Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

PregnantSuperman t1_j4n5a2e wrote

Chester is in horrendous financial shape and recently declared bankruptcy, which I believe only happened with one other municipality in PA history. It has tons of debt and not nearly enough revenue coming in. It actually has a special Governor-appointed "receiver" who is solely there to work with the city get its finances in shape. In addition to all the factors you mentioned, Chester also suffered from corruption and ballooning police pension obligations that ran rampant for decades. I believe the receiver and the state govt has been working to sell the city's assets for a while, which is where the giant controversy about selling its water system to Aqua came from.

The only thing that Chester has going for it is the soccer stadium. Money has been dumped into that place like crazy and it's great, but there's only so far a single asset like that can take a place.

117

RevHenryMagoo t1_j4ndght wrote

Great analysis. I would just add that Chester also has Widener University, which used to be Chester’s only asset before The Union came along. Widener has always made efforts to be a part of the community and not just exist within it.

77

CerealJello t1_j4nxt01 wrote

Also transit. Multiple train and bus lines that give you a one seat ride to many destinations in Philadelphia, including the airport.

26

unenlightenedgoblin OP t1_j4n5xax wrote

Thanks for the detailed response

15

PsychicSarahSays t1_j4o2ktq wrote

Just to piggy back off this response, as I graduated from Widener University’s MSW program and part or our grad school education was going into the city to provide social services. The corruption you mentioned definitely plays a big part, and goes back almost 100 years.

Did you know Penn’s Landing is not in Philadelphia, but in Chester? Yes there is “a” Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia but in name only. The actual Penn’s Landing from which Philly takes its name, the actual location with an official PA history marker, where Penn first stepped ashore, was Chester.

And that is just one example of how Chester’s proud heritage and history was systematically erased.

The final blow from which the city could not overcome was the financial hit it took after WW2. The city was highly prosperous and successful during wartime. Many manufactures and industries left Chester at the end of the war (if they didn’t completely go out of business). Those who could afford it moved out to the suburbs. Employment continued to decline and businesses continued to leave. By the time I was in grad school there, there weren’t even any grocery stores left in the city.

Despite the continuous effort of public nurses and social services over the past 50 years, as well as Widener University actively buying property and restoring public schools, housing, and businesses—the lack of the city’s improvement makes it appear nobody is doing anything to help at all.

It certainly brings a spotlight to the ongoing criminal issues and corruption. I sometimes wonder if Widener’s aggressive investment in the city wasn’t present, how much worse it would have declined?

28

unenlightenedgoblin OP t1_j4o3mw4 wrote

Thanks for your response. I had never heard of Widener before today but it sounds like they’re a real anchor in an otherwise suffering community. The potential is so clear to me, but the challenges are really intense.

9

TomsterTruck t1_j4om6al wrote

I’m currently a senior at widener, but have lived in the area for my whole life. Not everyone in Chester is super happy about Widener either. Tbh I’m not very involved in goings-on, but I do know we got a Starbucks on campus which took place of a small art/history museum, in which pieces donated by people of chester are now presumably sitting in storage instead of display.

At least they sprinkle cocoa powder on the trash before they burn it so it smells like the Hershey Factory

10

TomsterTruck t1_j4oms8g wrote

And for what it’s worth, Chester used to be a massive export town, huge in Oil and ship building. Check out “Sun Oil” or “Sun Shipbuilding”. You may also see things about Baldwin trains that were big in the area (same as the train from Polar Express). Combine that with used-to-be golf courses and resorts, Chester has some of the nicest houses I’ve ever seen, which used to be full of lawyers, doctors, you name it. The companies left, and the rich left. Big houses turned into split apartments. Now the most notable factory in Chester is a toilet paper factory, Kimberly Clark I believe. There is also a Boeing facility nearby, but not technically in Chester

8

Jumpy-Natural4868 t1_j4tg87f wrote

Sun oil is Sunoco and started in Pittsburgh. Did they have an east coast operation in Chester?

1

TomsterTruck t1_j4ys87o wrote

It was technically Sun shipbuilding but same company as Sun oil, I think they shipped a lot of their product from Chester, since it’s right on the Delaware and not too far from the ocean

1

GIDAMIEN t1_j4p9y1i wrote

That's not true, Chester has one other thing going for it. Right next to the stadium is a massive marijuana grow facility. 😆

9

OneHumanPeOple t1_j4noz2v wrote

You’re forgetting about the citizens. Some of the best people around.

6

Wonderwombat t1_j4p5h88 wrote

So just curious, if everyone in the city just up and left, would the debt vanish? Like who's gonna pay it?

3

PregnantSuperman t1_j4plizm wrote

Well, a huge reason why the bankruptcy was declared was to remove as much debt as possible. That sounds like a good thing, but like a regular person declaring bankruptcy, it destroys their credit - so their ability to get things like bond financing for economic or community development is essentially impossible now. They're likely going to be reliant on state government for all of their money going forward. Hopefully some of the federal infrastructure money can be used for expensive road, water, electric, etc infrastructure repairs and maintenance, but that isn't going to be enough to keep their head above water.

Anyway, the fact that there's basically nothing positive about Chester's future outlook means that even the speculators don't care to invest any money there. So it seems to be spiraling downward with no real hope for things improving without an extremely long and painful period of despondency.

9