Save Philly Chinatown! Fund independent studies.

Imagine being told that three billionaires plan to put a Madison Square Garden-sized arena right next door to your home or your small business. That is what is happening to Philadelphia’s 150-year-old Chinatown, a growing and vibrant community where families can live near small businesses, schools, and places of worship, and where Asian Americans across the Greater Philadelphia area feel at home. To save our treasured Chinatown, we urgently need to show decision makers the true costs of putting an NBA arena in the heart of our city.

When community members appealed to their city officials to protect Chinatown, we asked for a comprehensive, independent impact study. But instead of independent studies, the city is getting studies bought and paid for by 76Place arena developers.

Unlike the developers, the Chinatown community doesn't have a billion dollars to bankroll and buy our own studies, so we are asking for your help. A quality economic study will cost about $50k, and we’re looking at many funding channels to get this done. This GoFundMe is one of them.

It has become clear that the city's studies are biased towards advancing the arena and helping developers negotiate. Unanswered, these studies will provide exactly the cover that developers and politicians want to use to vote yes on an arena that will cost our city more than it will contribute.

Whatever you can donate will support our community to hire a qualified, independent consultant to examine whether 76Place's extreme economic claims are realistic, and understand what an arena would truly cost Philadelphia in terms of lost economic activity and more.

Thank you for your support in our efforts to preserve Philadelphia's Chinatown, one of the oldest surviving Chinatowns in the nation. We are grateful for your support.

Why we need a quality economic evaluation of 76Place:

The city's studies have glaring gaps that will bias their findings. For example, it is shocking that these studies will not examine the arena's negative impact on Chinatown and surrounding businesses, and potential lost revenue from those impacts.

Arenas are never really “privately- funded.” They use taxpayer money for street upgrades, infrastructure like sewage and electric, traffic and public transportation rerouting, and game-day security. Plus, 76Place has said on the record they're open to federal and state money—and that's our tax dollars too.

Justifying arenas is big business, and the 76Place consultant is cashing in. CSL, the firm hired to do a study of 76Place, is the go-to consultant to justify sports arenas and other big developments. CSL provided false data to Philadelphia before, justifying expanding the convention center. Their numbers were off by 82%.

Credible studies are clear: Arenas provide little to no benefit to cities. Every expert on arenas that we’ve spoken to says 76Place’s projected tax numbers are outlandish, and not supported by facts or data. Data is clear that arenas make neighborhoods less safe.