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Your really mixing up your opinions here. First of all, it is very upsetting to see the way chester is today and for it could actually. My family came from chester before it went down hill, so why in the world would i want chester to suffer.1. I was stating my honest opinion, it is an embarrassment. There are unfortunately good people who are stuck there, but there are also many who dont care and cause crime terrorizing the city and its residents. 2. And for the fact that would sit there and make a claim that aston marple and springfield would be ghettos, where in the world is that coming from. The difference between those towns and chester are that they are more affluent neighborhoods with people who take pride in their home ownership and the town they live in. How many people are proud to live in chester today? Chester has a lon long long way to go, and 50 years from now, i still think it will be a complete mess, maybe a slightly revitalized waterfront area, but as far as it being a desirable city for families to move to, i dont know if that will ever happen, and since you were talking about other parts of delco going downhill in the future, i think you should be worried about darby, ridley, chichester, etc, not aston, springfield, and marple. Newtown square is a different town then marple, and for you to say newtown square would be a ghetto, is like saying gladwyne would be a ghetto in 50 years.
1. Get over yourself, Chester is embarrassing who exactly? Chester has a lot of problems. I don't think we need to add having to answer to the rest of Delaware County for messing up their perfect little suburban county. The fact that people who don't live in Chester and who never need to go to chester are complaining about chester because it makes their county look bad is just beyond absurd.
2. Haha okay right, Aston, Springfield, and Marple could never ever become ghettos because the people these affluent towns where people "care about their neighborhoods and take pride in home ownership". Right. 25 years ago there were a lot of people in Folcroft, Sharon Hill, Glenolden, etc who cared about their homes and took pride in home ownership. How did that work out for them? Haha please. What exactly is special about Springfield that makes collapse impossible? Or aston? or marple? nothing. absolutely nothing. They are all what Sharon Hill was 50 years ago, middle class suburbs where people take care of their homes and pay enough property tax to create a good school district. That can change... and likely will change once the housing stock their ages.
Places like Media or swarthmore have unique attributes that make this type of slide much more unlikely. But aston. Please what is special about aston that will prevent a slide when the housing stock ages?
I'm not trashing these places. This is just how things cycle. They're all nice now. But to think they'll be nice forever just because people have pride is laughable.
And chester while awful now, has unique attributes which will be crucial in bringing about revitalization.
i just think phillies2011 got the wrong idea of what i meant. chester is a terrible city right now, and i dont see it improving much, but of course i want it to improve, for the benefit of chester and the entire area.
Also, Darrell91, there are other nice towns in delco aside from radnor, try garnet valley, chadds ford, media, swarthmore, newtown square, edgemont, etc.
1. Get over yourself, Chester is embarrassing who exactly? Chester has a lot of problems. I don't think we need to add having to answer to the rest of Delaware County for messing up their perfect little suburban county. The fact that people who don't live in Chester and who never need to go to chester are complaining about chester because it makes their county look bad is just beyond absurd.
2. Haha okay right, Aston, Springfield, and Marple could never ever become ghettos because the people these affluent towns where people "care about their neighborhoods and take pride in home ownership". Right. 25 years ago there were a lot of people in Folcroft, Sharon Hill, Glenolden, etc who cared about their homes and took pride in home ownership. How did that work out for them? Haha please. What exactly is special about Springfield that makes collapse impossible? Or aston? or marple? nothing. absolutely nothing. They are all what Sharon Hill was 50 years ago, middle class suburbs where people take care of their homes and pay enough property tax to create a good school district. That can change... and likely will change once the housing stock their ages.
Places like Media or swarthmore have unique attributes that make this type of slide much more unlikely. But aston. Please what is special about aston that will prevent a slide when the housing stock ages?
I'm not trashing these places. This is just how things cycle. They're all nice now. But to think they'll be nice forever just because people have pride is laughable.
And chester while awful now, has unique attributes which will be crucial in bringing about revitalization.
i said aston marple and springfield are more affluent than chester which is very true, i didnt make them out to be a paradise. I just get bothered by you saying that about these towns, aston especially, is not like how chester or sharon hill or folcroft were 50 years ago, the housing stock in aston is different, parts of aston are cheaper and more affordable but to make a claim saying the town will be a ghetto is really way out there. Chester was a city based off of industry and textiles aston is a suburb, that borders other suburbs, which are wealthier. Youd make more sense saying brookhaven or parkside going downhill, not aston. Springfield and marple bother have older sections as well, but there are expensive neighborhoods, there housing stock is also different than chester and sharon hill. Lastly, you had mentioned newtown square in your first post, and then didnt mention it in the 2nd, maybe now you realized that you werent making any sense, by saying newtown was going downhill.
i said aston marple and springfield are more affluent than chester which is very true, i didnt make them out to be a paradise. I just get bothered by you saying that about these towns, aston especially, is not like how chester or sharon hill or folcroft were 50 years ago, the housing stock in aston is different, parts of aston are cheaper and more affordable but to make a claim saying the town will be a ghetto is really way out there. Chester was a city based off of industry and textiles aston is a suburb, that borders other suburbs, which are wealthier. Youd make more sense saying brookhaven or parkside going downhill, not aston. Springfield and marple bother have older sections as well, but there are expensive neighborhoods, there housing stock is also different than chester and sharon hill. Lastly, you had mentioned newtown square in your first post, and then didnt mention it in the 2nd, maybe now you realized that you werent making any sense, by saying newtown was going downhill.
aston forever!
i don't know what you're talking about. all the neighborhoods i've listed are very predominately made up of reasonably sized single family homes sitting on about 1/8 of an acre of land. The only difference between the housing stock of folcroft and that of aston is that folcroft's is about 30 - 50 years older on average.
You have yet to explain to me what places like Springfield, Aston, or yes, even Newton Square have that makes a slide in the future impossible.
You needn't get so offended. This is just how things cycle. I'm not saying that Aston will ever become chester. But could it become folcroft in 50 years? what exactly is stopping it? As the primary housing stock ages, property values fall, property taxes fall, school quality goes down, and overall QOL goes down.
Stuff like this will never happen to to a place like Swarthmore because of the large amount of houses that are much pricier than an average single family home. Not to mention the fact that many of these homes are very old, historic even, the normal rules of aging housing stock do not apply to them. Sure some of the houses will age and decrease in value but most won't. And an aging house in a good school district is much more likely to be fixed up or replaced than an aging house in a falling school district where it is more likely the house will just continue to age and fall in value.
Delaware county is not some magical place that is immune to age and the cycles of affluence that tend to affect urban areas. you sound ridiculous just stop.
i don't know what you're talking about. all the neighborhoods i've listed are very predominately made up of reasonably sized single family homes sitting on about 1/8 of an acre of land. The only difference between the housing stock of folcroft and that of aston is that folcroft's is about 30 - 50 years older on average.
You have yet to explain to me what places like Springfield, Aston, or yes, even Newton Square have that makes a slide in the future impossible.
You needn't get so offended. This is just how things cycle. I'm not saying that Aston will ever become chester. But could it become folcroft in 50 years? what exactly is stopping it? As the primary housing stock ages, property values fall, property taxes fall, school quality goes down, and overall QOL goes down.
Stuff like this will never happen to to a place like Swarthmore because of the large amount of houses that are much pricier than an average single family home. Not to mention the fact that many of these homes are very old, historic even, the normal rules of aging housing stock do not apply to them. Sure some of the houses will age and decrease in value but most won't. And an aging house in a good school district is much more likely to be fixed up or replaced than an aging house in a falling school district where it is more likely the house will just continue to age and fall in value.
Delaware county is not some magical place that is immune to age and the cycles of affluence that tend to affect urban areas. you sound ridiculous just stop.
You were obviously offended by my comment before about chester because you know it is true, it was harsh yes and i of course dont want that for chester but it is true, the city is an absolutely horrible place right now, the only part of chester where you can actually feel safe is either by widener or the stadium when there are security personel everywhere.
I would like you to tell me how you see newtown square having a slide downhill in the future. Homes on the market in newtown square are listed on average from 500k upwards to 5 million. That was never the case in chester. Also newtown squares location alone shows how the township will not decline. Chester was built on the water based off of industry, newtown square was farm land, mixed with estates of the super wealthy many years ago. Today yes newtown square is a very wealthy township, so i just dont understand why it could going downhill. There are a few pre 1960s neighborhoods, that make up a small percentage of the township, there arent thousands of rowhouses, which are inevitable to decline eventually.
Springfield is the only town that you mentioned where i could see a partial decline in certain sections of the township because of the aging housing market there and because it doesnt resemble the housing market of media or swarthmore. I still disagree with aston. there is a large mix of people in aston, new and old, the township has been actually improving in home sales and median income rates, so once again i dont know why you think this. I used to live in aston and our house was more than reasonbly sized on an acre of land.
You were obviously offended by my comment before about chester because you know it is true, it was harsh yes and i of course dont want that for chester but it is true, the city is an absolutely horrible place right now, the only part of chester where you can actually feel safe is either by widener or the stadium when there are security personel everywhere.
I would like you to tell me how you see newtown square having a slide downhill in the future. Homes on the market in newtown square are listed on average from 500k upwards to 5 million. That was never the case in chester. Also newtown squares location alone shows how the township will not decline. Chester was built on the water based off of industry, newtown square was farm land, mixed with estates of the super wealthy many years ago. Today yes newtown square is a very wealthy township, so i just dont understand why it could going downhill. There are a few pre 1960s neighborhoods, that make up a small percentage of the township, there arent thousands of rowhouses, which are inevitable to decline eventually.
Springfield is the only town that you mentioned where i could see a partial decline in certain sections of the township because of the aging housing market there and because it doesnt resemble the housing market of media or swarthmore. I still disagree with aston. there is a large mix of people in aston, new and old, the township has been actually improving in home sales and median income rates, so once again i dont know why you think this. I used to live in aston and our house was more than reasonbly sized on an acre of land.
offended? i have no tie to chester. i have nothing riding on them. i just get annoyed by the pompous attitude many suburbanites have. looking down your nose at chester like it has to answer to your snobby ass. i just wanted to remind you that chester has things that so many of these rinky dink suburb census designated places that you hold so high on their pedestals will never have. chester has a lot going for it, the crime and poverty just overshadow this and soon enough things will get better. with widener's recent and continuing expansion and the construction of the soccer stadium you could make the argument that Chester is already on it's way up.
my grandparents moved to springfield about 2 decades ago when they left philly and my parents to aston about 7 years ago now. i am familiar with both areas. there is nothing special about them. i am not as familiar with newtown square and while the parts i've seen of it around west chester pike look pretty standard suburban maybe i misspoke.
springfield and aston are both nice places. i am not trying to disparage them. but please tell me what is special about them? what about them truly sets them apart from sharon hill, folcroft, glenolden or norwood 50 years ago? you still have yet to answer this question.
Just understand that just because an area is nice now, doesn't mean it will always be forever. In fact if history is an indicator only the rarest of places stave off ever falling into poverty and disrepair. It's just what tends to happen as a community ages. it's not a shot at aston, it's just the way things go.
Springfield I can already see it happening. Aston not yet. But Aston is newer than springfield and set further away from the city, it'll start it's descent soon enough.
my point was simply places like springfield and aston seem to be trending downward whereas chester the future is looking up. and while i have no real tie to any of these places, i would find it funny if 50 years from now chester is more desirable than springfield, aston etc... a reality that i don't find all that far fetched.
offended? i have no tie to chester. i have nothing riding on them. i just get annoyed by the pompous attitude many suburbanites have. looking down your nose at chester like it has to answer to your snobby ass. i just wanted to remind you that chester has things that so many of these rinky dink suburb census designated places that you hold so high on their pedestals will never have. chester has a lot going for it, the crime and poverty just overshadow this and soon enough things will get better. with widener's recent and continuing expansion and the construction of the soccer stadium you could make the argument that Chester is already on it's way up.
my grandparents moved to springfield about 2 decades ago when they left philly and my parents to aston about 7 years ago now. i am familiar with both areas. there is nothing special about them. i am not as familiar with newtown square and while the parts i've seen of it around west chester pike look pretty standard suburban maybe i misspoke.
springfield and aston are both nice places. i am not trying to disparage them. but please tell me what is special about them? what about them truly sets them apart from sharon hill, folcroft, glenolden or norwood 50 years ago? you still have yet to answer this question.
Just understand that just because an area is nice now, doesn't mean it will always be forever. In fact if history is an indicator only the rarest of places stave off ever falling into poverty and disrepair. It's just what tends to happen as a community ages. it's not a shot at aston, it's just the way things go.
Springfield I can already see it happening. Aston not yet. But Aston is newer than springfield and set further away from the city, it'll start it's descent soon enough.
my point was simply places like springfield and aston seem to be trending downward whereas chester the future is looking up. and while i have no real tie to any of these places, i would find it funny if 50 years from now chester is more desirable than springfield, aston etc... a reality that i don't find all that far fetched.
the areas around west chester pike in newtown square is the only part that is pretty standard, newtown square when you explore the streets is a very beautiful township.
Aston was founded in 1688 and it is still going strong so im gonna still disagree. springfield i am not as familar with, and i know parts of springfield are older, so im just gonna say that aston the housing stock is different than sharon hill folcroft etc, the town has always been more expensive, aston is a suburb not an urban environment with factories and industries like sharon hill and folcroft etc. People from older delco worked for factories and industries and when those all closed the townships began to slide. Aston doesnt have that same problem. Of course i dont know where people in aston work, but the township is larger and much differnt than the small boroughs of older delco. Also neumann university adds a lot of stability to aston. So in short, astons locations, housing stock, and lack of industrious factories make it different than sharon hill and folcrft etc.
I think you should be making an argument about brookhaven sliding down rather than aston.
the areas around west chester pike in newtown square is the only part that is pretty standard, newtown square when you explore the streets is a very beautiful township.
Aston was founded in 1688 and it is still going strong so im gonna still disagree. springfield i am not as familar with, and i know parts of springfield are older, so im just gonna say that aston the housing stock is different than sharon hill folcroft etc, the town has always been more expensive, aston is a suburb not an urban environment with factories and industries like sharon hill and folcroft etc. People from older delco worked for factories and industries and when those all closed the townships began to slide. Aston doesnt have that same problem. Of course i dont know where people in aston work, but the township is larger and much differnt than the small boroughs of older delco. Also neumann university adds a lot of stability to aston. So in short, astons locations, housing stock, and lack of industrious factories make it different than sharon hill and folcrft etc.
I think you should be making an argument about brookhaven sliding down rather than aston.
good point about neumann, did not realize that was in aston.
just to let you know though. there are no factories in folcroft or sharon hill. i'm sure people who lived there worked in factories though there were plenty of white collar people who lived there too.
My aunt and uncle lived in folcroft and that's where they raised their children, although i never really saw that house because the age disparity between my father and my aunt was almost 15 years so they had moved to cape may to retire by the time I was kicking around. but my uncle was in the navy and then worked at hanneman in philly, from the pictures i've seen their house was pretty nice, and the house they've retired to now is pretty big. he wasn't a poor factory worker. Folcroft was once a legitimately nice neighborhood and there are some houses there that are bigger than your standard family home. it wasn't just small houses for blue collar workers.
it was much like springfield and aston are today. but the housing stock continued to age, southwest philly turned into a ghetto which then began affecting the nearby suburbs... first darby, colwyn etc, but then places like folcroft and sharon hill too.
when i was talking about age i wasn't talking about when they were founded. springfield was founded in like the 17th century along with aston but that's not when people starting living there and it became a big suburb. that didn't start until really the 30s - 60s with some developments being a bit newer. aston being a little more out there was developed a little later than that. so that's what i meant when i was talking age... wasn't talking about founding dates i was talking the dates when the majority of the homes were built.
again though the main point i'm making is that chester is making some progress. whereas places like springfield are skidding into the gutter like the towns next to them have before them. there is no reason to see this pattern stopping all of the sudden when it hits aston, 80 years of data shows that eventually that decay will hit aston just as renewal is moving through southwest philly and into places like darby and colwyn. that's just how things cycle. amenities like neuman will likely spur redevelopment many years down the line, but decline is all but inevitable except for the wealthiest of suburbs. sorry man that's just how it is.
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