From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!
Chester, long one of Pennsylvania’s most impoverished cities, is receiving a nearly $100 million investment in an attempt to kick-start a resurrection, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Thursday at ACCESS Chester Community Center.
The targeted investment fund, comprising money mostly from the commonwealth with some support from Delaware County and the private sector, will be used to boost community programs, eliminate blight and make the city attractive to commercial development.
“This is a true collaboration between state and local government, between community leaders and business, unlike anything Chester has seen in decades,” Shapiro said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development is declaring Chester an “enterprise zone,” which will allow the state to offer tax breaks for businesses and developers that invest in the city, Shapiro said.
According to Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will also revamp a section of Route 291 that splits downtown Chester and make it safer for motorists. Additionally, PennDOT will help the city build new crosswalks and sidewalks to connect the downtown area to Widener University’s campus.
Funding will also go toward Chester’s neighborhood block captain program, a pair of street clean-up initiatives and the Chester Cultural Arts and Technology Center. Shapiro said the state will set aside $27.5 million to expand the Philadelphia Union’s sportplex on Chester’s waterfront. In return, the Union will offer free youth soccer opportunities, mentoring and more investment.
“I might just be the happiest mayor in America right now,” Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said. “And we’re witnessing the beginning — only the beginning — of an epic American city turnaround.”
Chester still battles through bankruptcy
A state-appointed receiver declared bankruptcy on behalf of the cash-stripped city in 2022. Then-receiver Michael Doweary clashed with elected officials over allegations of bloated salaries, accusing the city’s own leaders of interfering with recovery efforts.
Doweary even sought to strip city officials of administrative duties, citing ethics violations and years of cronyism, mismanagement and nepotism. Despite all of that, the city’s financial conditions were projected to worsen. Doweary warned in 2023 that the city could be disincorporated.
Roots, who was elected mayor in November 2023, took a more collaborative approach with the receiver’s office than his predecessors. In 2024, Doweary announced a plan to monetize the Chester Water Authority by having an outside vendor run the operation in order to make up for the city’s fiscal shortfalls.
However, shakeups in the mayor’s and receiver’s offices as well as a new monetization plan have not been enough to turn the tide. The Chester Water Authority opposed the plan. Receiver Vijay Kapoor also took the battle to the Commonwealth Court in 2025, seeking to reel in the authority via board structuring.