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Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown is a compact town of 22,000 along the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It is lovely and historic, with tree-lined streets and a distinctive downtown.
Although the town is not as financially healthy as it once was, it has the potential to become one of the most livable communities in Pennsylvania. Pottstown Citizens seeks ways we can best manage our resources for the common good.
Flooding: the new normal?
The last four years have been the wettest on record in Pennsylvania, going back to 1895, when recordswere first kept..
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Facing up to hard truths
Back in 2016, an engineering consultant delivered a 57-page stormwater master plan to the PottstownWater and Sewer Authority.
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You need a town for a parade
Thousands flocked to Pottstown last week for the annual Fourth of July Parade, which has been conducted on High Street for more than a century (in recent years, sponsored by the Pottstown Rotary
Club). You won’t find such parades in the Pottsgroves, the Coventries, or any of the other auto-oriented suburbs surrounding Pottstown.Read more
Iacocca molded by school teachers
Automotive giant Lee Iacocca died last week at 94.Iacocca was the most famous graduate of my alma mater, William Allen High School in Allentown, and spoke at the commencement of my graduating class in 1966.
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Five years, 93 replacement trees
As people gather for Thursday’s Fourth of JulyParade, they will find 16 newly planted trees on High Street and nearby Pottstown thoroughfares, replacing trees that died. Some of the new trees are pictured below. In the last five years, 93 such replacement trees have been planted.
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Trees: modest cost, big benefits
Today is the day Pottstown’s street trees are most appreciated, as people seek shady spots on High Street to watch the Fourth of July Parade.More than two-thirds of Pottstown’s 3,000 street have been planted by Trees Inc., a non-profit corporation established by Pottstown civic leaders in 1984 to plant and maintain street trees in the borough..
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Police compensation soars
State-approved economic consultants have concluded that unless Pottstown can rein in police personnel costs — including pensions and health benefits — it will need major tax increases annually to cover a growing budget deficit.Read more
Retiree benefits No. 1 budget problem
Last December, Pottstown Council voted to increase real estate taxes 9.5 percent for 2019, on top of a 12 percent tax increase for 2018. All the extra money — and then some — has been gobbled up by boroughemployee pensions and health benefits.
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School pension costs skyrocket
State subsidies have increased twice as much asthe school budget has risen — more than triple the rate of inflation. Where’s all that extra money going?
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Top Pottstown School District retirees
As of 2018, the Pottstown School District has 402 former employees receiving pensions. There are more than four retirees for every five employees still working.Read more
Foundation boosts college-bound
Nine of the students who graduated from Pottstown High School last week have a head start on college, paid in part or in full by the Foundation for
Pottstown Education.Read more
Foundation helps local education
The best way for private donors to increase the quality of public education in Pottstown isthrough the non-profit Foundation for Pottstown Education.
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Bond issue for streets?
When our streets are full of ruts and potholes, it affects everyone and presents a negative image ofour town. Perhaps the borough should make an investment in our streets.
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Hill fundraising falls short
The biggest economic story of our era is the increasing disparity of incomes among Americans. The most affluent 20 percent control 85 percent of the nation's wealth. Very few share it.Read more
School district draining reserves
Instead of making a decision to not replace a retiring teacher, the school board decided to further drain Pottstown's reserves instead. This is not sustainable.Read more
Not ready for prime time?
There's no question the new ParkMobile on-street parking system using a smart phone app is the wave of the future. We may not be ready for it yet.Read more
Democracy is more than voting
Democracy is a lot more than voting, which is one way of several that that citizens can make their government accountable.Read more
Pottstown people value their town
Negative talk about Pottstown is one thing. The reality as experienced by people who actually live here may be different.Read more
Rupert pilots bicycling program
You can’t walk or ride your bike to schoolin most Pennsylvania school districts, but in
Pottstown you can.
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Crossing guards help us feel safe
Pottstown deploys 25 crossing guards every schoolday to watch over children at intersections throughout town.
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Great mural! Now, can we fix the entryway sign, please?
The Schuylkill River trailhead at Riverfront Park in Pottstown features a large entryway sign to orient people using the trail to downtown Pottstown. For nearly two years, this sign, which contains outdated information, has been peeling from its structure.Read more
Take a seat at the Pottstown library
Visit the Pottstown Regional Public Library 6 to 9 p.m. this Saturday to bid on unique 1960s wooden library chairs decorated by Pottstown artists. Each of the 20 chairs is painted with a different book theme by volunteer artists, ranging from professionals to students from local schools.Read more
Another Earth Week, not much action
The Notre Dame fire was a terrible
tragedy, but it pales in comparison
to the catastrophe that’s
just over the horizon: irreversible climate change. Read more
Arbor Day: Rotary's green gift
Last summer, the Pottstown Rotary Club planted amunicipal nursery behind Pottstown High School. The initial planting consisted of 100 shade tree saplings. Rotarians, aided by Pottstown High School students in the Rotary’s Interact Club, will shortly plant 20 more saplings to replace trees that didn’t make it.
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Employer, employee listings for 2018
Eight years ago, when PAID reorganized, it adopted by-laws requiring PAID’s director to submit an annual progress report that included an inventoryof all borough businesses.
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Pottstown's most valuable real estate
Pottstown has about 8,700 parcels, of which 326 are tax exempt. These tax exempt parcels account for more than 20 percent of the total value of Pottstown’s properties.Read more
Residency offer attracts six homebuyers
In 2016, the Pottstown School Board and the Foundation for
Pottstown Education
approved a program to offer professional staff a five-year, $10,000 forgivable loan
to buy a
home in Pottstown.Read more
2018 Pottstown crime at its lowest point in 20+ years
As shown on a chart with this essay, serious crime in Pottstown has actually decreased, not increased. In fact, Pottstown experienced the lowest overall crime rate last year in more than 25 years.Read more
Wealth, civic duty, honor
Last month the Reading Eagle Company filed for bankruptcy protection. The newspaper has been owned by the same family since its founding in 1868.Read more
The great equalizer
In the end, death is the great equalizer. It claims everyone from the homeless people on High Street to the billionaires on their lavish country estates.Could we share a little before we go?
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The laugh is on education
Much of what we do in school is cram and memorizeenough facts to get through the test. Then we promptly forget what we learned.
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Learning not to learn
Children's learning in the five years before they begin formal schooling is incredible. Then, in school, they learn not to learn.Read more
What do we know about children?
The education of our children is rightly considered a vital concern. But just what do we know aboutraising them?
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Time and mobility in schools
On Tuesday, we discussed an iconoclastic book by psychologist Judith Rich Harris, who claimed parents have very little influence on their children’s development outside the home.But what about school?
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Building to excess (3 of 4)
The Pottstown School District never needed the administrative annex building, formerly the Irene Boyer Home for elderly women. It spent nearly $2 million buying and renovating a building now worth $400,000.Read more
Building to excess (4 of 4)
Superfluous additions to three of Pottstown's elementary schools pushed the final elementary school construction bill above $30 million. We can't now afford to reopen and renovate Edgewood at a fifth grade center.Read more
Building to excess (1 of 4)
For most of its 85-year history, the Pottstown Middle School was right- sized for its mission.Unfortunately, needed renovations soon turned
into a costly building extravaganza.
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Building to excess (2 of 4)
Although Pottstown High School’s population had dropped below 700 students in the mid 1990s, the school board nevertheless decided to enlarge it with a huge new gym.Read more
Reforming teachers' salary schedule
On Thursday night, the Pottstown School Board will meet in executive session to discuss contract negotiations with the Federation of Pottstown Teachers.Read more
Middle school proposal: $750,000+
The Pottstown School District is considering moving its fifth grade students from the middle school to the former Edgewood Elementary School.Read more
Education spending perspective
The U.S. spends more on education than nearly allother countries. Pennsylvania spends more on education than most states, and Pottstown spends more money than most districts in Pennsylvania.
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High poverty district spending
Pottstown has the sixth highest local tax effort in Pennsylvania. Of the 50 school districts with the highest percentage of low income students:Two-thirds have a higher percentage of low-income students than Pottstown.
Two-thirds spend less per pupil than Pottstown.
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Pottstown: Tax well is dry
The wealth of this community has fallen dramatically in recent years. The assessed value of our property is less than it was 20 years ago. Can we just keep raising taxes?Read more
Skyrocketing costs ... better results?
Pottstown School District spending has been triple the rate of inflation in recent decades.Read more
Asking for trouble?
Pottstown Council will conduct a public hearing 7:30 tomorrow night at its Committee of the Whole meeting on a request by the Montgomery Elks Lodge, 605 Walnut Street, to obtain a liquor license.Read more
The Times They are A-Changin'
It’s not surprising that Weitzenkorn’s men’s store is downsizing and moving to Phoenixville, which has a healthier downtown. The surprise is how long the 150-
year-old store has held out in Pottstown.Read more
Gateway to Pottstown almost done
The Hanover Square gateway building stands at the entrance to Pottstown across from the Hanover Street bridge. The second gateway building (white at left) awaits a brick façade. The project has created an attractive entryway to PottstownRead more
Shirt factory project to proceed
It has taken nearly 20 years for the former Mrs. Smith's Pie Co. site to be redeveloped. Let’s hope it doesn’t take that long for the renovation of the 19th century Meyerhoff shirt factory at Charlotte and Cherry streets, which was last used in the 1990s as a Mrs. Smith’s Pie Co. laboratory.Read more
No rush to decision on Edgewood
With a steeply declining tax base and the sixth highest taxes of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, the Pottstown School Board should look long and hard before
spending millions of dollars to reopen Edgewood School.Read more
Hill School update
Work continues on a $15.1 million
renovation of The Hill School’s Dining Hall, to be finished sometime this year. Meanwhile, The Hill School hassubmitted plans to the borough for a $16 million “transformational” STEM center called the Quadrivium.
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No end to costly top-down mandates
It’s easy to keep state taxes down when you simply pass your costs on to local municipalities.Read more
Can we act for the common good?
With the sixth highest school taxes in Pennsylvania, it’s vitally important to recognize our public schools are not the only game in town.
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Can we fix a prominent eyesore?
A Conshohocken developer will ask Pottstown Council this month to waive a
land development plan for changes it wants to make at High Street Plaza, a strip development on East High Street where a Subway Restaurant and beverage distributor used to be located.Read more
Bike lanes coming to Harrisburg
Last spring, Pottstown became only the third municipality outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to install protected bike lanes. Now Harrisburg is joining the ranks of cities with protected bike lanes.Read more
Using newspaper to promote ideas
Two hundred years ago, Alexander Hamilton founded a newspaper called the New York Evening Post to espouse his political views. Read more
Thoughts for 2019
Here are some issues we need to address in 2019 to best manage Pottstown's resources for the common good.Read more
A quiet life in Pottstown
Today, I’m going to reflect on one of my favorite Pottstonians, a man who led a peaceful, quiet, healthy life. He died in his sleep at 98. He was a tailor.Read more
Our shared home
Fifty years ago on Christmas Eve, thanks to astronauts orbiting the moon 240,000 miles away, humans were able to see our Earth as it truly exists, floating in space.Read more
Pottstown could use George Bailey
In the next week, thousands of families will once again enjoy the beloved 1946 Christmas classic, "It's A Wonderful Life." Ironically, the film evokes a way of life that has been largely abandoned by middle class Americans.Read more
Maurice Meier's 70th anniversary
Seventy years ago today was a significant day for both Maurice Meier and me. I was born in the Reading Hospital, and Maurice Meier arrived at Ellis Island from Europe aboard the Queen Elizabeth. He later moved to Pottstown.Read more
Real towns have holiday feel
This heartwarming Christmas scene promoting the Pennsylvania Lottery, which has been aired every holiday season since 1992, could only be filmed in a real town like Pottstown.Read more
Coming: more sprawl
Developments are breaking out all over in once-rural townships outside Pottstown. More cars, more traffic, more pavement, less green space.Read more
Plenty of information online
Thanks to the internet and enlightened public policies, we can easily access a wealth of public information about our county, school district, and borough.Read more
Parks: More money or more nature?
Parks are wonderful. But with a declining tax base, we can’t afford them all. Some of them should become low-maintenance natural areas.Read more
Pottstown Y saved, restored
Pottstown area entrepreneur Charles Gulati has completed the purchase of the former PottstownYMCA building on North Adams Street and finished more than $1 million in renovations to the portion
of the building he is leasing back to the YMCA.
Read more
Y building: fitness mecca?
Pottstown area enterpreneur Charles Gulati is leasing about 40 percent of his 75,000 square foot building to the YMCA.
The rest of the building will be
leased out to private athletic training providers and for fitness and wellness.Read more
Graham Hill: Living with less
Area residents will join millions of consumers across the country in the next few weeks in maxing out their credit cards to buy lots of stuff that won't be used. Here are the thoughts of one young millionaire who decided he really didn’t need lots of stuff and
wrote about it in the New York Times.
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Thanksgiving then and now
Pottstown was an industrial giant a century ago. High Street was the retail hub of the region, and our downtown area was dotted with professional offices and homes of distinction.It's easy to think Pottstown is worse off now than for previous generations, but this ignores the enormous improvements in daily life we take for granted.
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Giving through private foundations
When you consider the scores of Pottstown area residents who have died with substantial assets, it’s surprising there are not more foundations set upto contribute to Pottstown’s welfare.
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Do we need a community foundation?
Many communities have umbrella foundations that raise money from multiple local donors to improve a community’s quality of life.Read more
The most important issue
What is the most important issue facing the nation?Climate change.
What next? Climate change.
What next again? Climate change.
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Should the wealthy give back?
There are lots of wealthy people in the Pottstown area. Do they have any special obligation to help improve their community?Adam Smith thought so.
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Best source of funding: philanthropy
Beyond government grants and foundations, there’s a source of funding for initiatives Pottstown could not otherwise afford: private philanthropy.Read more
Still giving to the community
Few people in our community have given more of themselves for the betterment of others than thelate Dr. Richard Whittaker. Now, two years after his death from cancer, his wife is continuing his legacy of giving.
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Millions of dollars for parks
Perhaps the most visible impact of the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation has been the creation and expansion of parks in Pottstown and the surrounding region.Read more
Lifting Pottstown's economic health
The Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation can marry economic development to healthy lifestyles and capitalize on Pottstown’s unique infrastructure.Read more
Where's the most need?
Next to health care providers, highest group of recipients of grants from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation has been public schools — about $7 million, nearly 20 percent of total grant funding.Read more
Building sustainable non-profits
Besides health care and schools, a key mission of theHealth and Wellness Foundation is “funding learning opportunities and strategic planning to strengthen non-profits.”
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Fifteen years, $37+ million
Since its inception 15 years
ago, the Health and Wellness Foundation, with an endowmentof about $80 million, has distributed more than $37 million in grants in Pottstown and an area
within a 10-mile radius of the borough.
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Health Care is top priority
The Health and Wellness Foundation provided seed money to create Community Health and DentalCare in 2008, a federally qualified non-profit health center which provides medical services to thousands of Pottstown area residents based on
their ability to pay.
Read more
Back-in parking and bike lanes
When Pottstown installed back-in parking on High Street in 2003, it was the first Pennsylvania municipality to do so. Now other Pennsylvania towns have added back-in parking, as well. Read more
Much, much safer
Change always brings complaints. Some are complaining about the new bike lanes, especially the traffic-calmed intersection where Roland and Jackson streets join Beech Street.Read more
Traffic calming makes streets safer
Bike lanes make streets safer for everyone no matter how many bicyclists use them.Read more
Hill School: style over substance
Pottstown has great needs. The Hill School’s public relations campaign has been outstanding. Butreal substance is sorely lacking.
Read more
Bike lanes build on strengths
Rather than clinging to its industrial past, which isn’t coming back, Pottstown needs to emphasize thehealthy lifestyles that traditional towns can offer. New bike lanes will attract the people Pottstown
needs for a healthy future
Read more
Fostering healthy habits
You can’t walk or ride your bike to school in most school districts, but in Pottstown you can. The borough and school district are making the most of Pottstown’s unique infrastructure by procuringgrants for bike lanes to promote biking to school.
Read more
Seventeen years, $22 million in grants
The borough has become more proficient in obtaining
grants — about $22 million over the last 17 years.Read more
Sidewalk repairs paid by federal grant
Thanks to a federal grant, a contractor has replaced deficient sidewalks along High Street and Roland Street at no cost to the property owner.Read more
Cost-effective administration
Pottstown has a bargain with Borough Manager Justin Keller and Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez. They are working with a more economical administration than their predecessors.Read more
Precarious financial situation
Pottstown's tax base continues to deteriorate. If spending is not reined in, Pottstown will continue its downward cycle of lowered assessments, leading to high taxes, leading to more lowered assessments.Read more
School funding reform (part 1)
A few states have dramatically increased their share of school funding, such as Vermont, which boosted funding as a result of a court order in 1997. That's probably the only way it will happen in Pennsylvania.Read more
School funding reform (part 2)
In 2016, the legislature adopted a new school funding formula. BUT it called for the new formula to be phased in very slowly (more than 25 years for full implementation) because a lot more districts would lose funding than gain funding.Read more
The big picture: federal taxes
Americans may not want to believe it, but we pay less in total taxes than citizens of any other industrial country.Read more
Taxes: state and local
State governments collect, on average, about 28 percent of all tax revenues. Local governments collect about 11 percent of all tax revenues.Read more
Idealism of Wm Penn in Pottstown
Pottstown enjoys a heritage of enlightenment that few other places can match. Read more
Some things won't change
There are many inequities from the past, and we should concentrate on the things we have a reasonable chance to change.Read more
America's income inequality
There are the mind-boggling disparities in the distribution of wealth among the people of the world and in America.Read more
What do you do with excess wealth?
Surplus money may not make people happier, but they hang on to it all the same.Read more
World Population Day
Last Wednesday, July 11, was
World Population Day, which was first established by the United Nations in 1989 to highlight the world’s
exploding population.Read more
It's not going to stay this way
There are nearly 8 billion people on the planet, and they all want the same high quality lifestyles people in the developed world enjoy. We have to get over the "win-lose" mentality our president has fostered, or we'll all lose.Read more
Housing market improves
Pottstown continues to offer great housing bargains. Even with sky-high taxes,
Pottstown gives you more house for your money than any adjacent suburb.Read more
Edgewood Cemetery revisited
Last week, Pottstown attorney Andrew Monastra and his wife, Sue, made a presentation to PottstownCouncil about their efforts to maintain the historic Edgewood Cemetery at High and Keim streets.
Read more
Pottstown pep rally
About 160 Pottstown business and
civic leaders attended an economic pep rally last week at Sunny Brook Ballroom sponsored by the Tri-
County Area Chamber of Commerce and its partner, Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. (PAID).Read more
It's a fact: Children are safer than ever
The rate of death from all causes for children and youth has steadily declined for decades, to about a tenth of what it was in 1935. Just since 1990, child mortality rates have fallen by nearly half.Read more
What, me worry?
Last week, the journal Nature reported the rate at which Antarctica is losing ice has tripled since 2007. The New York Times relegated the story to an inside page, and most news outlets didn’t cover it at all. Likewise, reports of a steep decline in Arctic ice since 1979 have been given scant attention.Read more
Real-world problem solving
Last year, an association of scientists published a report listing 80 specific actions people can take toreduce global warming, ranked in order of impact.
Surprisingly, No. 3 is reducing food waste. Pottstown students won a national competition by doing something about it.
Read more
Pottstown pride?
Today is the last day of school for Pottstown students. It is also the last day you will see our students in grades K-8 wearing uniforms — solid color tops and bottoms in white, blue or khaki.Read more
End of an era
The Pottstown Mercury building will be closed at the end of this month. The few employees putting out the newspaper will work out of their homes or at the newspaper’s printing plant in Exton.Note: This column did not appear in The Pottstown Mercury.
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Hill started Pottstown Ys
Surprising but true: Both the Pottstown YMCA and the Pottstown YWCA were founded by John Meigs, second headmaster of The Hill School, and his wife.Read more
Hill School priorities
Work has begun on a $15.1 million renovation of The Hill School’s Dining Hall, to be finished in January 2019.Read more
Gulati and the Pottstown Y
Pottstown owes much to Charles Gulati. Gulati has agreed to purchase the Pottstown YMCA buildingon North Adams Street and lease part of the building back to the YMCA for at least five years.
Read more
Just what is a non-profit?
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, which paid local taxes for years, has become part of Tower Health System, a non-profit, which immediately filed for tax-exempt status with the county.Read more
Fair funding could be long wait
This year, Pennsylvania provides
nearly $6 billion in basic funding for Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts.Read more
Pottstown school budget facts
Next month, the Pottstown School Board is expected to increase real estate taxes 3.5 percent.Read more
New challenges for teachers (1)
A veteran teacher lists 10 things teachers
did not have to deal with just a decade ago.Read more
A walkable YMCA for all
Like many people, my life was influenced by the YMCA. I spent my junior high school years in Reading, where my widowed mother worked for theAmerican Red Cross.
Read more
The fragility of life
It’s not surprising that people tend to feel more grateful and content as they age. Life is precious, and the closer we come to the end of it, the more we appreciate what we have.Read more
Hospital can't pay its taxes?
As soon as the non-profit Reading Health System purchased Pottstown Memorial Medical Center last fall, it filed for tax-exempt status with theMontgomery County Board of Assessments.
Read more
Edgewood Meadow set to grow
Last year, the Pottstown School Board agreed to convert 3 acres of grassy swale next to the Edgewood School into a meadow, which is better for the environment and less costly to maintain.Read more
Time for the attorney general?
The Pennsylvania Attorney General has vast powers to oversee the YMCA and other
Pennsylvania non-profits.Read more
New investment incentive
Late this year or early next year, downtown Pottstown will become a lot more attractive to investors.Read more
Gateway aesthetics
There are several entrances to Pottstown, but the most important one is South Hanover Street.Read more
New gateway building coming
After more than a decade, it will be great to see the gateway project completed.Read more
Sprawl mentality
The need for elaborate sprawling
campuses is more important than the Y’s avowed mission of healthyliving and social responsibility.
Read more
YMCA one of our top employers
The Pottstown YMCA has been one of the borough’stop employers for years, and closing the local Y will cost Pottstown desperately needed jobs.
Read more
We're closing. No input wanted.
The Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA continues to insist there is no hope of keeping the Pottstown YMCA building open beyond June 29. A community task force was instructed not to question the decision.Read more
Restoration planned for 1807 home
It’s been more than five years since an American Federal-style house at 548 Manatawny Street, built in 1807 by farmer Jacob Levengood, was threatened with demolition.Read more
Give us the facts!
Why does the Pottstown YMCA need to close? Conflicting information has been offered by Shaun Elliott, CEO of the Philadelphia-
Freedom Valley YMCA.Read more
Middle school woes
We need to put the individual student first and subjects second. Building relationships is more important than anything else. To do that, we must limit the number of students each teacher sees.Read more
Historic factory to housing
Renovations will soon begin to one of Pottstown’s most historic factory buildings. The 19th century Meyerhoff Shirt Factory, Charlotte and Cherry streets, will be converted into 27 condominiums and market rate apartments.Read more
Slowly, a new gateway to Pottstown
The gateway to Pottstown from the HanoverStreet bridge boasts townhouses as handsome as
those in any upscale city neighborhood. Restoration of the shirt factory is another step forward.
Read more
Adding insult to injury
Last month, the YMCA announced it would move its day care service to a Lower Pottsgrove business campus rather than stay in Pottstown and lease a vacant school building.Read more
Creativity, color, and joy
Many occupations — indeed, many life endeavors — require working cooperatively with others, takingand giving direction. Putting together a musical can be far more difficult than running a business.
Read more
Pottstown YMCA has proud history
Pottstown’s YMCA goes back to 1880, at first using rented rooms. In 1912, Dwight Meigs, Hill School headmaster and president of the YMCA, oversaw the construction of a capacious facility at King and Evans streets.Read more
Is YMCA selling out its mission?
The Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA has prospered mightily since a 2013 merger which created a four-county, two-state giant with 140,000 members and 15 branches. YMCA officials said there would be no layoffs or closures.Read more
YMCA closure: A done deal?
Last fall, without any prior warning, the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA announced it was closing the Pottstown Y as of June 29, 2018.Read more
Mergers undermine Pottstown
In 2007, the Pottstown YMCA board voted unanimously to merge with the Phoenixville Area YMCA. The merger was supposed to strengthen both organizations.Read more
Champion of the beautiful
Nobel laureate Gunter Blobel died last week in Manhattan. Blobel’s discoveries in cell biology greatly advanced medical researchers’ understanding of numerous diseases, including many forms of cancer. His efforts to restore humanity’s shared architectural heritage can inspire us in Pottstown.Read more
Private money can boost borough
People accumulate wealth as they age, so those 65 and older have the greatest net worth. As the elderly contemplate the end of their lives, their thoughts may turn toward sharing their wealth with their community.Read more
We want it. They don't.
Last month, at a joint meeting of Pottstown Council and the school board, PAID director Peggy Lee-Clark talked about efforts to bring new development to Pottstown. Meanwhile, proposed developments in formerly rural townships surrounding Pottstown bring out residents opposed to more houses and shopping centers.Read more
Preserving Pennsylvania farmland
The only surefire way to conserve farmland outside of Lancaster and York counties, which have a strong agricultural ethic, is by purchasing deed restrictions — easements —from property owners.Read more
Crime fears greatly exaggerated
The number of major crimes in Pottstown in 2017 was lower than it has been in the previous 24 years.Read more
We've come a long way
We all love to complain, but we lead comfortable lives that would amaze our Pottstown ancestors.Read more
Demographics to bring change
Already home to one of the nation’s oldest populations, Pennsylvania will see its elderly population — age 65 and older — grow almost 24 percent in the next ten years while the working age population will actually decrease slightly.Read more
Pottstown good for the elderly
The coming increase in elderly residents is good news for Pottstown, because our borough is a great place for seniors.Read more
Punting on tough decisions
Managers don’t hesitate to reduce staff to keep their companies competitive. Government is different. Our elected leaders find it immensely difficult to downsize, ever.Read more
2018-2019 school taxes can't top 3.5%
Last November, the school board voted it will not raise taxes more than 3.5 percent for the 2018-2019 school year.Read more
Too much salt in our lives
The recent ice and snow is mostly gone now, but the salt we’ve poured on our streets and sidewalks is still around. Just as too much salt in our diet can be unhealthy, too much salt on our roads and sidewalks can be bad for the health of our environment.Read more
Hill School funds police cars
Pottstown’s recently retired borough manager, Mark Flanders, said the borough had reached out to The Hill School to buy police cars. Flanders, whowas Pottstown’s police chief before becoming borough manager, would naturally see police cars as the borough’s most pressing need. Is it?
Read more
Our unique public schools
Perhaps the most useful of all the arts are buildings. Buildings not only provide us with shelter – keeping us warm in the winter and cool in the summer – they can enrich our lives if they are beautiful and inspiring, just as painting and sculpture and poetry do.Read more
Revitalization tool almost lost
No single law has done more to revitalize older cities and towns like Pottstown as the 1984 historic preservation tax credit passed during the Reagan administration. Our congressman, Ryan Costello, recently voted to abolish it.Read more
Year of sustainability?
After three years of meetings, it looks like Pottstown Council and the Pottstown School Board will adopt a Sustainability Plan at their joint meeting Jan. 22.Read more
Too cold to walk or bike?
Although Denmark and the Netherlands are famous for walking and bicycling, few cities on earth have a higher percentage of walkers and bicyclists than Oulu, Finland. (2018-1-4)Read more
Season of giving
This is the time of year when people give the most to charities. We've paid the annual household bills, and now we decide how much we have to spare for others.Read more
Generations of merchants
Some years ago my friend George Wausnock, perhaps the area's biggest collector of Pottstown memorabilia, gave me an 1887 New Year's Day supplement to the Daily Pottstown Ledger.Read more
Grants vital to Pottstown
In the last 15 years, the borough has received nearly $22 million in federal, state, county, and private grant funding.Read more
Park-aholics
Grants are vital to the sustainability of Pottstown, providing vital infrastructure improvements. But some grants do more harm than good, paying for superfluous projects that are costly to maintain.Read more
State oppresses local municipalities
The state legislature can be as irresponsible as it wants, but local school districts and municipalities still have to follow the rules it sets down.Read more
Testing merry-go-round
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the state will reduce the time school districts must spend nextspring administering the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test (PSSA).
Read more
Police ever more costly
In 2008, the borough laid off 12 employees and increased real estate taxes 10 percent. Since then, Pottstown police officers have enjoyed the borough’s fastest growing salaries and benefits.Read more
Sustainable police force needed
It’s a question no one wants to answer, but it must be asked. With the ever-increasing cost of salaries and benefits, coupled with a declining tax base, can Pottstown sustain a police force with 46 officers?Read more
More downsizing needed
Next week, Pottstown Council will have to make some difficult choices. Unless further cuts are madeto the proposed 2018 borough budget, real estate taxes will need to increase 18.6 percent. Read more
Toughest job in Pottstown
At the same time it deals with a huge budget deficit, Pottstown Council will also need to appoint an interim borough manager to replace Mark Flanders, who is retiring on Christmas Eve.Read more
Pottstown loves dogs
During my 21-day trek from door to door prior to the recent Pottstown School Board election, I learned many things about our town I never fully appreciated. One such aspect is dogs. Pottstonians love dogs.Read more
Welcome -- No, go away!
In my futile quest for glory as a three-term member of the Pottstown School Board, I recently got to experience our town up close and personal. You can learn a lot about people just by looking at their front porches and yards.Read more
Always easiest to raise taxes
Leo Durocher got it wrong: Nice guys don’t always finish last. More often than not, they win local school board elections. And once in office, they find it much easier to raise taxes than to cut costs.Read more
Pottstown looks great in the fall
I can’t say I’m delighted with the outcome of Tuesday’s Pottstown School Board election, but I thoroughly enjoyed the three weeks I spent prior to Election Day walking from home to home distributing my campaign literature.Read more
Pottstown: a safe place to live
One of the most stubborn myths about Pottstown is that it’s dangerous.Read more
Asplundh fined for illegal hires
Last month, Asplund was fined a whopping $95 million for using undocumented immigrants.Read more
Lots of way to define the 'good life'
Let us pause in our discussion of current Pottstown issues and consider the reflections of an eminent world scholar on "the good life."Read more
Reverence for Life
Last month, President Trump addressed the United Nations and threatened to “totally destroy North Korea,” a nation of 25 million people. At times like these I reflect on a teacher who preached the polar opposite.Read more
History gives Pottstown meaning
Pottstown is more than a collection of older buildings, most of them housing people of modest means. Our history and architecture give us our unique sense of place and identity.Read more
Hesburgh earns his own stamp
I’m not Catholic, but I consider the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, the former president of the University of Notre Dame, who died 2015, to be one of the most influential people in my life.Read more
Where do kids play?
The Pottstown Parks and Recreation Departmentboasts 16 parks and tot lots, distributed throughout the borough. Yet you will often find kids playing on private fields, parking lots, or in the streets.
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Street work: tangible progress
Pottstown owns 60 miles of streets. (PennDOT owns another 10 miles of streets like High, Manatawny,and Charlotte streets.) Ideally, streets should be repaved every 12 years — about five miles a year.
But until recently, we were only resurfacing an average of 1.5 miles per year.
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Pottstown grows greener
Two great examples of green infrastructure are a meadow planted last spring at the Pottstown wastewater treatment plant and a rain garden planted behind the Franklin Elementary School.Read more
Park or pavement?
Last month, Pottstown Council authorized the borough solicitor to prepare an agreement to acquire a .78-acre tract of contaminated land at 860 Cross Street, across the street from 2-acre Pollock Park. It ought to become a meadow.Read more
Ruthless downward spiral
Because of declining real estate assessments, the borough and school district will lose nearly $1.5 million in annual tax revenues, most likely starting Jan. 1, 2018.Read more
Hill School needs to step up
The Hobart’s Run initiative has been a public relations bonanza for The Hill School. But the schoolhas yet to make any substantive improvements to the neighborhood or to Pottstown.
Read more
We need green infrastructure
Green infrastructure calls for removing as much impervious surface as possible and installing trees and other water-absorbing plants in its place.Read more
Green stormwater management
Removing excess impervious surfaces, such as Pottstown's "tree park," is the least costly and most effective way to reduce runoff.Read more
Who pays for stormwater?
The most common source of local government revenue is the real estate tax, based on the value of a property. But there’s no correlation between the value of real estate and the amount of runoff it causes.Read more
Non-profits would pay also
An additional feature of a stormwater runoff fee would be its application to tax-exempt properties. Because a stormwater runoff fee is not a tax, tax-exempt properties would have to pay it.Read more
More floods in our future
For those of us who were around in 1972, the catastrophic flooding in Houston last week was a reminder of Pottstown’s own monster flood caused by Hurricane Agnes.Read more
Stormwater a costly problem
With climate change and ever more natural areas being paved over for development, flooding will be far more common in the future than it has been in the past.Read more
Real science versus Sound Off
Millions of Americans — and thousands of Pottstonians — experienced real science last week as they looked skyward to view the solar eclipse.Read more
Proud of Pottstown's diversity
The controversy over monuments glorifying the Confederacy reminds me of one of Pottstown’s finest qualities: racial diversity.Read more
We need projects like this
Rockwell Development Group, which manages the Hanover Square townhouse development at Hanover Street and the Industrial Highway, proposes to convert the historic Meyerhoff shirt factory into 28 market rate condominiums.Read more
44,172 parking spaces
Many people think that Pottstown has a parking shortage. In fact, Pottstown has a surfeit of parking — more than two spaces for every man, woman, and child in the borough.Read more
PAID important to Pottstown
Our tax base has been steadily declining for 20 years, and we desperately need more revenue-generating businesses.Read more
Mosaic gets asphalt sidewalk
Pottstown’s first asphalt sidewalk, 95 feet long, has been installed at the Mosaic Community Garden on North Charlotte Street at Walnut Street.Read more
Plenty of information online
Today, thanks to the internet and enlightened public policies, we can easily access a wealth of public information about our county, school district, and borough.Read more
Speeding cars more dangerous than crime
Fatalities involving cars and trucks are more than twice as common in Montgomery County than those from crime, and they almost always involve strangers.Read more
Pottstown streets best at 25 mph
Excessive speed is by far the leading cause of serious injuries and fatalities involving all kinds of motor vehicle collisions, either with pedestrians, bicyclists or other autos.Read more
Traffic calming makes streets safer
In recent decades, traffic engineers have recognizedthat physical changes to the streets are needed to force motorists to obey posted limits.
Read more
Real estate and rentals
About half the residential properties in Pottstown are rental units, which many citizens think are a major source of Pottstown’s problems.Read more
It's all about economics
Perhaps no other building illustrates Pottstown’s real estate quandary better than 323-325 King Street.Read more
Up and out of Pottstown
Educating Pottstown students is very important. But how many of our graduates are going to stick around and contribute to the sustainability of our community?Read more
Avoiding the real problems
Figuring out how to keep our school district viable in the face of ever-increasing costs and diminishing resources is going to take a lot of research and creativity. But we're not talking about that.Read more
Emerald ash borer reaches Pottstown
There will soon be a substantial number of mature trees dying throughout Pottstown.Read more
Gone!
There’s been a dramatic change at the east end of High Street. Seven huge maple trees in front of the old Memorial Hospital building have been removed.Read more
Schools can't do it all
We’re kidding ourselves if we think schools alone are going to transform Pottstown. They aren’t. Schools are a reflection of the demographics of their community.Read more
How many will settle here?
It’s great to prepare our students for life, but how many are going to stay here and contribute to the sustainability of our community?Read more
Getting a handle on local jobs
Six years ago, when PAID reorganized, it adopted by-laws requiring PAID’s director to submit an annual progress report that included an inventoryof all borough businesses.
Read more
Spending and taxation
From time to time, I publish a chart showing how much local government — the borough and schooldistrict — spends in Pottstown each year and where the money goes.
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Residency incentive okayed
As we try to encourage more professionals to live in Pottstown, the Pottstown School District has implemented a residential homeownership initiative through the Foundation for Pottstown Education.Read more
The big question
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center is the school district's biggest taxpayer, by far. With the sale of the for-profit hospital to the non-profit Reading Health System, will the new owners now seek a property tax exemption?Read more
Challenging tax exemptions
How does a non-profit like The Hill School qualify for a real estate tax exemption?Read more
Hill School takes early steps
Early in 2016, The Hill School announced a neighborhood revitalization initiative.Read more
Hill School: untapped resource
Pottstown Borough government and the school district need to become more efficient. But Pottstown has other resources it could tap.Read more
Tax-exempt campus expands
The most valuable real estate in Pottstown is The Hill School. Most of its property is tax exempt. Otherwise, its tax bill would top $2.3 million.Read more
Public schools and self-reliance
Pottstown superintendent Stephen Rodriguez will host a forum 7 tonight at Pottstown High School called “Why Are My Taxes So High and What Can I Do About It?”Read more
You can't build a city on pity
John Norquist, former 16-year mayor of Milwaukee and longtime advocate for cities, has published a compelling book about the natural advantages of cities (and towns like Pottstown).Read more
50 years: Pottstown drained by car culture
Mirroring national trends, Pottstown lost most of its middle class residents to new homes on large lots outside of town. It lost its stores to new suburban malls and with ample free parking.Read more
The future: Pottstown's key asset: sustainability
Despite the rise of sprawling development that undermined traditional towns like Pottstown, there are major economic, demographic, and environmental trends that now favor us.Read more
2010s: Historic renovations continue
A vacant furniture landmark, the former Fecera’sFurniture warehouse on Beech Street, was purchased by a non-profit housing company and renovated into 43 apartments and an arts center.
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2010s: More renovations, expansions
Montgomery County Community College West Campus continued its expansion by creating aUniversity Center in the newly renovated
former Reading freight station on South Hanover Street.
Read more
2000s: Downtown renaissance begins
A new borough hall was built downtown in 2000, and an adjacent town park, called Smith Family Plaza, was completed two years later. On the east side of the park, the 1880 Security Trust Building was renovated as offices and a restaurant in 2006.Read more
2000s: College, greenway expand
Just ten years after it opened its West Campus building in 1996, the Montgomery CountyCommunity College expanded north of the railroad tracks to the newly re n o v a t ed Vaughn Knitting Mills building on High Street.
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1990s: From downtown to Route 100
After losing downtown stores for two decades, Pottstown replaced that retail space with the construction of a new shopping center on Route 100. Meanwhile, a gaping hole downtown was sold for the construction of a new borough hall.Read more
1990s: A college and a riverfront park
The Pottstown community pulled out all the stops to persuade the county commissioners to place a satellite campus of the Montgomery County Community College in the borough, near a newly-constructed riverfront park.Read more
1980s: More industry, train service lost
Pottstown manufacturing jobs continued to nosedive in the 1980s, and more historic buildings, like the 1923 Pottstown High School, above, were demolished.Read more
1980s: Historic ordinance, new business campuses
Spurred by the demolition of historic buildings, Pottstown adopted national and local historic districts and began restoring icons like the Pottstown Roller Mills, above.Read more
1970s: Pottstown loses industry, history
The 1960s might be considered Pottstown’s golden era. But even as Pottstown prospered, there were signs of decline in the 1970s.Read more
1970s: Decline, but seeds of renewal
In the 1970s, even as Pottstown began losing the heavy industries that had been its backbone for two centuries, the borough began planning for the future. The most significant event was the construction of the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center. Read more
Whither goest thou, Pottstown?
Is Pottstown turning around? You would certainly get that impression at the recent Progress Pottstown luncheon sponsored by PAID and the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce. Read more
Plans ... plans ... plans
We love plans in Pottstown. At least 20 of them have been adopted by borough government and nonprofits during my 45 years in the borough.Read more
See the whole world from home
Thanks to Google Earth and its ground-level cousin, Street View, you can tour 40 countries all over the globe from the privacy of your own home. Anyone with a computer can download it free.Read more
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My favorite travel guide
There’s another fascinating way besides Google Earth to tour faraway places from the comfort of home, thanks to intrepid Dutch traveler Kees Colijn and YouTube.Read more
Rethinking school structure
We need to put the individual student first and subjects second. Building relationships is more important than anything else. To do that, we must limit the number of students each teacher sees.Read more
Sustainable schools
Last year, the Pottstown School Board set aside time at its meetings in February, March and April for cost-cutting suggestions. No one had any. Let me make a few.Read more
The test that tells us something
For all the obsession with testing, there is only onecredible test that has measured student achievement consistently since 1970 -- the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Read more
No tax increase necessary
Exorbitant taxation has deterred many prospective businesses and residents from moving into Pottstown. We can't afford to raise taxes any higher than they are now.Read more
Tracking student test scores
Next month, Pottstown students in grades three through eight will be taking the annual PSSAs, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.Read more
What does state testing mean?
Although PSSA tests are supposed to make schools accountable, the state doesn’t provide much guidance in interpreting scores.Read more
Pottstown yearbooks on website
The Pottstown School District has posted about 90 of its yearbooks on its website as pdf files. They can be viewed and downloaded free. Dating back to 1908, the yearbooks are an engaging narrative of the life of our community. Read more
Acting for the common good
Pottstown educators engage in " silo" thinking: "Whatever I’m doing is more important than everything else.” But the people who are footing the bill, the residents and property owners of Pottstown, have their own priorities.Read more
Pottstown crime is down, but it never was high
Major crimes were down 14 percent in 2016 over the previous year, Pottstown Police told The Mercury last week.Read more
Crime is down, crashes are up
After falling for decades, motor vehicle crash fatalities are increasing again, nationwide and in Pennsylvania, thanks in part to more motorists reading or sending text messages while driving.Read more
Learning to appreciate nature
The Natural Lands Trust is partnering with NorthBay, an outdoor education group, to immerse Pottstown elementary and middle school students in the natural world around them.Read more
Setting priorities in tough times
Facing a deficit of at least $1 million in the upcoming school year, and with the third highest taxes in Pennsylvania, we should pause our discretionary spending on athletic fields.Read more
Mountaintop remover
Back in 2015, Pottstown’s representative in Congress, Ryan Costello, was one of just 10 Republicans to sign a resolution declaring that human activity contributes to climate change and calling for action to respond to the threat. Now that Donald Trump is president, Rep. Costello is changing his tune.Read more
Pottstown taxation: 3rd in state
The Pottstown School District now has the third highest taxes of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts. We want to offer the best opportunities possible for our children. But we also must live within our means. We cannot afford to raise taxes this year. We must cut spending by doing things differently.Read more
The big day: budget unveiled
The most important state event of the year takes place today, as Gov. Tom Wolf unveils his proposed budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.Read more
Save a farm. Live in a town.
In the long run, traditional, walkable towns are theonly way to accommodate population growth while conserving farmland.
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Trails increase our quality of life
Trails allow people to enjoy the countryside and get healthy exercise at the same time by walking or biking through it.Read more
Deluged with technology
It’s amazing how quickly we take technology for granted. Apple introduced the iPhone just ten years ago. Yet three-quarters of all Americans now own smart phones.Read more
Land bank will help Pottstown
Earlier this month, Pottstown Council authorized the creation of a borough land bank to facilitate thereclamation and redevelopment of blighted properties.
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It can be done!
It can be done! Vacant and neglected properties in Pottstown can be handsomely restored and sold atmarket rate prices for a profit. We just need to find investors with good business acumen.
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Hobart's Run
As part of a fundraising campaign, The Hill School has identified an area surrounding the school campus which it hopes to revitalize by partnering with residents and property owners.Read more
Investing in Pottstown
The Hill School has a significant handicap in comparison to its peers. Other schools are located in an idyllic village, or in the woods, or in the countryside.Read more
Hill School 990
Although Pottstown is struggling with a steadily declining tax base, the borough’s largest property owner is growing.Read more
Hill aims to raise $175 million
The Hill School has launched a campaign to raise $175 million over a five-year period.Read more
Sustainable Pottstown
Terrorist attacks in Orlando, Berlin, and Brussels. The threat of ISIS. Mideast refugees flooding into Europe. These stories dominated the headlines in 2016. But the real threat is climate change.Read more
Restoration fund needed
Last month, Borough Council passed a $52.6 million budget for 2017. Nearly all this money is aimed at keeping existing borough services. There's no money for improving the appearance of our town.Read more
Thoughts for 2017
To begin the new year, here are some thoughts from one of humanity’s greatest thinkers, Albert Einstein: (2017-1-3)Read more
Our perilous future
Just before Christmas, NASA scientist and former astronaut Piers Sellers died of pancreatic cancer.Earlier, here's what he wrote about climate change:
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Season of giving?
This is the time of year when people give the most to charities. We’ve paid the annual householdbills, and now we decide how much we have to spare for others.
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Effective altruism
On Tuesday, we discussed donating to charity, focused on Pottstown. But the neediest people don’t live here.Read more
Cars, cars, and more cars
As long as people want to live on scattered housing lots and drive for all their daily activities, open land will be consumed and ever more traffic will be generated on our roads.Read more
Snow-Bound!
Let us pause in the pursuit of the latest electronic gadgetry for Christmas and contemplate a calmer, simpler time in America: John Greenleaf Whittier's "Snow-Bound."Read more
Pottstown's best bargain
The Pottstown Regional Public Library, the borough’s most cost-effective public institution, celebrated its reopening the first day of December.Read more
Why I love the public library
On Tuesday I described the Pottstown Regional Public Library as the town’s most cost-effective institution. Here’s why:Read more
Tax base still shrinking
Pottstown’s tax base continues to fall. As of Jan. 1, 2017, the total assessed value of Pottstown’s 8,380 taxable properties will be $803,730,299, nearly $2 million below last year.Read more
Careful economizing needed
School district spending and taxation have increased above the rate of inflation during the last 10 years. We need to change our culture from “more spending” to “careful economizing.”Read more
Bombarded with information
Once a mind is made up, it’s almost impossible to change it. ‘Don’t confuse me with the facts, mymind’s made up.’ That's a way of life for most people.
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Clearance, not appearance!
PECO is currently trimming street trees in Pottstown to clear its wires. The utility generally trims trees every five years, and the results aren’t pretty.Read more
Our wealth in perspective
A 2007 study by a team of economists commissioned by the United Nations concluded that assets of $517,601 or more places a household in the top 1 percent in the world in wealth.Read more
Thanksgiving then and now
It’s easy to think most of us are worse off than previous generations, but this ignores the enormous improvements in life we quickly take for granted.Read more
Simplify, simplify
Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of simplicity, reflection, and appreciation of the natural world is a refreshing break from the commotion of the internet.Read more
Graham Hill: Living with less
In this age of technologically savvy young people who develop ingenious internet businesses and sell them for millions, it’s interesting to find one who also values simplicity.Read more
Ripping out riparian buffer
Riparian buffers are used along the banks of streams and rivers to prevent water runoff and to control erosion. Riverfront Park is replacing its buffer with grass.Read more
A cost-effective park system
Wyomissing has three times more parkland than Pottstown, and a municipal swimming pool, and allocates $212,000 for street trees, but its overall parks budget is still less than Pottstown's. Read more
Planet loses half of its trees
Humans have removed half of the planet's trees since the beginning of civilization 5,000 years ago. As deforestation continues, we are losing an area four times the size of New Jersey every year.Read more
Removing nature at Riverfront Park
Pottstown has its own deforestation project going on at Riverfront Park. The woods on either side of the walking trail have been replaced with grass.Read more
Everything comes from nature
We have always taken our natural environment for granted. To prevent irreversible and perhaps catastrophic climate change, we must start protecting it.Read more
Climate change No. 1 issue
Taxes, immigration, jobs, personal character — these are the issues dominating the 2016 presidential election. But the biggest issue is rarely mentioned -- climate change.Read more
Restoring a Pottstown jewel
Edgewood Cemetery looks better than it has for years, if not decades.Read more
Cemeteries as passive parks
Fencing in cemeteries diminishes their value as open spaces and passive parks.Read more
Technological revolution
Everyone knows we’ve had a technological revolution in recent decades, but you’ve probably had to live through it to fully appreciate it.Read more
"Talking" and "Leadership"
The third PottsTOWN Talks will be held 7 p.m. next Tuesday at Connections on High to discuss education. Participants should not shy away from hard questions.Read more
Personalized learning
Today's public schools emphasize specialization. But for centuries, children and youth have learned all the essential skills from family tutors. James Freeman Clarke is a famous example.Read more
Lessons from a one-room school
Educator and teachers' union president Albert Shanker wrote more than 1,300 columns as weekly advertisements in the New York Times. Here's a sample.Read more
Students first, subjects second
There’s a saying in education, “Elementary school teachers teach children. Secondary school teachers teach subjects.”Read more
Too much specialization
There are two major trends in public schools during the last 50 years. First, rising costs, at more than twice the rate of inflation. Second, there’s been a huge increase in specialization.Read more
More sprawl in Lower Pottsgrove
Last month, the Lower Pottsgrove commissioners gave the last approval necessary for another car-oriented, environmentally damaging development called Sanatoga Green to move into the final land development process.Read more
Schools becoming ever more costly
The Pottstown School Board has approved a three-year contract with the Federation of PottstownTeachers that boosts pay more at the bottom of the salary schedule than at the top. The contract will cost the district $1.4 million in the third year.
Read more
Money for parks, not for streets
We all appreciate our abundant parks, which cost borough taxpayers $1.1 million annually. Many people rarely if ever use our parks, but they all live on a street. The borough spends little on streets and nothing on street trees and sidewalks.Read more
Pet fair: best way to treat animals
The 6th annual Pottstown Pet Fair is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Park. But as we’re enjoying our pets at the Pet Fair, we might ask ourselves: Do we really want to eat animals?Read more
Ready made for college housing?
Now that the renovation of the long-vacant Fecera’s warehouse on Beech Street into apartments is underway, it’s time to look at another of Pottstown’s historic gems: the Pottstown Shirt Factory.Read more
Appearances count!
Walking or driving down the street, you really can’t tell what a building looks like on the inside.Many property owners show they care — with flowers, trees, and well maintained exteriors.
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Schools and financial reality
Last month, the National Penn Bank office at High and Franklin streets closed as part of the bank’s $1.8 billion acquisition by BB&T Bank of North Carolina. Hundreds of jobs were lost as the bank cut costs to increase efficiency.
Public schools must also face financial reality.
Read more
Detailed budget needed
Want to know where $59.5 million in Pottstown School District spending goes?
If we school board members are serious about doing our jobs, we need far more detailed budget information than we have now.
Read more
Library renovations underway
After an unexpected two-month delay because of change orders, renovations have begun in earnest at the Pottstown Regional Public Library.Read more
Housing bargains galore
Pottstown housing sales have picked up in 2016 over the same period last year, and prices haverisen slightly, but homes are still amazingly undervalued.
Read more
Pottstown pays for all to enjoy
Pottstown parks are heavily used by people throughout the region. But they are maintained solely with Pottstown taxpayer dollars.Read more
Park-like setting costs no more
Wyomissing maintains a larger parks system than Pottstown, and maintains 7,646 street trees, at less cost than Pottstown spends for parks alone.Read more
It's all about economics
The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program -- colloquially known as Section 8 -- is commonly blamed for the decline of Pottstown's residential neighborhoods. But more likely, it's the other way around.Read more
Pottstown highlights and lowlights
Recently, members of the Montgomery County Planning Commission visited Pottstown for a tour of the borough's success stories. But other prominent areas still need attention.Read more
Superintendent search on hold
Pottstown school directors will delay their search for a new superintendent until fall. The school district will begin advertising in October with a deadline for submissions at the end of February 2017.Read more
Too much testing
Last week the Pottstown School Board unanimously passed a resolution to substantially decrease high-stakes standardized testing in our schools.Read more
High assessments reflect falling values
Many houses in Pottstown are selling for below their assessed value. It's little wonder Pottstown has the highest rate of assessment appeals in Montgomery County-- and a sure sign Pottstown's tax base will continue to decline.Read more
LERTA to be adopted next month
A LERTA ordinance is expected to be adopted by Pottstown Council next month. The ordinance will give seven years of tax breaks to people who improve their properties. These tax breaks will be subsidized by existing property owners.Read more
Dead trees mar downtown
The 200 block of downtown Pottstown is undergoing a renaissance, with several renovation projects planned. With all the investment in flower baskets and planters for beautification, it might be a good idea to remove dead trees and stumpsRead more
Dead trees greet postal patrons
Dead trees not only mar downtown Pottstown, they afflict neighborhoods throughout the borough. For example, dead trees flank both sides of the front door to the Pottstown Post Office, where thousdands of people see them every month.Read more
Mosaic's 'permaculture' garden (year later)
The Mosaic Community Land Trust is marking the first year of its "permaculture garden" at Charlotte and Walnut streets. Community gardens are a vital component of "green infrastructure."Read more
Walnut Street 'rain garden' (year later)
Pottstown's first sidewalk rain garden was planted in May 2015 on the Walnut Street side of the Pottstown School District administration building. A year later, it's thriving.Read more
Attracting families to Pottstown
Pottstown's best champions can be those who already live and work here. Pottstown Councilman Ryan Procsal and his wife, Athena, enticed Athena's brother and his family to buy a house on their block.Read more
Cooperation, preservation win
Bethel Community Church and Congregation Hesed Shel Emet have been sharing a landmark 50-year old synagogue building. Now Bethel has purchased the building, and Hesed Shel Emet will stay on as tenants.Read more
Growing -- and keeping -- leaders
The Pottstown School District has prepared many of its students over the years for leadership positions later in life. We must encourage at least some of them to stay here and contribute to the long-term welfare of our community.Read more
Taxes and spending
The combined budgets of the Pottstown School District and Pottstown Borough total more than $119 million -- an enormous sum for a town of just 22,000 residents. But not all that money comes from the Pottstown real estate tax. In this column, we try to hit the highlights of where all that money comes from.Read more
Useful dialogue continues
Pottstown Council and the Pottstown School Board have scheduled another joint meeting at the community college sustainability hub. These meetings help both entities to address problems and seek solutions -- something that rarely happened in the past.Read more
Taxpayers deserve fair compensation
Last week, The Hill School hosted a lacrosse tournament drawing thousands to its athletic fields. School district administrators offered three acres of free parking on its Edgewood School property. The Hill School's tax exempt status means local taxpayers are alreadysubsidizing the school.Read more
Philadelphia goes green (fifth year)
Last month marked the fifth anniversary of an agreement between the city of Philadelphia and environmental regulators to use green infrastructure instead of pipes and holding tanks to prevent polluted stormwater from flooding into the city's streams and rivers. Here in Pottstown, we should pay close attention, because we face the same issues.Read more
Too much asphalt
Pottstown is about 5 square miles, and 38 percent of our land is covered with impervious surfaces -- buildings, streets, and parking lots. Too much asphalt is not good for the environment, especially when we need rain to soak into the ground instead of running off into streams and rivers.Read more
Residency incentive to be offered
The Pottstown School Board plans to offer professional staff a five-year, $10,000 forgivable loan to buy a home in Pottstown.Read more
Lovely houses in Pottstown
Pottstown is a great place to own a home. The borough has neighborhoods that equal or excel anything in the area.Read more
Record keeping needed for LERTA
If you want to measure progress, you need data on what already exists. It's time the borough and school district require information and accountability from PAID.Read more
Annex: best building to sell
The Pottstown School District's administrative annex building ought to be leased or sold for offices. It is a lovely office building and mostly vacant.Read more
Wage increases unsustainable
During a four-year period of very low inflation, the wages earned by Pottstown Borough's non-uniformed employees have increased about 33 percent. This is unsustainable.Read more
Police compensation a challenge
During a four-year period of very low inflation, wages earned by Pottstown Police officers have increased about 33 percent. This is unsustainable.Read more
Superintendent search continues
Because of time constraints, the Pottstown School Board will look to appoint Stephen Rodriguez as acting superintendent while the board continues its search for a permanent superintendent.Read more
Salary schedule facts
In recent months, Pottstown teachers have been showing up in force at school board meetings to emphasize their solidarity. They seek salary increases. Something the teachers might want to discuss among themselves is why the current salary schedule rewards those at the top at the expense of everyone else.Read more
Cluster: big revenues, no taxes
At long last, nine months after buying the Wainman mansion outright, the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities will seek a zoning variance to actually use it.Read more
Pottstown schools better off alone
The Daniel Boone School District's decision to close the Birdsboro Elementary School shows why Pottstown is better off going it alone.Read more
Budget breakthrough
Pottstown Borough recently revised its published 2016 budget with a new version that clearly and comprehensively explains how local government functions and where the money goes.Read more
Planting trees ... in Lancaster
Tomorrow is Arbor Day. Usually this means planting a token tree here and there. But in Lancaster, tree planting is part of a major effort to control stormwater and improve the environment through "green infrastructure."Read more
Is there a better way?
Newcomers to Pottstown are likely to judge us on the appearance of our streets -- especially our main travel routes, such as King Street.When a building is boarded up, it is a glaring source of blight. Although it's more expensive, wouldn't it be better to paint the plywood black and board up the building from the inside, so it doesn't look vacant?
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Just do it!
There's a lot of talk about renovating Pottstown's huge inventory of vacant old homes. Hannah Wolfrom, a senior at the Kimberton Waldorf School, is not just talking -- she's doing. Hannah bought an empty King Street home with an investor and is renovating the house as her senior project.Read more
Impediments to revitalization
There are three main impediments to the revitalization of Pottstown: taxes, perception of schools, and perception of crime.Read more
Curb appeal counts
People are most likely to form their opinion of Pottstown from the appearance of the downtown and our major thoroughfares like High Street.Read more
Paving over more virgin land
Another car-oriented, environmentally damaging development called Sanatoga Green is planned in Lower Pottsgrove.Read more
The one that got away
Pottstown has lost many of its industries and businesses over the last five decades, but none was as painful as STV, originally known as Sanders and Thomas Engineers. Although it was founded in Pottstown and stayed here for 50 years, the firm moved its headquarters to Douglassville because no one made the effort to keep them here.Read more
Kids can walk the distance
The surgeon general recommends that children need at least 60 minutes of daily exercise. In Pottstown, students -- even kindergartners -- can get that just walking to and from school.Read more
Crossing guards an asset to Pottstown
Crossing guards do far more than stop traffic at intersections. They are friendly faces and a calming influence on our student walkers.Read more
Holistic thinking needed
The Pottstown School District is not an island unto itself. Public schools are but one function of government, and the school board should be working together with Council as much as possible.Read more
Can't lead from behind
As Gen. James "Pete" Longstreet reminded Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, "You can't lead from behind." Members of Pottstown's "leadership class" all live outside Pottstown and are trying to "lead from behind."Read more
Creativity set free
The Wiz demonstrates the amazing things students and teachers can accomplish when freed from the mind-numbing bureaucracy that has enmeshed public education in recent decades.Read more
Persistence pays off
Despite years of roadblocks, the vacant Fecera's warehouse is being renovated as apartments and an arts center thanks to the persistence of the non-profit Genesis Housing Corp.Read more
Superintendent search won't be easy
As the Pottstown School Board seeks a new superintendent from outside the district, Google finds that interviews are often little better than guesswork.Read more
Front line leaders remain
America's best businesses offer some tips for thePottstown School District as it hires its first outside superintendent in more than 50 years: "the family feeling, small is beautiful, simplicity rather than complexity..."
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Superintendent search begins
For the first time in more than two generations, the Pottstown School Board is seeking a superintendent from outside the district.Read more
Where does the money go?
Pottstown Borough and the Pottstown School District together are spending $114 million in public dollars this year. Both entities need to publish clear budgets that explain where all the money goes.Read more
To set goals, you need facts
Each Pottstown council member has set one goal for 2016. The most important thing about setting goals: First, you need to gather all the information necessary before making decisions.Read more
Top employers: hospital, government, non-profits
Years ago, Pottstown's top employers used to make things. No more.Read more
Put it in writing!
Disgraced entertainer Bill Cosby now knows the importance of putting things in writing. A deal never to prosecute him made years ago recently was thrown out by a judge because it wasn't put in writing. In all facets of life, it's critically important to put things in writing. Read more
...still waiting...
Nearly six months have passed since the Cluster of Religious Communities purchased the Wainman mansion on North Franklin Street. They were quick to obtain a tax exemption for the property, but still have not applied to the zoning hearing board for a variance to use it.Read more
Tax base reality
When the non-profit Pottstown Memorial Medical Center was sold to for-profit Community Health Systems in 2003, the hospital became the biggest property tax payer in the borough -- contributing more than $1.3 million in taxes annually. Even so, total assessments and tax revenues in Pottstown continue to fall.Read more
Do your LERTA homework!
Top borough officials are pushing the Pottstown School Board and Pottstown Council to adopt a sweeping LERTA ordinance -- giving property tax breaks to businesses improving their properties. But they haven't done their homework to report on the experiences of other municipalities using LERTAs across the state.Read more
Pottstown's most valuable real estate "exempt"
Tax-exempt parcels account for about 20 percent of the total value of Pottstown's real estate. Their owners serve people from a wide area, but the costs are strictly local.Read more
Disparities in school spending
Of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts, Pottstown ranks 378th in wealth, 144th in spending, and 12th in taxes. If Pottstown spent the same, per pupil, as nearby Berks County districts, it could cut millions of dollars from its budget.Read more
Property values keep falling
Property values are continuing to fall in Pottstown. The new assessments that took effect Jan. 1 are about $5 million lower than they were last year.Read more
Pottstown school spending soars
Reflecting national trends, spending in the Pottstown School District has risen dramatically during the last 40 years, at almost triple the rate of inflation.Read more
Spending level unsustainable
Statewide, of 500 school districts, Pottstown ranks 378th in wealth, 144th in spending, and 12th in taxation. The district's level of spending is simply unsustainable. Read more
Budgets should be reader-friendly
Pottstown Borough and the Pottstown School District should publish comprehensive, reader-friendly budgets as progressive cities like Lancaster do.Read more
No. 1 local issue: climate change
Using land more efficiently and limiting suburban sprawl are two of the most important ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Living in Pottstown does both. (2016-1-5)Read more
Sustainable Pottstown
Last year, Pottstown began work on a sustainability plan under the guidance of the Montgomery County Planning Commission. The real work -- listing specific actions -- begins this year.Read more
Business inventory needed
Although Pottstown's economic development organization publishes a business newsletter, it would be helpful to have a compendium of all Pottstown businesses.Read more
Helping the poor -- and Pottstown
A recent study by two Harvard economists emphasizes the enormous impact neighborhoods have on the trajectory of poor children. The best way to help Pottstown's poor is to encourage more middle class families to move into the borough.Read more
Getting a handle on rentals
After 20 years of talking but not doing, Pottstown Borough has finally completed a comprehensive inventory of all housing in the borough, including 5,413 rental units.Read more
Promoting homeownership
Both Montgomery County and the borough have employed forgivable loan programs to encourage homeownership in Pottstown. We need to continue and expand them.Read more
Live near your work
Residents who live near their workplaces, stores, schools, and other destinations enjoy an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Pottstown needs more productive residents, and employees of borough government and the school district are a good place to start.Read more
Pope leads on climate change
The political world is in denial, but Pope Francis is not. He has challenged all of us to do our part to promote fairness and protect our earth.Read more
Social service agency to expand
The Cluster, which operates a distribution and counseling center at King and Franklin streets, intends to expand to the adjacent Wainman house, an 1887 mansion. But is this the best use of the property?Read more
How much poverty can we handle?
With among the highest taxes in Pennsylvania and 70 percent of its public school students from low-income families, Pottstown cannot afford to attract more poor people to the borough.Read more
Pottstown schools underrated
As demonstrated by Penn students Jasheel Brown and Miranda Somich, Pottstown High School '13, Pottstown schools can prepare students for the most rigorous academic environments in America.Read more
Positive feeling about Pottstown schools
Pottstown students, shown here helping to plant Mosaic's new edible garden, are polite and well-natured. Our schools are a true melting pot, and our regular classroom teachers excel.Read more
Edgewood Cemetery draws interest.
Randal Doaty, head of security at The Hill School, has taken it upon himself to begin the restoration and maintenance of historic Edgewood Cemetery, the resting place of more than 2,800 Pottstonians since its founding in 1861. Read more
Hill School closely tied to Edgewood
Edgewood Cemetery is not only physically close to The Hill School, three Hill School headmasters and prominent faculty members are buried there. Returning Edgewood to its roots as a passive park would be a service to the community.Read more
Hill needs to invest in Pottstown
The Hill School's greatest recruiting problem is its location next to a high poverty district in Pottstown. By investing in Pottstown's neighborhoods, The Hill School can help the town and itself at the same time.Read more
Gov. Wolf an example to Hill
At a recent visit to his alma mater, The Hill School, Gov. Tom Wolf offered some advice all of us can take to heart. "Do difficult things... people want to be fair and if you're fair to them, they will reciprocate."Read more
Green Infrastructure wave of the future
Pottstown, like most municipalities, has a storm water problem. Green Infrastructure is the most environmentally responsible way to solve it.Read more
Mosaic adds to Green Infrastructure
The Mosaic Community Land Trust, which operates two community gardens on Chestnut Street, is hosting a new, more prominent garden based on sustainable agricultural principles.Read more
Franklin creates learning garden
One bright Saturday last month, parent and student volunteers added to Pottstown's green infrastructure with a new outdoor learning garden at Franklin Elementary School.Read more
Rain garden comes to Walnut Street
As a demonstration project, Trees Inc. recently installed a rain garden on Walnut Street next to the Pottstown School District administration building.Read more
'Tree Park' making a comeback?
Last year, the trees at the Beech and Charlotte streets "Tree Park" failed to leaf out. Now it looks like they're making a comeback, thanks to a variety of remedial measures.Read more
Trees: Modest cost, big benefits
During the last 30 years, Trees Inc. has planted 2,500 street trees (new and replacements), removed dead trees and ground out stumps, and remediated sidewalks. The trees have transformed the appearance of Pottstown.Read more
Sustainability for Pottstown
As the world begins to recognize the reality of climate change, people are beginning to rediscover the merits of walkable, bikeable towns like Pottstown. But we need a sustainability plan.Read more
Fiscal sustainability needed
Pottstown Council passed a 2015 budget with no tax increase. The Pottstown School District has promised to do the same in fiscal year 2015-2016. This needs to become the norm.Read more
School construction finally done
Pottstown has committed $76 million for renovations and additions to our schools. Our school budget has increased at more than double the rate of inflation in the last 15 years. In the future, we must economize.Read more
Quality of life basics need attention
Quality of life services are essential to attracting and retaining good residents and businesses. Government should do a cost-benefit analysis to ensure we get the most from our public dollars.Read more
Merger: Theory vs. reality
Proponents of consolidating Pottstown's four volunteer fire companies say a merger is necessary to control costs. The reality is, fire protection in Pottstown already costs far less than other urban areas in eastern Pennsylvania.Read more
Save this treasure!
The 1887 Wainman house is perhaps Pottstown's most magnificent mansion. It must be protected, but it's unclear who owns it.Read more
Needed: insightful candidates
The next three weeks are critical to Pottstown's future. Five seats on the Pottstown School Board are up for election this year, s well as three positions on Pottstown Council. Read more
Blighted building can be a showpiece
The abandoned Fecera's warehouse on Beech Street can have a new life as apartments and an arts center. The non-profit organization proposing the adapative reuse of the building needs the community's support.Read more
York to Pottstown: no panaceas
Despite major economic development initiatives, the city of York faces a $7 million deficit next year. The mayor has proposed laying off nearly half its police officers. York proves there are no panaceas.Read more
Marshaling resources
Pottstown needs to maximize all its funding resources as it contemplates the future.Read more
Pottstown needs Hill's help
The Hill School has the largest and most valuable property in Pottstown, which is tax exempt. With a $153 million endowment, the ability to raise tens of millions of dollars from its alumni, and a location in the midst of a struggling town, The Hill School is ideally situated to help revitalize Pottstown.Read more
Doing well by doing good
A visit by Pottstown and Hill School officials to Trinity College provided a model for the Hill School to invest in surrounding neighborhoods.Read more
The essence of education
High school trips abroad are great. Service learning trips are even better.Read more
Thankful for Pottstown
With historic architecture, a lovely downtown, neighborhood schools, and every destination within walking distance, there's no better place to live and work than Pottstown.Read more
Emerald ash borer alert
The emerald ash borer, which was accidentally imported into Michigan from Asia in 2002, has killed tens of millions of ash trees in 22 states during the last ten years. It has now arrived in Montgomery County, and thousands of Pottstown-area ash trees are threatened. The photos, above, show the impact of the ash borer on an Ohio street. Trees Inc. has published a tabloid supplement to The Mercury with information on how homeowners can protect their trees.
OTHER COMMENTARY
Since December 2008 , we have published more than 475 paid commentaries in The Mercury. Some early ones follow:
History gives Pottstown meaning, substance
Here in Pottstown, our lovely historic buildings -- especially our schools -- bind us together.
ULI reports have helped Pottstown
Many of Pottstown's most successful development initiatives were first suggested by the Urban Land Institute, the nation's premier research institution for urban planning and development.
ULI sparks Pottstown's town center
Few people remember, but ULI -- the Urban Land Institute -- first conceived the concept of building a new borough hall and town park in its current downtown location. ULI also urged Pottstown to persuade the Montgomery County Commissioners to build a satellite campus of the community college in Pottstown.
Pottstown ripe for 'smart growth'
Smart growth is the name given to development that conserves land by using smaller lot sizes and placing houses, stores, and workplaces in close proximity. As Pottstown has evolved over the last 250 years, it exemplifies the principles of smart growth.
People who give
As we approach the end of the year with holiday celebrations of giving and thankfulness, we can be proud of Pottstown's "world class" givers.