Life’s Patina holiday preview was AMAZING! This time their charity partner is St. Mary’s Franciscan Shelter for Homeless Families in Phoenixville.
The event was packed and people were enjoying themselves and this amazing holiday experience that Meg Veno and her team put on every year this time.
This is an amazing and magical event that is different every year. And every year there is a charity partner because Christmas and holiday season is about giving back as well as doing special holiday things.
The Sale is this Friday Saturday and Sunday at Life’s Patina Willowbrook Farm 1750 N. Valley Rd in Malvern.
Hours are: Friday, December 1st, 10:00 am – 5:00 pmSaturday, December 2nd, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm Sunday, December 3rd, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.
The person who left the first comment on this post above ⬆️ is my hero. I laughed so hard I spit out my coffee this morning.
When Facebook first allowed groups to have anonymous posts, it was a great idea. That way if somebody is looking for something super personal like where to go if they are being abused in their home etc they had knowledge of community resources they might not know existed.
But anonymous postings have turned into things that I think should be sent to Jimmy Fallon for the Tonight Show because they just make you laugh. Like looking for a plumber. Why is it so hard to publicly ask if you’re looking for a plumber? Or a string quartet? Or an exterminator?
Anonymous posting on Facebook has become the witness protection program for the theater of the absurd.
I am sorry not sorry that I think most anonymous posting has become the theater of the absurd. And if you say you think it’s absurd the samey same police come out.
So yes, apparently I am a mean horrible person that these things posted anonymously crack me up. And then, of course, there are other people that say I have some nerve when I’m posting anonymously. Actually, no I’m not posting anonymously, you just don’t know who I am because I can choose whom I want to actually know. I am Carla and it’s not exactly a secret.
Then there was this whole thing because I actually asked the question if someone was looking for places to volunteer for the holidays why was it an anonymous post? I mean first and foremost you don’t even know exactly where they live, so how can you direct them to a volunteer opportunity near them? Is this person embarrassed to say they want to volunteer and give back during the holidays? I think anonymous posts in these Facebook groups should be for sensitive subjects not general crowdsourcing and if this person and I said it sounded like a woman writing the post. Because to me, it sounds like a woman. It’s all about the phraseology.
Now the best comment on my post asking about this particular anonymous post came today from a veritable Valkyrie who called me a misogynist. How does she figure that precisely? Because I said someone posting an anonymous post sounded like a woman? That’s an opinion that’s not misogyny or practicing misogyny. But for this chick as a woman, calling me a woman a misogynist that’s just her opinion. But for me, expressing myopinion, it makes me a misogynist.
Think about it for a moment: do you think anonymous posting was created for mundane things? I think it was created for sensitive topics. And how someone thinks a plumber recommendation or wreath making class are sensitive topics escapes me. And people make up these absurd reasons as to why somebody is anonymously posting like if they post anonymously, it will cut down on their chances of being hacked and impersonated on Facebook. Or that they are uncomfortable posting on Facebook to which you always have the reaction of then why are they on social media?
One of my other favorite anonymous posts was somebody asking what product works best to spray your hydrangea bush with so the deer don’t eat them. I’m sorry is this person’s hydrangea bush in the witness protection plan for gardens? And the other one is looking for a string quartet to play Bridgerton music. They had me at Bridgerton and Lady Whistledown too….
So Jimmy Fallon, if you’re ever reading my blog I have material for you 🤣 (and I can hear the music you will be playing in the background 🤣)
I recently watched the movie version of the Judy Blume book, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. When the book came out, I was about the age of the main character, Margaret. I had just moved from the city to Gladwyne. I remember quite vividly it was like moving to a foreign country.
I remember everybody in seventh grade talking about the book. My mother wouldn’t let me read it, so of course I snuck / bought a copy. what I remember about the book most of the time is it kind of spoke to me because of the age. And also my being a new kid in a new community.
Moving to the Main Line wasn’t the easiest. Like Margaret, I had lived in the city so suburbia was truly alien to me at first. It was not that it was bad, it was beautiful but so different. You could open windows at night for one, and there were horses across the street, and down the road.
Making friends at almost 12 wasn’t as easy when you were a new kid trying to fit in with girls who were your grade but a year older and who have known each other since kindergarten.
Something that initially made it a little easier was that we lived close to a friend of my father’s from high school and he had a daughter my age. Because of her I did start to make friends but just like Judy Blume’s Margaret, I still struggled with my place in my new world. (And oh the parallels of my moving to Chester County in my late 40s and becoming a stepparent!)
Parts of the movie that were in the book so resonated once again included secret clubs of girls. I remember slumber parties where they tried to call up the spirit of Jim Croce on a ouija board.
And the whole bra thing. My sister who is 3 years younger than I is the one who decided we needed bras. I still remember my mother’s face when my then almost 9 year old sister announced we needed bras. Of course, neither of us actually did but much like the book/movie everyone around us had them.
And deodorant/antiperspirant. My friends used name brands back then like Secret. My mother came home with Tussy roll on. I hated that.
Sneaking to shave my legs the first time….and slicing the crap out of them. That was followed by a lecture from my father with how his mother never shave her legs. Of course that made me think of all those old Italian ladies his mother and my great aunts knew who tucked mint leaves under their arms in the summer and my 12 year old self wanted to die on the spot.
Ear piercing. I lost that battle. I actually got my ears pierced in the health center my freshman year of college. When I was 17.
When school started in 7th grade, I went from a room of not quite a dozen kids, to a huge public school junior high with a completely overwhelming amount of students. I went from a small school in the city to a huge school that was like a city in itself.
Settling in, the mean girls were the worst. Some I still see as pretty much the way they were then even if they are now 60. No, they aren’t still wearing their Candies with tight French jeans and crimping their hair, or at least I hope not. And I still remember exactly how miserable they were to me and others back then. Sometimes I have thought I should thank them because they helped make me able to stand up for myself.
I have seen some of the former mean girls over the years as they have passed. One thing that has always stuck with me is I thought they were ridiculous then, and to an extent, now. Some are actually almost mummified caricatures of their former 12 and 13 year old selves. File under karma baby, karma.
However do you know where the worst mean girls existed? St. John Vianney Sunday School in Gladwyne. There was a girl who was a year behind me that live the next street over who used to harass the crap out of me in Sunday school. And what was it over? Clothes my mother bought me that were similar to hers. Things like a jumper. A corduroy jumper.
One of my friends and I have spoken about these “Margaret years”. And while we all moved past those years, but some of the memories linger and pop up unexpectedly. And watching the movie did bring some of the memories back. Same era, age, situation…which is why I liked the book my mother didn’t want me to read back then.
Life for me changed for the better when I was able to get out of the Lower Merion School District Schools. When I went to Shipley, another world and path opened. And I was finally in a place where I felt I better belonged. Part of it was fairly simple in that I never thrived in large schools and that was OK.
I’m glad that book existed for us back then. It spoke to so many of us. Parents didn’t want us reading it because it was controversial to them and contemporary to us. That book was hard for our mothers who were literally born in a different world than the one they were raising us in.
So isn’t ironic today when we hear about people today trying to keep books contemporary to kids today from them? Only these people today scream and scream and scream. I’m glad our parents didn’t act like that. It was simpler: they said no, we snuck the Judy Blume books into our houses, and everyone survived. I don’t recall them being dissected and screamed about in PTA or school board meetings.
Maybe more should watch the movie adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. It still offers perspective. The years pass, the situations change, yet there is always commonality.
You see, much like with politics, with life in general past is prologue isn’t it? And that goes hand in hand with we can’t bury our history by pretending things didn’t happen because our history will repeat itself.
There is a real live revolution happening in West Vincent. The township employees want Supervisor Sara Shick GONE. First I will share a video snippet. Then I will share the entire meeting recording and then the letter. Yes, dear readers, I have the letter. Grandma Charlotte and the Chester County Democratic Committee might also wish to pay attention…..
I had gotten a head’s up from a resident who told me to go to the 1:22 mark…..Police and township employees attempt coup, want Sara Shick OUT. 1:33 mark…..Sara Shick brother-in law defends…..what’s going on in West Vincent? Will they talk in West Vincent Hears Voices or whatever the page is called? I mean can they send ol’ Bernie back to West Conshy first? Good lord what a board…again…I guess this was bound to happen considering the players, yes?
Popcorn popcorn popcorn
So yes indeedy, it’s crazy town time again in West Vincent, only this time the people the residents depend upon to run the township and keep them safe are saying they want the former handmaiden of former Supervisor Farmer Miller (hark do we hear Chickenman?) gone as in G-O-N-E.
Oh wait…I better not mention Chickenman…that gets the faithful in a lather, doesn’t it?
But I have minored in West Vincent craziness since the Board of Supervisors tried to exercise eminent domain for private gain on Ludwigs Corner Horse Show. It’s always something. It was calm for a while when Mike and John were supervisors because they cared and did the right thing. But then when they cycled off of the board, old bad habits seemed to emerge once again, didn’t they?
Anyway….this is quite the stunning turn of events in West Vincent, including employees wanting an actual set of HR rules — I can’t believe nothing existed until now, can you?
And FYI I covered the French Maid of it all. That was PUBLIC information, not top secret documentation although I wonder what happened to the audit being made public that the taxpayers funded? What is it about audits and shady that go hand in hand anyway?
Again, I wonder if the West Vincent Hears Voices Facebook page which was started to prop up the old Farmer Supervisor in his last gasp at politics is chatting about this turn of events? They seem to be a secretive group now so I imagine being a fly on that Facebook wall is interesting right now? Or it might not be because it was pretty managed before. So they might delete all references to this because only happy fuzzy eco friendly recycling unicorns farting rainbows need apply, right?
Hey look, I told you all in 2019 I thought Ms. Shick was not a good choice for supervisor. She’s had a lot of health issues lately and great personal loss as per her chatty Cathy brother in law. Maybe she should indeed bow out. Because THIS? This is not going away.
Now discuss amongst yourselves…congratulations West Vincent I think you have usurped the crazytown award at least temporarily from West Goshen and Willistown. And I will note no West Vincent employee has spoken to me about this and if there is retaliation against any of them for standing in their truth that will be something I would be interested in knowing about.
I have been trying to give these Yuletide at Devon people the benefit of the doubt. Even sent potential sponsor people and others their way. But then on top of the fee just to walk in the gate, I next heard about the parking prices.
⬆️It’s not just ME questioning the prices…⬆️
Sorry not sorry, my inner Scrooge came out at the parking prices on top of the walk in the gate prices without so much as a complimentary candy cane? Ummm?
And then there was the whole “press preview” because that cracks me up. Influencers, and more benign mommy bloggers were invited. I am laughing because my invitation must have gotten lost, yes? But then again, I don’t ask for or expect freebies, do I? But hey some Russian and India based bot tweeters have it on “X” so I guess that matters?
I have never been an it girl (or needed to be), nor am I an influencer or an overly socially ambitious “therapist” who wants to be an influencer, I just love Christmas and offer an honest opinion.
But my honest opinion after mulling it over is that for $35 just to walk in the door, not including parking or anything else unless you want to ride kiddie rides? I’ve made the decision to skip it. I am not saying don’t go, I am saying for me it’s a shiny Christmas bauble without the necessary luster.
If Yuletide at Devon had decided to offer to donate a portion of proceeds back to a local nonprofit even on just select days, as in doing something that would help people during the holiday season, I probably would have bought a ticket in the end. But what their event is messaging to people in my opinion is Christmas magic at a cost that a lot can’t afford. So sadly, I think for its inaugural year I am giving it a pass. Also the reviews have been quite mixed and everyone has said it’s too expensive.
Christmas should indeed be magical but maybe not another gaping dividing line between haves and have nots. What would Charles Dickens think? I am thinking he might think we need a modern Christmas Carol or something, truthfully.
So what events will I attend that I was delighted to buy tickets to because of a non-profit component? Keep reading….and first two other great giving ideas….
One of my other just giving for good picks this year is Plaid Pajama Project.
See below for 3 amazing event picks. I also have heard of another fun shopping event near Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem but I don’t know details yet. And I will also tell you that all of my picks for vintage and antique things that I love remain true at Christmas:
Now… here are my three picks for fun holiday events with a shopping component to attend in the area:
Holiday Magic for Good #1:
First up will be the preview for the Holiday Barn Sale at Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm. The preview tickets are sold out and I am happy to buy them every holiday season because it’s a spectacularly magical and beautifully curated holiday event that ooozes Christmas and the holidays. And a portion of the sales every time go to a nonprofit.
The sale has three FREE public days and free parking as well.
Friday, December 1st, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday, December 2nd, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday, December 3rd, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
LOCATION: Willowbrook Farm, 1750 N Valley Rd, Malvern, PA 19355
Every year I introduced more people to this event, and every year they thank me for telling them about it because it’s such a wonderful experience!
When I first heard about this event in its infancy, a year ago, I was so excited. I can’t wait!!!
I am talking about the Surrey Services for Seniors Holiday House Tour and Shop. It is the first real holiday house tour of its kind in the Main Line area since Christmas in the Country, which was the event that Agnes Irwin did for years as a fundraiser!
The tickets for this event at Surrey sold like hotcakes. So the tour portion is actually sold out but they have this amazing set of Christmas shops over in Eisenhower Hall at Valley Forge Military Academy and College. That is free and open to the public on the same day as the house tour! And the vendors are carefully curated and a lot of local faces, that people love among others.
The Christmas/holiday shops are Friday, December 8 from 11 AM to 6 PM. 1001 Eagle Road in Wayne. And best of all there’s ample free parking! And I know who some of the vendors are for this and people will love it!
Best of all, this entire day, benefits, the fabulous nonprofit known as Surrey Services for Seniors, so what is not to love?
Holiday Magic for Good #3:
I guess you’ve already figured out I like Holiday house tours. Especially when they benefit a good thing.
So number three on my list is a West Chester Borough and area tradition.
The Holiday Home Tour will take place on Saturday, December 2, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and will showcase eight homes in the Northwest and Southwest quadrants of the Borough decked out for the holidays.
Created as a socially distanced replacement for the Holiday Home Tour during the pandemic shutdown of 2020, the family-friendly Holiday Door Tour was so popular the library now offers it in addition to the Home Tour! Running from Saturday, December 2 through Sunday, December 17, this self-guided tour will feature West Chester doors and porches decorated by their owners in holiday finery. It can be enjoyed at any time of day and by a group of your choice.
All proceeds from the Holiday Tours will benefit West Chester Public Library and the community it serves. Holiday Home Tour advance tickets are $40 per person and may be purchased in the library or online through December 1. Tickets may be purchased the day of the Tour, December 2, at the library for $50 each.
The turkey went into the oven and looked like it was wearing its own shroud of Turin.
The table is set. Little snacks are out until dinner is ready. Happy Thanksgiving.
I don’t have too many thoughts for all of you today other than I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I will say that as this year draws to a close, that it has been a long year. A lot of ups, and a lot of downs in our communities.
It has also been a time of too many people telling me what I should write about, what I should cover, how I should think, and how I should feel. I got a little tired of that, and I find it presumptive of people. I don’t expect to be everyone’s cup of tea, and no one says you have to read a single word I write.
I help where I can because I want to. And if I can’t help, it’s not necessarily because I don’t want to, but it is because sometimes you all in your communities have issues that you need to figure out on your own. I can’t always give everything a voice.
For example, there is something brewing in the far reaches of Chester County at Big Elk Creek in Franklin Township, Chester County. And now, for some reason known only to the butt heads in Harrisburg, they want to turn it into an RV park/camping destination. I don’t know much about this area of the county but I did a little research and I found an article from 2022:
So again, this was an issue that somebody contacted me about that I don’t know anything about except my initial gut check says don’t let the state turn this into Disneyland but when I try to explain this to someone contacting me at 10:30 PM at night they were first worried that they had offended me and they hadn’t but I tried to tell them it’s Thanksgiving week I have a life. and I also said to them that they are their own best advocates.
And it’s true you can be your own advocate. You have to get out in front of issues and contact media and get other people interested and go to public meetings, and hold public meetings.
But sometimes open space needs to just be open space. It needs to be a habitat. And you can’t be a habitat for wild things when you’ve got an RV campground in the middle of it – that doesn’t work.
Big Elk is home to rare owls, wild orchids, bog turtles, migratory birds of all kinds and more.
So on Thanksgiving, I am asking people to look into helping these people in Franklin Township. People were so excited last year, when the land was becoming a state park. But I feel like they’ve been a victim of bait and switch if this goes through. And my biggest problem is the state and DCNR seems really murky about it.
I used to love going to the Kimberton Antiques Show… when it was in Kimberton on the fire house property. Then, for some reason, I guess the show organizers couldn’t have the show in Kimberton anymore so it’s been moved to Oaks and Morgantown.
The Antiques show lost me as an attendee when it went to these locations. I thought both locations were a mistake and I’ve been to trade shows for gifts and stuff in Oaks and I didn’t like them. And well, Morgantown, next to the cheap casino? That’s a skip for me.
Where it had been in Morgantown this past weekend is it the Holiday Inn, next to the Hollywood Casino.
And apparently, one of the antique jewelry dealers I follow on Instagram @trinketsandtreas was robbed this past weekend? And I saw it on the dealer’s Instagram , not any place else? that in and of itself I find disturbing.
Of course, one of the first thing I thought of are the anti-casino groups who always say there is more crime near where these casinos are located.
Antiques and vintage dealers work really hard for their money, and doing these shows is extraordinarily hard. And I’ve always wondered if security was sufficient at these expo centers, and these convention rooms for chain hotels, including parking lots…. and then you put it next to a low brow casino, which often attracts segments of society who aren’t necessarily “family friendly”?
Morgantown is in Caernarvon Township, so below is their local police department information ⬇️
I have contacted the Antiques dealer to see if they will tell me what happened, And they did – they were robbed as they were loading things into their car.
I am putting this out there because if you see any of this jewelry show up online in places like EBay or Etsy or Poshmark or Facebook Marketplace, please call authorities and let the dealer know so they can contact authorities. This is their livelihood and it’s the holidays and this is the ultimate Grinch move. See last screenshot below ⬇️ for dealer contact.
She’s almost ready for prime time. The Jenny Lind in Historic Yellow Springs has been reborn. And she is magnificent.
The Jenny Lind is now the Life’s Patina Merchantile & Cafe located at 1657 Art School Road in Chester Springs, PA. Meg Veno has outdone herself.
The Jenny Lind is restored and transformed. It’s one of the most beautiful adaptive reuses I have seen in years. My other favorite as you all probably know is Loch Aerie mansion in Frazer. And I think it’s marvelous to have both of these lovely places in Chester County!
This was such an amazing experience yesterday that I am still super happy about it the next day!
The attention to detail is something you don’t see every day, and it makes this all the more special. This is quite literally everything you want to see in a restoration and an adaptive reuse, and I sure hope that Historic Yellow Springs Village and West Pikeland Township have deep appreciation of the fact that Meg Veno stuck with this, and is now bringing everyone this gem to enjoy.
This has been a very long and winding road because this was a very intense restoration. And Meg and her team are perfectionists. This is one of those places that you walk into and just stop and marvel. No corners have been cut. The materials and the skill of the craftsman who put the Jenny Lind back together are undeniable.
This is an amazing restoration, and I hope someone gives them an award like Chester County for example. Chester County should be counting their lucky stars that there are people out there that still want to do restorations instead of demolitions. I will go further and challenge every township official in the region and developers who want to tear down historic things and build plastic mushroom housing developments and apartment buildings to go visit this place once it’s open full-time and see the possibilities of just doing the right thing.
You walk in and you feel at home. The beauty of the place envelops you softly and then you get to the café. The chef of the café has an incredibly deft hand with pastry and everything she touches. I have not met her. I look forward to meeting her because the food is terrific. My husband said the mushroom soup was one of the top three best he’s ever had. Because we were there for brunch I had this little bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a biscuit which was so light and flaky, it melted in your mouth. there are also these salads that are off the hook good and don’t get me started on the actual pastries and sweets. Wonderful tea and coffee. The café is a place where you don’t want to rush. You want to savor your meal and linger.
And then you wander into the Mercantile. The Mercantile is full of all sorts of wonderful things, old and new. The best thing it’s not only the way it looks, but the fact that everything for sale has been chosen with care and it flows together. You don’t walk into this store and wonder why something is there, you walk into the Mercantile and wonder how you can use that in your own home.
One of the other best things about this restoration is it fits. When it was the Yellow Springs Inn, the food was great but the gorgeous interior of this building was hidden by too much Victorian everything. And I am saying that as someone who did really enjoy that restaurant at one time. But this metamorphosis is so remarkable and beautiful and just stunning. This restoration has made me love this building even more. And this restoration will show everyone the possibilities of what you can do with the gorgeous old buildings that are scattered throughout Chester County that need love.
It was a few years ago now that I was at one of Meg Veno’s barn sales at Life’s Patina in Malvern and she said she was looking for another project. I was standing there with my friend and I turned to her and I asked if she had ever thought of Yellow Springs Village because the Jenny Lind house was at that time in foreclosure. And now look at the Jenny Lind. I believe the Merchantile and Café will be open soon for visitors full time, but if you’re going near the village, I hope you at least drive past until she is open full-time to see what a beautiful restoration it is.
This whole project is not only a testament to historic preservation, it is a testament to loving what you do. And above all else, you know why this place will be a success? Because it has a heart.
Brava, Meg Veno, brava.
I also want to note because I think it’s important, that those of us who attended yesterday paid for our meals, we were not given anything in exchange for our thoughts on the soft opening. I would like to say we are the right kind of “influencers” as we are the kind who are actual customers and will returngladly with friends and family.
They call it architecture, but is it really? All new development seem to look the same. Whether it’s townhouse, apartment, “condo”, “carriage homes” it’s all about maximizing developer profits and it has absolutely zero to do with the area in which something is being built or what exists there already like the people or the future. This is all about how much money can a developer get now and move onto the next project.
A lot of people are actually quite presumptive in their ignorance. I have attended many meetings over the years about development period. Whether it be zoning, planning, or regular board meetings.
And I have to laugh when someone says developers don’t decide on the “look” of their buildings. Ummm developers indeed DO decide on the architecture of their project. And again, today there is a distinct lack of style. It’s all about how fast you can throw them up and most of them look like they were built out of Lego sets. It’s like real architecture is dead.
I posted a photo of said Lego architecture this week that was from West Philadelphia. The reason I posted it was to prove that the same style new build is going everywhere. Nothing is adapting much to the surroundings. It’s one style and it’s a Lego building that gets plunked in. Truthfully, so many of these buildings look the same but I’m surprised they aren’t being delivered 100% prefab.
If you ever drive along I 95 to take a bridge like the Betsy Ross to New Jersey you’ll even see these buildings going up there right along I 95 and they look the same as the ones along 202 or Route 30 out here…West Philadelphia, wherever-it’s all the same.
Lego buildings are everywhere. In urban areas and suburban areas. No longer are projects being built to complement the area in which they are going. No longer our projects built to remotely look like they fit, let alone have human scale and good setbacks.
I take pictures of architecture everywhere, but this new style, cram first- actual architectural design later is ugly and it doesn’t have to be.
I actually do know people who have put up new buildings that were taking chances in formally rundown urban neighborhoods that actually have an architectural component to them. Not everything has to be unattractive and pretty much everything is unattractive these days with very few exceptions.
And I am tired like many other people of Lego architecture getting shoved into our communities.
I don’t understand why more people in positions in government and zoning and planning also are not sick of Lego architecture? Where have all the planners and architects gone that used to care about things fitting into the environment?
We have become one big huge homogenous glob of regurgitated ugliness because everything everywhere looks the same and it’s basically the same construction. It goes up fast, won’t last, and then we’re stuck with them in our communities.
What happened to making sure scale was appropriate and not just giving a zoning variance like cheap jellybeans out of a candy machine every time a developer wants to go up a few feet? What happened to developers that actually gave a shit about design? I actually wonder why they all want to look like each other which is like some kid’s Lego project?
We’ve gone from single-family developers, who add so much crap and articulation to a building it looks dizzy to people that basically open the box of Legos and just build them up.
What single-family construction exists is so cheek to jowl that you can reach out of your window and tap on your neighbors window and ask to borrow a cup of sugar. Everything is all about the density. And people are already regretting it in their communities. I mean what happened to people wanting to do things like garden? Why does everyone want to live in a place that looks the same to such a point that you get people lost in your development because nothing stands out?
Yet it all marches forward. And one reason is there are no design standards, limited taste, and the Municipalities Planning Code which hasn’t been comprehensively updated since 1969.
The Municipalities Planning Code guides all the zoning in this state. And over development is everywhere. Ironically, some of the worst over development is close to Harrisburg. Places like Mechanicsburg which used to be lovely, rolling farms and hills have been cramming them in for years. Lancaster County too. And of course, Montgomery County and Delaware County.
It’s depressing.
And all of this development is costing our communities. It’s driving up prices and it’s creating a more transient society. If we just take Chester County as an example, most of us moved here because it used to be so beautiful. Open space, farms, fabulous Pennsylvania farmhouse architecture, and more. Now much like neighboring Delaware County or Montgomery County. We have pockets of those things that still exist, but for the most part, everything is just being run over by crappy development and too much density.
And if people wonder why their taxes are going up look no further than the actual cost of development. West Whiteland is a prime example. They have avoided raising taxes for about 30 years and now they don’t have a choice. Infrastructure isn’t just roads and sewer systems, stormwater management, etc, there’s a human component like first responders. Or township employees who need to be hired and paid to keep pace with the needs of communities. And all of this development has a negative impact on school districts as well.
A friend of mine, who is a historian among other things actually put it well recently, when she said:
Architects are now vastly disturbed. Not since Toll Brothers creation of the McMansion. (Really, NYT traced it to the builder) has the state of American housing reached a new low. Worse, these new “boxes” are really just wood fire boxes – composite wood too since we are plowing thru our forests . Here’s what what one site says;
“Across the U.S., podium buildings have typically been 4-over-1 or 5-over-1, meaning they have four or five stories of wood over a single-level podium.”
The amusing thing is the article she quotes seems like they are lauding this style of cram plan. And to me, whether mid rise or high-rise, they’re all ugly.
These developments are obliterating our countryside. And to this day, the only people who seem to profit from this proliferation of ugliness are the developers. They plunk down the developments, and they move onto the next. The eternal hamster wheel of the Emperor’s new clothes.
In conclusion, you don’t have to like my opinion. But I am not going to stop saying I think these plans are ugly when they are. Our communities deserve better.
popcorn 
