Philadelphia's 3rd City Council District, represented by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, is an incredibly diverse community located in West Philadelphia. The district is anchored by educational and healthcare institutions to the east, including the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel and the University of the Sciences. The neighborhoods to the west are characterized by vibrant commercial corridors, historic architecture, and an eclectic set of neighborhoods with residents who value the collective good.

As our Housing Market Report shows, the 3rd District has experienced a tremendous amount of change over the last two decades as gentrification marches westward. This project is motivated by a need to promote economic development without sacrificing the cultural and economic diversity that makes the 3rd District special. The primary mechanism for achieving this objective is to ensure that housing remains affordable for all.

To this end, two strategic planning tools were built for this project. The first is a Housing Market Report that provides a wealth of indicators on the state of the 3rd District's housing market. The report pulls from freely available open data resources and is built around a set of maps and data visualizations. The second is a simple analytic dashboard that allows 3rd District residents to understand the spatial relationship between housing costs and affordable housing resources.

We hope all residents and stakeholders living and working in the 3rd District find these tools engaging and useful.