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unenlightenedgoblin OP t1_j4n5xax wrote

Reply to comment by PregnantSuperman in What happened to Chester, PA? What are its future prospects? by unenlightenedgoblin

Thanks for the detailed response

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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?

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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.

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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

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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

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Jumpy-Natural4868 t1_j4tg87f wrote

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

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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

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