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The Cobb Theatre will open in October 2015 along with the
grand opening of Phase III at Uptown Worthington. (Artist's rendering from
O'Neill Properties Group)
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For Marjie Versagli, owner of Malvern Flowers &
Gifts, this used to be peak season - prom corsages, Mother's Day bouquets.
But that's changed. Now, she's busier year-round.
About 20 miles away, the Lower Merion School District is
in a building frenzy, adding a dozen classrooms and repurposing gymnasiums and
other spaces to accommodate its largest enrollment increase in nearly 40 years.
The blooming flower business and the Lower Merion
crowding are symptomatic of the region's shifting demographics. Versagli says
she hasn't given much thought to the reasons behind her prosperity, "but
it's all good, I know that."
While fresh U.S. census figures show Philadelphia gaining
population in the last few years, experts say that appears to be largely the
result of births, immigrants, and a slowdown in departures.
But the city's neighbors to the west have undergone more
significant growth in that time, and that, analysts say, appears to be the
by-product of an economic boomlet.
Driven by development along the Route 202 corridor,
Chester County has been the fastest-growing in the region, with about an 18
percent increase in population from 2000 to 2014 - higher than any county in
all of New Jersey, including Gloucester, No. 2 in the Philadelphia region at 14
percent. Montgomery County was third.
Roads, schools, and open space all have felt the growing
pains - and some community frictions have flared.
Route 202 was never built to handle such a volume of
traffic, so the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has undertaken an
extensive widening project that at times has been a royal pain to commuters.
But the growth has been a boon to businesses, and vice
versa.
"We've got professional services, strong
universities, and health-care institutions with scale in the counties,"
said Steve Wray, executive director of the Economy League of Greater
Philadelphia. "And there's a population base that is fueling retail, among
other things."
Overall, even with more tepid growth in Delaware and
Bucks Counties, the five-county Philadelphia region was responsible for 84
percent of Pennsylvania's population growth between 2010 and 2014, said Wray.
Experts, demographers, and county planners say the fact
that the growth has been centered in Chester and Montgomery Counties is no
fluke: Both are among the most affluent in the state, with low unemployment
rates and plenty of job openings.
"We've been a popular destination for people to come
for a long time," said Jake Michael, a senior demographer with the Chester
County Planning Commission. "We had a very big boom period in the 1980s
and 1990s. We're still attracting residents."
In Montgomery County, residents have been flocking to
municipalities that have development projects in the pipeline, including
Limerick and New Hanover Townships, said Brian O'Leary, section chief of county
planning with the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
O'Leary said the influx of residents has made streets
more congested: In the last 20 years, the round-trip commuting time in
Montgomery County increased nearly 10 minutes, to 54.8.
Chester County officials say some of their initiatives
have been effective, including the creation of the Community Revitalization
Program in 2001 to attract residents and businesses to the county's 15 boroughs
and the city of Coatesville. The county has distributed more than $50 million
in county and federal funds to the 16 towns since 2002.
Many of them "are really taking advantage of that to
shore up their infrastructure and set the stage for development," said
Patrick Bokovitz, director of the county's department of community development.
Malvern was the fastest-growing municipality in the
region from 2010 to 2013, according to census figures. The 1.3-square-mile
borough grew about 14 percent.
The development that comes with the growth, particularly
the construction of two apartment and retail buildings on East King Street, has
been a source of tension among borough residents who welcome the changes and
those who worry about traffic congestion and the loss of a small-town feel.
"We've always tried to encourage municipalities to
direct growth to areas that can accommodate it," said John Theilacker of
the Brandywine Conservancy. "Growth is good for the county, as long as
it's balanced with environmental preservation."
The conservancy is concerned about the potential strain
on watersheds, and the county has developed a 10-year economic plan advocating
a balance between preservation and development.
In the shorter term, Versagli finds herself at the
epicenter of the county's growth, and it has had an immediate impact on her.
She's had to hire another full-time floral designer to
keep up with the business.
Source: Philly.com
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