Norristown Residents Ask Commissioners How To Revitalize The Area

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN, PA — Conversation at the commissioners “conversations” meeting at Norristown Municipal Hall largely focused on bringing Norristown back to its glory days.

Peggy Dellisant, a Norristown resident who used to own Main Changes Clothing, said the town needs foot traffic on Main Street to make a comeback.

“I just retired. I watched Main Street die a slow death,” she said.

Dellisant said that the abandoned prison on Airy Street is beautifully made, and turning it into something modern would help to bring the foot traffic into Norristown that the businesses need.

“The prison on Main and Airy is coming apart,” she said. “It really would be a shame to see that building just deteriorate. This town really needs a lot of help.”

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140227/norristown-residents-ask-commissioners-how-to-revitalize-the-area

Lafayette Street Corridor Groundbreaking Set For Monday In Norristown

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN ­­— A groundbreaking ceremony for the first contract to extend Lafayette Street into Plymouth and widen it to four lanes will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Ford and Lafayette streets.

The $11.5 million contract with Allan A. Myers Inc. of Worcester will extend the existing Lafayette Street from Ford Street to Conshohocken Road. The 0.6-mile extension will have two lanes in each direction and a 12-foot landscaped median in the center.

“We are building a new road bridge over Ross Street for Lafayette Street.  Ross Street is where the Schuylkill River Trail crosses under the Norfolk Southern railway bridge,” said Leo Bagley, the assistant director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.  “We are building a noise wall from Ross Street toward Conshohocken Road to protect the residences on Ross Street and Chestnut Street in Plymouth.”

The Schuylkill River Trail will be relocated and rebuilt next to the Lafayette Street extension, where it will serve as a sidewalk for the roadway. Trail users around the Ross Street crossing may be affected by limited closures for bridge work.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130907/NEWS01/130909732/lafayette-street-corridor-groundbreaking-set-for-monday-in-norristown#full_story

Under The Gun: Increase In Crime In Norristown Can Be Traced To Economic Decline

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This is Part One in a series examining crime in Norristown and possible answers to stem the tide.

NORRISTOWN — Renee Goldman remembers one of the sheer simplicities of Norristown’s golden age: leaving the door wide open on warm days.

She also remembers when crime — largely petty and non-violent, initially — slammed shut the door of her dad’s Main Street business and locked it for good.

“Eventually we went from keeping the door open when the weather was nice to keeping the door locked and opening it only when the customers came,” recalled Goldman, who began working at her father’s Custom Hearing Aids office in the 200 block of East Main Street as a teenager in the 1960s.

Back then she felt safe walking down to Woolworth’s on Main Street on whatever errand her dad, Henry Ginsberg, sent her on.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130601/NEWS01/130609968/under-the-gun-increase-in-crime-in-norristown-can-be-traced-to-economic-decline#full_story

Affordable-Housing Development Moves Forward In Norristown

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  What a crock!  Thumbs down!

A mixed-use affordable-housing development is moving forward in Norristown despite opposition from some residents.

The plan calls for 96 one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as 5,000 square feet of retail space, at DeKalb and Airy Street.  Sixty units would be reserved for low- and moderate-income residents.

The site is now a parking lot owned by Montgomery County.  The county deemed it underused, and in February agreed to transfer ownership through a profit-sharing redevelopment deal.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/suburban_pa/20130327_Affordable-housing_development_moves_forward_in_Norristown.html

Hundreds Sign Online Petition Against Norristown Apartment Plan

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  We totally agree!  Enough already with the “subsidized housing” in First Suburbs communities!

NORRISTOWN ­­— A change.org online petition against the proposed, 96-unit, mixed-income apartment building slated to go into a Montgomery County parking lot in Norristown has attracted more than 227 petition signatures. The developer, Pennrose Properties of Philadelphia, is waiting for a Tuesday evening decision by the Norristown Zoning Hearing Board on whether to grant requested variances for the project following a two-hour zoning hearing last month.

Under a headline, “Montgomery County Commissioners and Norristown Municipal Council: Stop the Subsidized Housing Project in Downtown Norristown,” the petition alleges that “Norristown has over 53 percent of all of Montgomery County’s subsidized housing units and it doesn’t need any more.”

“The project directly contradicts the 2009 Norristown Comprehensive Plan in three key ways.  It adds additional subsidized rental units.  It subtracts 204 critically-needed parking spaces from the Downtown Business District.  It is not a true Mixed-Use project, but instead, is a self-contained residential community,” the petition said.  “It is our belief that, if built, the project will have a negative impact on the entire Municipality.  It will cause the surrounding neighborhoods to suffer and hurt the Arts Hill and Downtown Business District.  As Norristown is the County Seat, the impact will be felt by the entire County.”

The petition concluded, “the third largest County in the Commonwealth and one of the wealthiest in the United States, can do better.”

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130325/NEWS01/130329666/hundreds-sign-online-petition-against-norristown-apartment-plan#full_story

Citizen’s Bank To Abandon Downtown Norristown – Will Leave Huge Empty Building

Citizen’s Bank is not renewing their lease in a large downtown Norristown commercial building, leaving borough and county officials scrambling to find a new tenant!

http://eyescoop.blogspot.com/2010/12/citizens-bank-withdrawing-from.html