visit in Chestnut Hill as much as I shop and visit anywhere. This change will smack of the worst kind of smell from political maneuvering because no one in either Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, or Roxborough understand why it is being proposed. Please listen to the people who live here. Please be accountable to us as our elected officials. Please don't change our district maps in the NW area of Philadelphia. Thank you for your attention.