Globalization is a term that I am familiar with, but I never stopped to think about its impact on my hometown. I live in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, which is the only "city" in Chester County. Coatesville is home to the Lukens Steel Company, which played a big part in the steel industry by producing steel "tree" beams for the World Trade Center which were later returned in April 2010 and commemorated by the government.
Nowadays, the steel mill isn't as prominent as it used to be. The downtown area, which used to have a lot of stores and businesses, is rather dry present day because most of those businesses migrated to the (now empty) Exton mall. There are efforts however to encourage people to return to the downtown areas with a new C-Town supermarket, and a handful of other small businesses and restaurants opening up. Additionally, an old middle school that was closed due to asbestos was torn down, and in its place, they are building a new elementary school. There is construction planned in the surrounding areas for new townhouse neighborhoods, so I imagine this will come in handy due to an influx of new kids.
One of the biggest draws I'd also say that the downtown area has is the Coatesville Grand Prix. It's a newer event, I believe it started six years ago, but it's been a big draw for people both in and around the area of all backgrounds. They close off certain roads around town and set up a race track for vintage cars and motorcycles, and there's also a car show/vendor that takes up part of the street where people showcase there cars. All in all, these developments are relatively new, and I'd be interested to see how the new housing impact the businesses in the area overtime.
3 comments:
I can relate to your point about your factories being shut down causing a domino effect on the economy of your town. The Coatesville Grand Prix sounds really exciting! I hope you got a chance to check it and the car shows out!
Being from West Chester, I have seen a lot of the same effects of globalization around me too, especially the population growth and the changing of business in the area. I've never heard of the Coatesville Grand Prix before, but it sounds cool!
It's funny you mention the Exton Square Mall, as I grew up in Exton. The mall did to our town what it did to yours as well, drying up the smaller businesses as chain stores moved into the mall. Why go to 3 different stores at different locations when everything you need can be bought in one big building?
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