Town By Town: In Pottstown, Plenty Of Sellers, Few Buyers

Pottstown Borough Hall

Editor’s note:  It’s pretty freakin’ sad when the Philadelphia Inquirer has to write up something like this about Pottstown.  Everybody knows why this situation exists, except for the do nothing Borough Council who are off in Lala Land taking a group cruise down the river Denial! What an embarrassing write up and very damning because of the enormous readership of this MAJOR MARKET publication!!!!!  Now that a big city newspaper has pointed out the same issues we bloggers have been harping on for years, maybe you all will be shamed into doing something. 

Trends in local housing supply and demand aren’t working in Pottstown’s favor right now. In a word, the market is troubled.

Andrew Himes, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach Realtors in Collegeville, said the borough “is one of the few places that hasn’t made any kind of a comeback.”

Though just about every market in the eight-county Philadelphia region has a shortage of supply, Pottstown’s problem is it has 300 houses for sale and very little demand, Himes says.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/town-by-town/20140831_Town_By_Town_.html#0CJjWTr05jzmHLlJ.99

A Statement And Upcoming Local Events From Occupy Pottstown

I asked Amy Francis to write a few paragraphs about what Occupy Pottstown’s goals are and what it hopes to achieve.  Amy also talks about the Occupation Movement in general.  If all you know about this movement is what you have seen on television you may want to take a moment and see what this is all about. 

So without further adieu, Amy writes:

The Occupations are a statement against the economic and political systems in this country, which are currently only working only for the most “powerful” (in other words, the richest) 1%. In Pottstown, we have surely seen the trickle down effects from this economic imbalance everywhere: homes going into foreclosure, blight in what were once nice neighborhoods, companies moving out of town or closing, broken-down infrastructure, educational cuts while unfunded mandates continue to increase, skyrocketing taxes, more and more unemployment, etc, etc. What has become painfully clear is that the American Dream has become virtually unattainable for the majority of American people, and certainly for the Pottstown people.

While it is clear is that everyone’s reason why they “occupy” is unique and personal, however, what I perceive to be the common thread of the Occupy Pottstown supporters is a desire to put a spotlight on the inequities that Pottstown bears, along with many other First Suburbs. As history has shown us in Pottstown, ignoring these problems will not make them go away; the Occupy Pottstown group has proven to me to be the people willing to talk openly about the local issues and how they have effected their lives in palpable way; that, I believe, is the only real fist step towards making things better for more people. Simply put; the members of Occupy Pottstown have opened up the discussion and have shown a commitment to do so until change takes hold.

Occupy Pottstown’s first public gathering will be on November 21, 4 – 7 pm at the corner of Hanover Street and College Drive, and all are invited to join us. Occupy Pottstown also wants to increase awareness of the importance of supporting local businesses which, in turn, helps to support our local economy. To initiate this goal, Occupy Pottstown members will be holding our first “Occupy Downtown Pottstown Walk” on November 26th, which is Small Business Saturday; meeting time and place to be announced. Again, all are invited and encouraged to join.

Power to the People (one Pottstown at a time)!