The first time I heard it, I asked the same thing. GUCDC stands for “Germantown United Community Development Corporation.”

When you look at the expanse of Northwest Philadelphia, there are 6 major neighborhoods (with a lot of other sub-neighborhoods in between): East Falls, Manayunk, Roxborough, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, and Germantown. Also, each one of these neighborhoods has its own zip code (19129, 19127, 19128, 19118, 19119, and 19144) and its own post office. Although most Philadelphia experts would probably agree with me on these statements, there are always going to be locals who disagree. But hey, you can’t please everyone.

When you look at all 6 of these neighborhoods, each one already has a successful community/business association for a number of reasons: 1) They protect commercial corridors by increasing commercial/residential development, 2) They clean and green the main commercial strips (a.k.a. Main Streets), and 3) They keep the residents and businesses unified by working toward a common goal; success. Some have had more success than others, and some have been around longer than others. Overall, 5 of the 6 major neighborhoods have a CDC that’s currently successful; except for Germantown.

My hope is that the last remaining neighborhood to run a successful CDC will find a way to get over the hump this time. As more news comes online, you can bet I will be writing about it.