Blacks in Kennett Square, Exton, West Chester and surrounding (Philadelphia: apartments, to rent)

[Robalob]

Hey All,

I was considering some of the nicer Chester County ( Kennett Square, Exton, West Chester), PA suburbs but I noticed the schools had extremely low Black percentages. How is it on the ground there? Can any Blacks or anyone with insight to race relations there give feedback on how it is there?

[Patmcpsu]

I'm white and graduated from West Chester Area School District (East High School) in 2002. Most of the black kids (at the time at least) lived in West Chester Borough. There would be some black families living outside of the borough, but the disparity was noticeable.

According to Niche, 10% of West Chester borough are black which is about what I was expecting. But it's also 10% hispanic, 2% mixed, and 2% asian, so a quarter of the residents are some type of minority. I consider West Chester to be an inclusive place, especially after you consider its "college town" aspect.

Compare that to 4% of Kennett Square borough being black and 48% are hispanic. I currently live near Kennett Square and haven't visited it enough to draw any conclusions, but I've never witnessed any evidence of racial conflict there.

Exton, has always been more of a half-commercial, half-Main-Line hodgepodge. It's a well-off area but never felt like reality to me. I would consider it the most racially-homogenous place being discussed (almost entirely white and asian).

Have you considered Downingtown at all? It's about the same racial composition as West Chester, it has good schools, and it's technically on the Main Line. I drove through there last weekend and it's definitely more vibrant than I remember it being years ago.

But long-story short, Chester County is really good with race relations (I understand I'm saying that as a white guy).

[Robalob]

Yes, I am open to Downingtown. I really prefer Kennett Square because I want to get as close as I can to Newark, DE while being in PA and zoned to good schools.

[Patmcpsu]

It seems like you already did your research, as I would agree Kennett Square is be your best bet.

Once you get west of Kennett Square, things get very rural very fast, but don't overlook West Grove if you're looking for black inclusivity. Lincoln University is a historically black college right by there, so there's always 2000 undergrads present who don't get captured in demographic data. But you would need to love the outdoors and mushroom farms to prefer it over Kennett Square.

West Grove's schools are pretty good, but Kennett's is probably better. Kennett Square might actually be one of the best school districts in the state, but its rankings get hurt by the standardized test scores of English-as-a-Second-Language students.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by Patmcpsu

I'm white and graduated from West Chester Area School District (East High School) in 2002. Most of the black kids (at the time at least) lived in West Chester Borough. There would be some black families living outside of the borough, but the disparity was noticeable.

According to Niche, 10% of West Chester borough are black which is about what I was expecting. But it's also 10% hispanic, 2% mixed, and 2% asian, so a quarter of the residents are some type of minority. I consider West Chester to be an inclusive place, especially after you consider its "college town" aspect.

Compare that to 4% of Kennett Square borough being black and 48% are hispanic. I currently live near Kennett Square and haven't visited it enough to draw any conclusions, but I've never witnessed any evidence of racial conflict there.

Exton, has always been more of a half-commercial, half-Main-Line hodgepodge. It's a well-off area but never felt like reality to me. I would consider it the most racially-homogenous place being discussed (almost entirely white and asian).

Have you considered Downingtown at all? It's about the same racial composition as West Chester, it has good schools, and it's technically on the Main Line. I drove through there last weekend and it's definitely more vibrant than I remember it being years ago.

But long-story short, Chester County is really good with race relations (I understand I'm saying that as a white guy).

Robalob, I agree with going with Kennett Square, especially with your goal of getting to Newark.

Patmcpsu, I'm a little confused with your statement about Downingtown "technically being on the Main Line". I've never heard of it included in that group. I'm no Main Line expert, but I think of it as wikipedia has it defined - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Main_Line That might be a fun Philadelphia topic for discussion.

[briantroutman]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Patmcpsu, I'm a little confused with your statement about Downingtown "technically being on the Main Line". I've never heard of it included in that group. I'm no Main Line expert, but I think of it as wikipedia has it defined - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Main_Line That might be a fun Philadelphia topic for discussion.

The Wikipedia article appears to be poorly sourced with regard to the origins of the term “Main Line”. The article claims that the term comes from the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was the railroad’s main branch (essentially its raison d’être) connecting Philadelphia with Pittsburgh after 1857.

I’ve seen other sources that claim the name “Main Line” with reference to the wealthy suburbs west of Philadelphia originated with the earlier (1826) Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works—which is more or less the same route as the later PRR Main Line, except that the railroad continued west only as far as Columbia (west of Lancaster), where passengers and cargo transferred to barges and completed the trip to Pittsburgh by canal (plus an interesting early intermodal barge-on-rail “portage railroad” from near Altoona to Johnstown).

Either way, the net effect is the same: “Main Line” is derived to the name of the rail route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. So it could be argued that Downingtown and Coatesville...and Lancaster and Harrisburg (etc. etc.) are on the “Main Line”.

But the origin of “Main Line” with regard to Philadelphia’s wealthy suburbs is so far in the past that rail history is irrelevant to most people when using the term. In common usage, I think most people use “Main Line” up until Paoli—possibly Malvern where the name “Great Valley” begins appearing. But I can’t ever recall hearing anyone applying the term “Main Line” to Exton, Downingtown, or beyond.

[1ondoner]

Kennett Square is sleepy and probably the least progressive of the places you've mentioned. Other than diversity, what else are you interested in and what is your budget? Where will you be working?

I'd vote for Exton (which is priciest). West Chester has the borough (and the suburbs) and would give you a different lifestyle. Downingtown is family oriented and probably has the highest percentage of African Americans.

[Robalob]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

Kennett Square is sleepy and probably the least progressive of the places you've mentioned. Other than diversity, what else are you interested in and what is your budget? Where will you be working?

I'd vote for Exton (which is priciest). West Chester has the borough (and the suburbs) and would give you a different lifestyle. Downingtown is family oriented and probably has the highest percentage of African Americans.

I work from home so I am flexible with location but I do have family near Newark so I don't want to go too far. Aside from race, I'm looking for somewhere family oriented, good schools, and safe. I'd like to get a house for 400k (Don't mind if I have to renovate it)

Why do to vote Exton?

[chessimprov]

I have a friend who grew up in the Kennett Square area. After talking with him, there are definitely invisible racial barriers. He gave me the impression that at least with the whites and Hispanics, they tend to live in the same regions and it's not necessarily just because they are used to their own culture.

He doesn't have as much of a sense with African-Americans, but if there is some potential strife with Hispanics, then I'm sure it's probably around with African-Americans too.

There are some economic barriers that cause the riff. Kennett Square being formerly much more rural has certainly lent itself to the potential prejudices that might normally develop in a "typical American rural hick town." However, with the integration of Hispanics settling and running successful businesses with Kennett Square's gentrification, this has complicated these racial issues- I sense more positively than negatively overall. The mushroom phenomenon has certainly populated international growth not normally expected in such a rural area.

There is also a dynamic of an invisible implication of "weeding the bad people out" since there seem to be no apartments available to rent.

I wonder if this potential economic dynamic of homogeneity has allowed the place to run more smoothly, but ironically and indirectly create invisible racial mindsets consciously and unconsciously.

I could be off, but that's my personal impression based on my experience.

[Patmcpsu]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Patmcpsu, I'm a little confused with your statement about Downingtown "technically being on the Main Line". I've never heard of it included in that group. I'm no Main Line expert, but I think of it as wikipedia has it defined - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Main_Line That might be a fun Philadelphia topic for discussion.

My definition of the Main Line is "the R5 (now the Paoli/Thorndale Line)" but there's also the understanding that the towns after Paoli/Malvern aren't "Main Line Towns". This is why I consider Exton, Whitford, Downington and Thorndale as "technically being on the Main Line".

I've never been a Main Liner so I could be wrong, but my formerly Main Line wife seems to agree.