"Classic Walkable Downtown" vs. Drug Corner Downtown

Tech company to open in downtown Pottstown (video)

• By Evan Brandt
  ebrandt@pottsmerc.com

"The company makes underwater “remotely operated vehicles,” or ROVs, more than 1,950 of which are used by the military, port security and for commercial uses to get a look at underwater conditions that might be too dangerous for a human diver."

"The idea of locating in a classic, walkable downtown was appealing to the company,” Bamford said.“Proximity to restaurants, the TriCounty Performing Arts Center, public transportation and convenient parking factored into their decision, as did plans for expansion of the Schuylkill River Trail and the continued growth of Montgomery County Community College in the borough,’ Bamford said."

Exactly! Good companies are attracted to areas that are good for their employees to live in. The corollary is that if your city is a high crime area where the primary industry is drug sales you are not going to attract many good businesses.

All the talk about revitalizing Coatesville over the last several years has attracted urban pioneer type people who have the gumption to participate in changing Coatesville to an attractive place to live. They are the people that you see volunteering in clean ups and actively bringing about change in Coatesville. I am getting vibes that some of those people are ready to give up on Coatesville. 


Coatesville is positioned to change from the drug depot of Chester County to a livable town. There is a near tsunami of developments coming towards Coatesville including the train station, Marriott Courtyard Hotel, the Velodrome and the rumor of expanding the GO Carlson Airport from a business jet facility to a UPS or Fed Ex hub. 


What concerns me is the new Coatesville City Manager's insistence on laying off police to "Bloc of Four" 2008 levels. A new crime wave and / or arson wave would cause housing and commercial development to just skip over Coatesville and leave us by the wayside.


I think we should maintain the present number of police officers by using the water company sale funds. New residents and new businesses in Coatesville will over time increase our tax income. But if a new crime wave comes we would not get those new residents and businesses.


If there is another 2008 police layoff induced crime wave the shopkeepers in Coatesville that had a gun to their head while their stores were robbed and did not close up might decide to leave Coatesville. Residents that located here expecting the redevelopment of Coatesville could move out. And Coatesville could be caught in a downward spiral of less money for police, more crime, and taxpayers moving away, less tax income, less money for police, more crime, and tax payers moving away and on and on.