By Jim Quinn of TheBurningPlatform.com - June 12, 2024

[Thanks to the Wayback Machine, many old 30 Blocks of Squalor articles have been recovered (TBP was hacked and most of Jim's data was destroyed several years ago . . . SC). Below is one from December 2012 for your enjoyment. I can assure you, West Philly has only gotten worse in the 12 years since I wrote this.]

The summer months generally lead to my best commuting months of the year. With school out and people on vacation, I generally make it to and from work in about 45 minutes. Except, of course, on Friday night when it took me 1 hour and 48 minutes to get home for no good reason. I had gone over a month without having to experience the 30 Blocks of Squalor, until last Tuesday. An accident on the Schuykill on this sweltering 100 degree day forced me to dodge the potholes and stray bullets along the Squalor.

As I approached the 30 Blocks, I again thought there was nothing left to say after writing two dozen posts on this urban wasteland of woe. But as soon as I turned onto Chestnut Street there before my very eyes was a power boat on a trailer hitched to a GMC Jimmy parked in front of a $20,000 hovel. This is another one of those WTF moments. I don’t own a boat. How can someone who lives on the 30 Blocks of Squalor, where the median household income is $20,000, own a boat.

I’m sure some people are thinking, this is one of the hard working legitimate men who live on the Squalor. There must be a few. This possibility was put to rest when I noticed the license plate on the vehicle. It was the good old cardboard version. I bet you didn’t know that hand written cardboard license plates are legal in West Philly. Well not really, but the police are generally distracted by the murders, rapes, armed robberies, and drug cartels.

As I continued down the block I was thankful for my windows and air conditioning. It was Tuesday, trash day on the squalor. Or maybe not. It’s tough to tell the difference between trash day and a normal day in this neighborhood. The people who live on the Squalor clearly have no self respect, sense of community, or interest in cleaning up their streets. They can afford Satellite TV but can’t invest in trash cans. They throw their trash and debris to the curb in plastic bags, where the wild dogs that roam the streets tear them open.

The filth and stench along the Squalor is palpable. What kind of person throws garbage and empty bottles onto their own streets? Do you throw trash onto your front lawn or the street in front of your house? What does this filth say about this community? We know for a fact that more than 50% of the people along this roadway are not working. I also know there are dozens of churches in this section of Philadelphia.

The houses along the Squalor haven’t seen a paint brush or hammer and nails in decades. Why can’t the pastors of these churches lead an effort to pick up the trash and fix up the crumbling hovels? Would it be cruel and inhumane to require people collecting unemployment to do community service? Of course that would require black people to accept responsibility for their own community.

It seems they would rather have murals painted showing black people doing noble service, rather than . . .

[SNIP]