Plans for success in Review

$4,000,000....that is a lot of money.  Could your school district use 4 million extra dollars per year?  That is what was gleaned through the revitalization of Phoenixville. $150,000,000 in Assessed Value was created through the revitalization effort. Those numbers reflect the years 2002 to 2010. Our assessed value for billing purposes in 2011 was $737,929,436. Just remember that those numbers are not a true reflection of the market valuation which is more like 73.5% or $1,010,170,344 for 2011

I started the revitalization in 2003.  All this is possible if you have the right plan.

The town was always promised revitalization but it never happened until I arrived.  Oh, I know that some people will try to perpetuate the big lie and say that i had nothing to do with it.  I even had one former merchant that complained we did not have a plan.  The plan was posted on the website but she refused to acknowledge it and kept repeating the lie.  You will never stop people like that. Recently in an article in the Philadelphia Business Journal business business people were openly complaining that I no longer was working on the commercial development in the borough.  So it would seem that i had something to do with it, more than something really, I led the revitalization.

I created a proper atmosphere for development.  People bought buildings, restored them and rented them out to new stores that needed to have a building that was not a construction project.  When you look at many of the buildings on the Route 30 strip that I have identified as vacant on this blog, you will see something needs to be done.  Where do you start?  First you need to admit there is a problem. Then after it is acknowledged there is a problem you need to gather the stakeholders together to determine what the best course of action would be.

I have been reviewing some of the plans that have been put forward concerning the potential for revitalization in the area.  It is interesting that there was a plan done by the Coatesville school district which dealt only with the areas assigned to them.  This makes sense for them but not for my analysis.  Don't get me wrong it is a good plan and has many good ideas.  The one idea I like the best is the westbound ramp near Airport Road. It needs to be done instead of putting all of the traffic in Sadsbury Township. Give the residents a fighting chance to establish a sense of neighborhood development the way that they want to do it without all of the trucks.  That project should be of the highest priority for the County.

What I did not see in the plan was train service to Parkesburg.  The plan talked about Coatesville Train Station but not the Parkesburg Train Station.  Although it is in a different school district one can not ignore that it is the urban center most west in the 45th.  My analysis, when it is finalized, will include plans just for the 45th district so I do not go into someone else's area.  I will rely on other studies and try to synthesize and tear things and part and not try to be cliche about it. I am trying to not overstep my bounds but I want to be original.