Approaching the fourth anniversary of its rare and historic bankruptcy, the City of Chester is about to get $97.1 million in public and private investments, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced. Shapiro, noting that the resolution of the protracted and often acrimonious bankruptcy “would take far longer than I’d like,” said “the time to invest in Chester is now.” Mayor Stefan Roots said the money would go toward beautifying neighborhoods and dealing with blighted properties in the city of 33,000 residents. “We’re going to be repairing homes. … We’re going to be improving roads and sidewalks,” he said. Among the big-ticket projects: $52.6 million to “revamp and redesign” a section of Route 291/U.S. 13, which separates the riverfront from the city neighborhoods; $7.3 million for new sidewalks connecting Widener University to the rest of the city; and $27.5 million to build new outdoor fields and other sports facilities. Chester is now an “enterprise zone,” a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development program in which tax breaks and grant money would be made available to investors. Read more here.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 9/11/2026 and WHYY; 9/10/2026