Heading into its 26th year, the Chester County Town Tours and Village Walks program – like most of the nation – was faced with the many new challenges of COVID-19. While it was no easy task to replace the experience of walking through a town or village and seeing firsthand the unique character, the “Virtual Summer Series” went from a mere vision to an exciting reality thanks to the hard work and dedication of this year’s sponsors and volunteers.

In the spring of 1945, a group of concerned citizens from the West Chester and Wilmington areas came together to listen to Clayton M. Hoff – the man would later become known as the founder of the small watershed movement in America – talk about the water quality of the Brandywine Creek.

Learning that the creek was not much more than an open sewer at the time, in addition to thousands of tons of soil being washed into the creek each year (diminishing the water quality and choking wildlife), the citizens decided to band together to create the first small watershed organization in America. They called themselves the Brandywine Valley Association (BVA).

When it comes to protecting Chester County’s environment and natural resources, municipalities can help their communities take action in a number of ways.

One way is through natural resource protection standards, which can be implemented by municipal ordinances in order to protect, conserve, and enhance the area’s resources and their functions. The best and most effective way to do this is comprehensively – as land, water, and ecosystems are often interconnected.

Public engagement is a key component of the planning process. Selecting and analyzing methods of public engagement has become particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as traditional methods of outreach may no longer be sufficient to reach all audiences, or may no longer be possible due to health restrictions. Online engagement, community centered outreach, and in-person meetings \ are public outreach strategies that municipalities may want to consider.

Each year, the Chester County Planning Commission collects and reports data on housing prices, housing affordability, and new units constructed across Chester County as part of the ongoing implementation of Landscapes3, the county’s comprehensive plan.

The 2019 residential housing data, which was presented at the Planning Commission’s Board Meeting on August 11, was largely consistent with the data from 2018, however there were a few key differences to acknowledge.

In 2019, the median sale price for homes in Chester County was $355,000 – a 4.4% increase from 2018 which was $340,000. However for “new homes” sold, the median was nearly $100,000 higher.

Overall, Chester County has a strong and diverse economy, with particular strengths in management of companies, finance, professional and technical services, and agriculture, and this strength will help the county economy come back from the COVID-19 pandemic impacts.

With the pandemic taking a toll of much of the nation’s economy, the Chester County Planning Commission, in partnership with the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC), prepared an Economy Report for the Restore Chester County Initiative, which was created to focus on the reopening and restoration of Chester County post-COVID-19.

In addition to the residential housing data collected each year, the Chester County Planning Commission tracks the non-residential construction across the county including total square footage, building type, and location.

In 2019, Chester County saw a total of 36 new non-residential construction projects across the county for a total of 975,849 square feet. While this number is much lower than the previous year’s total of 1,466,203, the average square feet per project went up significantly – from 13,707 to 31,603.

Preserving Chester County’s robust agricultural communities is critical for implementing Landscapes3, and local municipalities can play a key role through growth management, land preservation, and zoning. Two land use tools in particular, growth boundaries and agricultural zoning, help do this.

Each year, the Chester County Planning Commission tracks a number of metrics and successes across the county pertaining to the six goals found within Landscapes3, the county’s comprehensive plan.

By tracking these metrics and successes on an annual basis, the county is able to determine just how well the implementation of Landscapes3 is going by measuring how we: protect, preserve, appreciate, live, prosper, and connect.

In the coming months, we will be featuring a number of engaging stories highlighting the different achievements, accomplishments, successes, events, and other activities that occurred throughout Chester County in 2019.

This past June, East Bradford Township, in partnership with PennDOT and local and state representatives, successfully completed the construction of the Route 322 (Downingtown Pike) Bridge Replacement Project!

What started as just a bridge replacement project quickly turned into a collaborative local-governmental effort, resulting in not just a successful bridge replacement, but a variety of public recreational benefits as well.

The new concrete bridge replaced the steel-beam bridge that was originally constructed in 1929 and no longer in good condition. “We were eager to complete the replacement of this poor condition structure on U.S. 322 (Downingtown Pike), so it could continue to provide motorists with a safe and secure crossing over the east branch of Brandywine Creek for many years to come,” said PennDOT District Executive, Kenneth M. McClain.