Chinatown leaders have long resisted negotiating over the Sixers’ plan for a downtown arena to avoid the suggestion that they might endorse the project under certain conditions. But at the request of City Council members concerned about the neighborhood’s future,

Residents on both sides of the issue now wait to learn whether the proposal is about to enter a new phase or see the beginning of its demise.

About 170 people signed up to testify in front of the council's Committee on the Whole, which is comprised of all council members.