(10) Why Chinatown North? FACTS

The Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS) is located near the intersection of 10th and Callowhill. Previously, FACTS was located in the main Chinatown along Market Street, but some years ago its management decided to undertake a move for space reasons. PCDC favored the school moving to a location in South Philadelphia, catering to the growing Asian American and immigrant populations clustered around Washington Avenue [5], but the school ultimately decided to move to 1023 Callowhill, which is significantly closer to the heart of Chinatown. To the PCDC, this presented some concerns due to the Callowhill site's proximity to the Holy Redeemer Church, which includes a long-running Catholic school. Members of the community were worried about the possibility of FACTS depleting the student enrollment from the Church's school, and the Church is an important anchor to the Chinese community in Philadelphia.

Here, the Criss-Cross walking tour comes a full circle: the Holy Redeemer Church was one of the institutions which was threatened by the construction of the Vine Street Expressway. The site it sits on was originally supposed to be repossessed as part of the project, but vocal opposition by the Chinatown community resulted in those plans to be scrapped, and the formation of the PCDC. FACTS is another school, perhaps not a community anchor in the same way that Holy Redeemer is, but the school chose to move to north Chinatown rather than to South Philadelphia, despite the fact that the residential population here is much smaller. It is likely that the proximity to main Chinatown played a big role in shaping the eventual decision to choose this site.

For many, Chinatown North is not really Chinatown, but more of an area on the "edge" of Chinatown [6], a borderland of sorts. Still, the presence of community anchors like the Holy Redeemer and the physical proximity to Chinatown enable Chinatown North to occupy a much closer psychological proximity to Chinatown than South Philadelphia in the minds of the Chinese population of the city.