Tag Archives: Malvern Patch

chester county vatican?

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Ok, I am sorry but it is a little freaky amusing to discover that Immaculata has its OWN zip code.

I used to joke about Hershey’s Mill being the retirement Vatican of Chester County because it is like its own city-state with its own roads, security (complete with sirens), personal entrance to the mall where the Giant is, etcetera.

So I read a blip on Malvern Patch about Immaculata and their acceptance letter tweets and went to check out their twitter page. It says:

Immaculata, PA? HUH?  It might be Malvern, some call it Frazer, but is Immaculata in fact Chester County’s true Vatican? In Chester County do all institutions get their own zip codes? Wow Cabrini College and Eastern University, which are in Radnor and St. David’s PA respectively are going to get jealous and make demands on Delaware County!   Do we think Cabrini, PA and Eastern, PA have nice rings to it?

Immaculata lists their legal mailing address as: Immaculata University | 1145 King Road, Immaculata, PA. 19345

So does that mean that people who live in the residential neighborhoods along King Road adjacent to the school don’t live in Malvern, PA (zip code 19355) they live in Immaculata, PA (zip code 19345)? So does Immaculata have their own post office and police force and fire departments and all the other services that create a city-state, borough, township?  Where is their town hall?  When do they have supervisor meetings?

Is this because Cheyney has their own zip code too?

I find this all VERY confusing.  Hope the schools have paid for this privilege as opposed to taxpayer dollars funding their independent zip code. With the U.S. Postal service in such a shambles is this in fact just a way for them to generate revenue? But again, what about those people near Immaculata, on the same road and in the same area as Immaculata who think they live in Malvern, PA East Whiteland Township?

Are they in fact living in Immaculata, PA?

But hey, maybe if they are handing out zip codes I can apply for one and we can all live in chestercountyramblings, PA?  It might be fun and there would be lots of great recipes and photos of barns!!

Are we to assume vanity zip codes are the new vanity plate?

Happy Friday people!

another fairy tale for malvern? proceed with caution.

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Sorry, jaded skeptic checking in.  I just saw an article about Malvern in Main Line Suburban Life  and “train station redevelopment”.

And yes the loyal friend TOD (transit oriented development.) TOD is not a one-sized fits all band-aid  in ALL areas.

OMG already have the t-shirt on what THIS does to an old-fashioned  main street oriented community.

Malvern Borough residents be watchful and not too gullible.  Once upon a time they told this tale in Lower Merion Township for Ardmore, PA.  Flash forward  about ten years and what do they have? Nothing.

No train station (although Jim Gerlach gave them $6 million towards it)

Ardmore DOES have a confounding zoning overlay that cost a pretty penny but really has not gone anywhere called must (Mixed Use Special Transit often nicknamed More Unfair Special Treatment.)

Ardmore has a redevelopment plan of mythic proportions and a developer to build…only years later the developer’s contract keeps getting extended, this all costs loads of taxpayer monies (although there has never been a very specific accounting), and there is nothing to show for it.  Many file this project which grew out of the defeat of eminent domain for private gain as a failure, government waste and boondoggle.

Malvern has already bit off a rather large project on East King (I have written about Malvern development before including HERE). This is not an economy for full steam ahead, it is proceed with caution.  In this economy you do not necessarily make money to spend money. You need to be careful and realistic.  Saying residents of rural areas and exurbs will suddenly forgo their cars and SUVs to take public transit  out here is inconvenient at best is just silly. Are all people going to take the train or walk to the farmers market being discussed for 2013 in Malvern?

So my thoughts (in part having lived through this garbage where I used to live) is not to throw the baby out with the bath water, but to go SLOWLY.  Finish one project at a time.

New Urbanism Utopia for Malvern is a little too much of a fairy tale for me. And Malvern had better figure out if it can handle the density when the East King Street project is complete versus just layering more on.

Let us be real: Malvern in a small community not too far away from what could be considered rural.  People need their vehicles.  I do not see Paoli local stops on roads like Swedesford and 401 and Pottstown Pike or Phoenixville Pike.

You will never see the  communities out here  turn into ones that don’t use their cars and the trade-off near the already congested town center of Malvern Borough for increased density is not worth it in my humble opinion.  You keep adding people, they aren’t going to live out here without a vehicle.  Where will everyone park?  I don’t see that the redevelopment in progress addresses the need for parking sufficiently.

And learn the lesson of insufficient ratables from the East King project.

Residents of Malvern Borough, now is the time to pay attention.  For some reason your community seems to be easy pickings for new development. I am not saying progress is bad, but you need to remember what kind of town you are and that is not Wayne and not West Chester.  Malvern is small, like Narberth.  Look to a community like Narberth.  Or even Ambler.  Embrace the small town of it all. Don’t let people talk you into what you never successfully will be.

Here is the article:

Train station redevelopment project pitched to Malvern residents

Published: Monday, October 01, 2012

BY Brent Glasgow
bglasgow@journalregister.com

MALVERN – Residents had a chance to provide input on the borough’s future on Tuesday, at an informational workshop on a transit-oriented development plan that could eventually alter the landscape of the community.

Sponsored by Malvern Borough with support from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the workshop introduced the concept of redeveloping the area within a half-mile radius of the Malvern train station.

Presenter Jeff Riegner, from the design firm of Whitman, Requardt and Associates, defined transit-oriented development as “compact, mixed-use, walk-friendly development around a train station.”

The project could include retail, residential and office development.

Allowing residents to leave their cars at home is a priority in TOD plans. Riegner said doing so leads to fewer roadway expansion projects, while giving commuters more options and raising air quality and home values.

“It really is a small-town idea and fits really well in a community like Malvern,” Riegner said.

There is no TOD plan currently in place for Malvern.

east goshen farmers market light coming to malvern in 2013

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File under taking the farmers market show on the road.

I love the East Goshen Farmers Market .  It is far better run than the Farm to City Markets I used to patronize because although not inexpensive, the price points at East Goshen’s market are a lot more attractive than the pricing I see some of the same vendors do in Bryn Mawr.  And there is a far greater variety of farms to choose from.  Also, the vibe is so awesome each week.  As someone settling into a new community after 30 plus years in another community, this is one of the little things that has helped my transition because although I do not know a lot of people out here yet, going to the market has helped be become comfortable with my new community.

East Goshen Farmers Market has so many terrific farmers, and I patronize all but one farm – the farming folk known as the Millers and Birchrun Hills Farm. Given the treatment people I know in West Vincent receive from Farmer-Supervisor Miller and the other supervisors in West Vincent, it is so unfortunate, but I just can’t patronize them.  To me it would be morally wrong to put jingle in their pockets. And that pains me, because no matter what I like to support local farmers whenever I can.

Mind you that opinion cost this blog being linked to the East Goshen Farmers Market site  (at their original request, not mine) and for the market manager Lisa O’Neill to treat me like I had a disease any time I tried to say hello.  She and her co-market manager Donna Levitsky are trying to be politically correct and  face it, I am not your average PTA mom…. and I am a blogger who doesn’t just blog about recipes and homemaking projects, so I get that, it’s cool.  I just don’t bother to say hi any longer. It is easier and makes them more comfortable – they are so busy on market days, I wouldn’t want to detract from what they have to do by saying hi, you know?

Anyway, Lisa has in all honesty produced a most fabulous market for East Goshen (I featured it in an article I wrote about farm markets and community gardens for Philly.com this summer) , and she is apparently taking her show on the road for 2013.  Malvern Patch is reporting that East Goshen’s market will be giving birth in the spring of 2013 to a mini version of itself in Malvern on Saturday mornings.  That is awesome, even if it is the exact same time and day I believe as the West Chester Growers Market which is quite simply amazing, as well as the market that is the original of all these local farm markets.

I am glad local farmers will be getting more exposure – this will be another producers only market.  That means to be there and sell, you grow it/you raise it.

One question, however.  East Goshen Farmers Market is sponsored by East Goshen Township and The Friends of East Goshen – and part of the money they say in their mission statement goes back to East Goshen Park.  So will part of the monies here go back to Burke Park in Malvern Borough where this will be held?  Who is sponsoring this market? Is the borough or is there another non-profit sponsor?  Or maybe they will start their own company or non-profit at this point? And what do Lisa O’Neill and her co-manager Donna Levitsky (one of the owners of Shellbark Hollow Farm which is a participating farm at East Goshen Farmers market) get out of this monetarily?  Not being mean, just being realistic.   A former neighbor is the market manager of the Bryn Mawr Farmers Market and I know the lady who manages the Collegeville Farmers Market. I know the incredible amount of time they put into running just one market.  Will they receive a salary for this Malvern market?  A profit-sharing slice of market profits?  Or is this all done in a volunteer capacity?  Either scenario is fine with me, I am not judging – I am merely curious how it all works.  Most markets I have come across, pay their market managers something for all their efforts. And running a Saturday morning market will sure mean more effort as they will be up with the roosters to ensure the market is set up by 9 a.m.

Here’s the update from Patch and I am looking forward to this market and Kimberton Whole Foods coming to Malvern!  I am still not a fan of the development occurring on East King Street, however, outside of Kimberton Whole Foods coming to town.  I think the development in the end will prove to be too dense and too much for the borough of Malvern to handle.

New Malvern Farmers Market Begins in Spring 2013

About 25 growers and vendors will set up shop in Burke Park on Saturdays.

ByPete Kennedy  Email the author  5:30 am

Local communities do indeed benefit HUGELY from things like farmers markets.  It brings people to town who might never otherwise visit.  And Malvern is cute.  The Bryn Mawr Farmers Market (albeit expensive) has greatly benefited Bryn Mawr by giving it foot traffic on Saturdays, and things like First Friday Main Line and Clover Market have also similarly benefited main street Ardmore.  (and if you have never been to either First Friday Main Line or Clover Market, you should check them out!)

Final note – today’s photos are of the veggies from Balsam Farms in Amagansett, NY…a little slice of heaven much like Sugartown Strawberries around here.

Hey, it is the end of September so what farms are doing the best corn mazes and hay rides and pumpkin things this year?  Let me know!  You know how I love pumpkins!!!

burglar on the loose in chester county

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Willistown Police have released a sketch of a burglar on the loose in Chester County.  If you have seen this person, please call police.

Main Line Suburban Life > News  Willistown Police search for burglary suspect

Published: Friday, September 21, 2012

WILLISTOWN- Police are investigating a burglary in progress which occurred Thursday September 20, 2012 at approximately 2:35 p.m.
According to a press release from Willistown Police, a homeowner witnessed a white man leaving the rear of a residence on Hilldale Road. The man was reportedly wearing a single black glove, and might have been armed with a small pocketknife.
The burglary suspect is described as being in his mid 30’s to early 40’s, with short dark hair, about six foot tall, and weighing approximately 200 pounds, with a muscular build, according to police.
According to the release, the man was wearing a black T-shirt, black pants, and black boots and he had a noticeable scar on the left side of his neck.

The suspect was last seen fleeing the area in a dark blue or black Jeep Liberty, with an unknown Pennsylvania license plate number.
Anyone who recognizes the subject in the sketch or has any information concerning this investigation, please contact Willistown Detectives at (610) 251-0222 or (610) 647-1440.

I first heard about this with an alert from Malvern Patch.  Contained within the comments on the article on Malvern Patch, was a reference to another recent burglary on Duffryn Avenue. The Duffryn Avenue burglary is not believed to be related to yesterday’s Hilldale Rd burglary.

Here’s hoping local police close these cases soon.

chester county and development…not so perfect together?

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Today when the news came that Brian O’Neill was continuing with Uptown Worthington’s next phase, I was not one of the ones cheering.  First I thought of my former township (Lower Merion) and the O’Neill projects in moth balls and sites looking shabby. Then I started to think about the development I have seen since I moved to Chester County, and I am concerned.

No one wants to turn their back on progress, but at what price comes progress?  For example, let us not forget Malvern Borough’s $60,000 mistake on East King Street. You know? Eli Kahn’s New Urbanism Fairy Tale?  In July, Kahn and his partners David Della Porta and Gary Toll did the old soft shoe and a rah-rah ground breaking.

With regard to Malvern, I will say again, You know what I think Eli Kahn and Jack Loew’s project is going to be like when it is done?  A super-sized Charleston Greene.  And over the years, how has Toll’s Charleston Greene worked for you ,Malvern?

A friend said to me a little while ago “You can’t spend other people’s money and
generate prosperity. ” 

There is food for thought.  Also to think about quite seriously is what Tredyffrin did last night other than not apologize for cyber-bullying the delightful and devoted and hard working community champion Pattye Benson.   They approved the C-1 Zoning Change. Now, basically, a LARGE death farm, excuse me, senior assisted living facility will grow on a rather SMALL site on Lancaster Avenue.  You know, where Jimmy Duffy’s Catering Company used to reside?

Interestingly enough, this new development is from a Tredyffrin resident who put the residents of Bala Cynwyd through the ringer for another awkward site senior assisted living facility around 2009. Main Line Media News said at the time:

Further township discussion of a controversial Bala Cynwyd development plan has been postponed until next month.

Developer Ed Morris of Traditional Properties LP had hoped to take his new plan for an assisted-living facility at 27-33 Old Lancaster Road to Lower Merion commissioners this week….Morris got zoning-hearing board approval in late July of a special exception to build a “home for the aged” on the parcels, which today are occupied by two single-family homes. The stone colonial houses would be demolished.

The plan was a switch from development plans approved by the township in 2006 for a four-story, 21-unit condominium building. Morris has said that marketing efforts to sell units in the proposed building were not successful as the housing market stalled….A number of residents in surrounding neighborhoods in Bala Cynwyd and Merion objected to the change in direction, saying that the assisted-living facility is a more commercial use, out of character with the area.

Oh my goodness!  Is this not an eerie sense of déjà vu?  Don’t I remember original plans for the Jimmy Duffy site being different, albeit equally unwelcome to neighboring Daylesford residents? (And Ed Morris like Brian O’Neill was featured in an article a few years ago in Main Line Today called Condo Mania)

How many developments do we need?  Does Chester County want to end up a congested mess with limited open space like much of the Main Line?

I noticed on Malvern Patch that a lot of people are excited by the idea of MORE mall at Uptown Worthington based upon the comments.  I, on the other hand, am concerned.

It wasn’t too long ago that this developer was embroiled in nasty, nasty litigation over this site.  And how will this phase of construction affect people? Remember the first phase? And look at the 100 year PennDOT 202 project right there right now. It really isn’t a 100 year project, but given how PennDOT does business it might as well be.

Then there is the thought of how many malls and mall like places do we need?   Exton is but minutes away with the Exton Square Mall, Main Street at Exton and the countless other smaller strip malls in and around it.  King of Prussia is also fairly close with the giant King of Prussia Mall and all the other various and assorted strip malls and sub-developments in the vicinity. (And don’t forget that charming casino because you know nothing says U.S. history like a slots parlor next to where George Washington literally slept.)

In addition to these larger malls and newer strip malls are all the other strip malls and often funky shopping centers on Route 30, Paoli Pike, Route 3, pick a road.

Really Chester County, how much development do you want? How much development do we need as residents?  Are we actually getting new stores or are businesses just hop-scotching between retail developments, moving every few years to whatever the next sweetest deal is? And do you want a steady stream of fill-in-the-name-big-box-retailers and chains?  What of the independent local business where they know their customer base and might be your neighbors?

I saw the development of Chester County in a most unusual way on my 9/11 hot-air balloon ride.  I saw the development from the air.  From high up in the sky it looked like miles and miles of Legos – developments all cookie cutter.

Chester County on a county level needs to get a real grip on the future.  The economy is not recovering, and still these developments proceed.  Developers will say they bring jobs, but once you get beyond retail shift work and minimum wage, what is there?  And you need more than that to fill up the condos, town homes perched on formerly rural highways, and the communities of McMansions. (Don’t forget about the fact they are trying to supersize Birchrunville in West Vincent. And then there is other potential residential development in the future, right?)

Once the open space is gone, it is not coming back. Once the charming cross-roads towns are gone and the farms are gone, they are also not coming back.  That’s all. Just think about it.

My wish for Chester County is a revolution of common sense.

is east goshen getting rid of police force?

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Life gets busy, and I missed something I should have posted a couple of days ago, and I am truly sorry.  And I am torn how to present this, because no matter what is said, this is a very difficult subject. (So if you have a comment or clarification to what I am posting, PLEASE post a comment.)

When I was at East Goshen Day this summer, a friend of mine told me there was a rumor that East Goshen was dissolving their police force. Based on a letter a friend from outside Chester County forwarded to me, I would say it wasn’t just a rumor.

I am going to say that the only criticism I had with East Goshen prior to this was the fact that they neither stream their meetings on their website nor put them on Public Access TV. After getting this letter forwarded to me, I can see there might be a real need for meetings to be televised and/or streamed on their website.

Now as for the whole get rid of the local police department of it all, I find that distressing and this all  appears  at first look to have roots in some sort of labor dispute. Communities need their police force in addition to other first responders. This police force at present is like a twinned parish – it is shared with a neighboring municipality – Westtown. (Hence their name Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department.)

Having a community without a police department in my humble opinion is like trying to walk without legs. Maybe that is overly simplistic, but police aren’t an optional accessory in a community, they are a necessity. They know their residents, the roads, local ordinances, etc.

Additionally, I am always leery of paid consultants who come into a community to tell the community about where they live. My experience is, having seen millions of tax dollars flitter away in consultants’ pockets where I used to live, is ask the residents FIRST.  About EVERYTHING.

East Goshen, please do the right thing here. In this economy, spending $65,000 on an outside consultant doesn’t strike me as the best use of taxpayer dollars.  Please. It is as much as anything else, a question of public safety. I hope my post isn’t coming after some decision was made.  (and hopefully the idea of a pricey outside consultant was tabled for now?)  Of course (again), this is why, it would be helpful to stream meetings on the website or utilize public access television and broadcast the meetings.

I am posting what I currently see on East Goshen’s website, and my concern is it won’t reach everyone who lives in the township, so how else is it being distributed? See East Goshen Website:

Latest Township News & Events

The Board of Supervisors will be holding “Police Services Options  Workshops” at 7:00 pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.  These workshops will be devoted solely to the review and discussion of  the police service options available to East Goshen Township. All  residents are invited to attend and encouraged to participate in the  discussions. Regular Township business will not be conducted at these  workshops.  By way of background, East Goshen and Westtown Townships  jointly created the Westtown East Goshen Regional Police Department  (WEGO) in 1981. WEGO is one of 35 regional police departments in  Pennsylvania and it provides police service to Thornbury Township on a  contract basis.  As the current labor agreement with the Police  Association is set to expire on December 31, 2013, it is incumbent on  the Board of Supervisors to explore all available options moving  forward. While WEGO has provided excellent service for over 30 years,  the substantial and ever-increasing cost of this service presents a  serious challenge for current and future residents of the Township as  the financial requirements of the current labor agreement are not  sustainable.  More information available here

Below my final comments is the letter I received. Please read it. Please let East Goshen know how you feel about this.  I find the trend of discussing getting rid of local police forces truly alarming. This is being tossed about in Malvern Borough too.  I found online an article Malvern Patch where it was reported August 20th with regard to East Goshen that :

East Whiteland Police Chief Eugene Dooley might soon be spending more time in East Goshen, according to a report in the Daily Local News….

The temporary assignment would come amid broader changes within Westtown-East Goshen Police Department. Thornbury Township has indicated it will not renew its contract with the regional force when it expires at the end of 2012.

Twitter user Leo Sinclair pondered the possible implications of Dooley’s temporary assignment, asking “First indication that East Goshen Twp plans to merge with East Whiteland Twp Police?”

So what is going on? Will our police be merging with yet another municipality as a cost saving measure? Or will East Goshen be served by State Police? Or a professional for hire don’t know what else to call it except rent a cops?

I doubt anything will happen quickly, but I definitely think a pause button is in order.

To be fair, my final comment is to the police force: if this situation has a basis in a contract/labor dispute I have not read up on, but I bet a lot has to do with benefits, as that seems to be a common theme today, where is a middle ground?  I mean no disrespect, but we live in a different world than our parents did and probably even different from when we grew up.   I am one of the millions of people who is self-pay on healthcare benefits.  It just is what it is – after all in the private sector not all companies provide benefits, and it is also the sole option in most cases for the self-employed.  My point is I manage.  And I managed even with breast cancer.

So as I am posting the letter below, I am going to make a plea to both sides to find a palatable middle point.  Because in this kind of tug of war, the ultimate losers are the residents. I hope both sides can resolve this and  save the police force.

Again, here is the letter:

September 4, 2012

Dear East Goshen Resident,

As you may know, members of the East Goshen Township Board of Supervisors have rejected a number of proposals to extend the contract for local police service provided by the Westtown – East Goshen Regional Police Department. Now, it appears that the Township is intent on dissolving our local police department. In fact, at tonight’s East Goshen Township Supervisors meeting, supervisors appear prepared to vote to recommend that the township pay a consultant $65,000 in taxpayer funds to study the township’s options with respect to future police services.

This action comes on the heels of a number of local residents speaking out in opposition to the Township’s proposal to eliminate our current regional police force. But our Township Supervisors appear unwilling to listen to the views or wishes of local residents. In fact, last week, supervisors said that the cost of surveying local residents for their opinion on whether to retain our current police force was “too expensive.”


In reality, sending a mailing to every household in the district with a response card would cost less than $6,500. That is less than 10 percent of the $65,000 that supervisors are on the verge of recommending be spent at tonight’s meeting to hire a consultant. Wouldn’t it make sense to determine whether residents support dissolving our police force before spending $65,000 on a consultant to tell them how to do it? Not only is this action fiscally irresponsible, it also seems to indicate that our elected officials do not care what “we the people” who they are elected to represent have to say.


In addition, the Westtown – East Goshen Regional Police Department is not aware of any Request for Proposals or public bidding process for the professional services that this consultant would provide. Failure to solicit proposals from multiple sources – who could potentially provide better value and expertise –raises serious ethical questions and would appear to violate government procurement policies due to the large size of the contract.


Please contact the township and supervisors prior to tonight’s meeting to tell them this $65,000 contract should be rejected until after local residents have been surveyed and the consulting services have been competitively procured through a public procurement process. I would also encourage you to share your concerns publicly at tonight’s meeting at 7 p.m. at the Township Building to help prevent this vote from occurring. They represent us and need to hear from us, so please pass this on to your friends and neighbors as well.


The township’s phone number is 610 692-7171 and the supervisors’ emails are also provided below.


Senya D. Isayeff, Chairman – sisayeff@eastgoshen.org

Thom Clapper, Ph.D., Vice Chairman – tclapper@eastgoshen.org

Carmen R. Battavio – cbattavio@eastgoshen.org

Charles W. Proctor, III, J.D., C.L.T.P. – cproctor@eastgoshen.org E.  

Martin Shane – mshane@eastgoshen.org

Tom Haws – thaws@westtown.org

Carol DeWolf- cdewolf@westtown.org

Charles Barber- cbarber@westtown.org


This push to approve a $65,000 consultant contract to examine options for doing away with our police department – which is not supported by local residents –and with no known public procurement process raises serious concerns about our Township’s supervisors commitment to transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a representative government.
Thank you for your ongoing support, and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.


Sincerely,


Anthony Ruggieri

President

Westtown-East Goshen Police Association

 

malvern: from flying pig to pig in a poke

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June 23rd was the last time I wrote about Malvern on this blog. Before that I wrote in May.

I feel that Malvern’s super-sizing via the Eli Kahn development on King Street is a huge mistake.  Having  gone by the site quite a few times at this point, I am profoundly disturbed by what I see every time, and can easily envision for the future.  Yes, it is a site that should be redeveloped. But why not a park and a couple of stores?  Or something Malvern lacks? Sufficient parking?

You know what I think Eli Kahn and Jack Loew’s project is going to be like when it is done?  A super-sized Charleston Greene.  And over the years, how has Toll’s Charleston Greene worked for you ,Malvern?

Hasn’t that been a problem site, with islands not in a stream that are supposed to be traffic calming pedestrian islands that don’t work there anymore than the one in front of Bryn Mawr Hospital does?

I have to laugh every time I hear developers say to those in suburbia and exurbia that living in a “mixed-use”  development on little spits of land or wedged in with a shoehorn next to existing buildings is such an exciting proposition.  Folks, it’s just another New Urbanism Fairy Tale.  Or redevelopment fantasies. Take your pick.

The economy can’t sustain big plans.  And who says people outside a city want to be crammed in like lemmings?  Doesn’t everyone know what happens to lemmings sometimes?

Municipalities dream of ratables like they are drugs and they need a fix.  And then you see reality.  Reality is that if you have ever lived next to a train tracks or a train station, you don’t repeat it.  There is more noise and more dirt, and there is nothing like having your windows open on a nice spring day only to have the unmistakable odor of Septa trains and their burning  brake pads wafting in the window.

And when you live on top of train tracks you also have fire fears during warn months or periods of drought.  Septa and Amtrak also spray heavy-duty pesticides loaded with carcinogens in lieu of weeding.

Of course, don’t even get me started on stormwater management.  You see when you live with rail as the neighbor, you are basically their stormwater management system if they have runoff issues.

I lived across the street from R-5/Paoli/Septa/Amtrak tracks for over a decade, so I know of what I speak.  I also have sat and watched developers promise using too tall tales, and then what happens?  It doesn’t turn out as planned.  After all, when they show municipal fathers and mothers plans at a town meeting, the plans are all lovely with hearts and flowers on a field of green.  Not real scale, and how it will look in conjunction with everything else around it.

I firmly believe with Malvern and this development that after the sheen of new wears off, these developments will end up being apartments going for cheap not chic because living on top of transit has limited appeal unless you want to live in the city, or near the 69th Street Terminal or in a row house near the El.

So at a recent Malvern Borough Council Meeting when a resident asked how much would Malvern get back  now that they have given the keys to the town to Eli Kahn and Jack Loew, it was shockingly low.

Told you so.

So I think Malvern has bought itself a Pig in a Poke.  The town already has a Flying Pig, so it really didn’t need A Tale of When Pigs Fly By A. Developer.

Daddy Warbucks told Malvern they would have big bucks.  And they believed him. Dumb. Real dumb.

Malvern Patch: $60,000: East King Revitalization’s Impact on the Borough

The new apartments and businesses won’t be a windfall for the borough.

By Pete Kennedy   Email the author July 2, 2012

During a discussion of the police services and budgeting at the June 19 meeting of Malvern Borough Council, resident Joan Yeager asked a related question:

“Once the King Street project is completed, how much additional money is going to come into the borough? In taxes and all,” she said.

“Something in the neighborhood of $60,000 a year,” council president Woody Van Sciver said, citing a financial feasibility study done before the project was approved.

“That’s it?” Yeager replied

who is going to east goshen’s community day on saturday june 23rd?

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All my friends know that I love community day events, church fairs, First Friday events (especially First Friday Main Line!), and so on.

Community events are what brings people in this busy world together for simple fun and just the joy of getting together.  As I photograph a lot of these types of events, I always meet fun people.

So East Goshen has East Goshen Township Community Day this Saturday, June 23rd starting at 5 p.m. and the rain date is June 24th. (and the photos I have up are from other events I have covered, not theirs as I have never been!)

As a new Chester County and East Goshen resident I am really looking forward to checking this out!

East Goshen says that although their park is dog friendly, this event is NOT a dog friendly event, so leave your pooches at home.   There are fireworks and will be a lot of people, so it is also kinder – that is a lot of stimulation on a day that will undoubtedly be warm.

 

So I am told that the activities will include:

 

 

 

 

  • Fireworks at dusk (yay!)
  • Former US Army Golden Knights Parachutist will land on park fields
  • Two live bands: Cool Confusion and Blue Sky Band
  • Giant moon bounce, slide,obstacle course, trackless train,carnival games
  • Laser tag
  • Stubby the helicopter from the American Helicopter Museum
  • Free golf swing evaluations from a pro at Tee it Up Golf
  • Antique fire truck
  • Face Painting by Center on Central
  • Information tables with various folks from Paoli Hospital
  • Monster basketball
  • FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

…and more!

I am a giant kid at heart when it comes to these events, so I can’t wait!  Come out and hang with your friends and neighbors and enjoy a fun, old-fashioned, summer evening in the park.

And oh yes, I just called East Goshen to confirm this is a FREE event.  I am sure the food and carnival games might have a nominal fee, but there is no entrance fee.

See you in the park!

this old house

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In March, I put up a post about one of the many old houses falling to crumble and ruin in Chester County…along Route 30. 

Thanks to Pete Kennedy of Malvern Patch I now know…It is a home formerly known Linden Hall (used to have Linden trees – one of my late father’s favorite trees), once owned by a family named Paulovich.

Also…according to eastwhiteland.org it was also know as “Wayne Tavern”.  Like Loch Aerie, which I have written about twice and photographed, East Whiteland ironically lists this home as a historical site on their website.  Apparently they value these structures, only they don’t seem to push them towards permanent preservation?

At the risk of being repetitive, I will close with what I said in March –

Chester County needs to put some thoughts into their commercial corridors don’t they?  It’s not like the location is suited for residential, yet here and there these old houses sit and rot.  Some have sale signs on them, some are just rotting away by themselves.

What can be done with old buildings like this?  I am a realist and know full well that not every old house should be saved.  But some should.   And Chester County needs better planning in their commercial corridors.  Man  cannot live by strip mall alone……

just wondering….about malvern

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As I read yet more and more about Malvern’s great super-sizing plans courtesy of developer Eli Kahn, I can’t help but wonder if in the end, residents will be satisfied with the Emperor’s New Clothes of it all.

Malvern as long as I can remember has had an unfortunate identity crisis – mostly stemming from local officials as opposed to residents.  The borough of Malvern has a charm that doesn’t need super-sizing with giant Tyvec wrapped buildings that will end up looking like a New Urbanism Disneyland.

But hey, I can’t see it from my window.

So to answer the question of a guy blogging on Malvern Patch who writes about the East King Development , as far as at what cost this development?  Well I think you will sacrifice the charm of the area you call home and the traffic will be a nightmare. I think parts of Malvern may end up looking as unattractive as parts of Eagle, another tiny community developers had a “vision” for.

Of course as I read about in the Daily Local about a missing developmentally challenged boy from up King Road, I also wondered how what currently exists up and down King, whether it would be road or street will co-exist with GRAND PLANS? (you have to use all caps because these developer plans are always GRAND.)

I think super-sizing Malvern is a mistake, but hey that is just my opinion.    Part of the reason I wanted to be in Chester County is it isn’t the Main Line, which in many parts has just been ruined  by development.  But now that I am here, I am learning that dumb development plans exist all over.

Which of course is why they need to update the Municipalities Planning Code of PA.

And while we are on the topic of building/development, can anyone tell me what is going on at the former site of Maddie’s on Route 30 in Frazer?  There is some construction going on and yesterday there were also a slew of union picketers going on. Yet ironically enough, the orginal Maddie’s sign remains – my hypothesis there is if they demolish the sign they might have to go through zoning or whatever to get approval.