Stefan Roots, Mayor, Chester

The city of Chester is focusing on community cleanliness and revitalizing Main Street. “Cleaning up the city and making it look better is a big priority, along with developing our Main Street,” Chester Mayor Stefan Roots told Invest:. Roots also discussed the milestones from the last year, as well as challenges and opportunities in Chester.

What were the significant milestones for Chester over the last year?

For too long, beautification hasn’t received the attention it deserves in Chester. Visitors often remark that it feels like time has stood still here for 30 or 40 years, and that’s largely due to our aging housing stock and lack of consistent development. You might find a dozen homes built a decade ago, and a few more a decade before that, but we’ve never experienced a wave of modern revitalization.

To address that, we’ve launched a Block Captain campaign, inviting residents from every block or neighborhood to take ownership of cleaning and maintaining their areas in partnership with the city. We’re also working with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and several local businesses to focus on cleaning up every corner of Chester.

In addition, we’ve empowered our Licensing and Inspection team to begin towing abandoned vehicles, starting with those left on city-owned land. As I always say, every blade of grass in Chester belongs to someone. Unfortunately, vacant lots often become dumping grounds, especially when ownership is unclear or absentee. We’re now tracking every parcel, holding owners accountable, and helping private landowners clean up when they request support.

What are your main priorities?

Cleaning up Chester and improving how our city looks and feels remains a top priority. Right alongside that is revitalizing our Main Street corridor. We’re proud to be partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) as part of their statewide Main Street initiative. We made it clear that Chester wants in, and we’re ready to be an active participant.

Community and economic development are also top priorities. That includes building new homes to update our aging housing stock and creating neighborhoods that attract families and working professionals. We’re also focused on bringing new businesses into the city, both big and small. We want Chester to be a place where entrepreneurs feel welcome and where established companies see real potential.

Receivership, while initially a challenge, has provided an unexpected advantage. Because the DCED oversees our receiver, we now have a direct connection to state leadership, all the way up to the Governor’s office. That relationship has been instrumental in moving Chester forward.

What is the flipside of bankruptcy in the case of a city?

Odd as it may sound, receivership and bankruptcy have been a blessing in disguise for Chester. Through this process, the state, especially the DCED, has funneled resources into our city that we wouldn’t have accessed otherwise. These tools and funds are helping us move from being stuck in the past to envisioning a future built on smart growth and modern solutions.

Chester has been at a standstill far too long. But we’re what I like to call an urban planner’s dream. We’re right on the Delaware River. I-95 runs straight through us. So does Amtrak and SEPTA. We’re just 10 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport — closer than many Philly neighborhoods. And we’re home to Widener University. One major goal in our Main Street initiative is to create a walkable connection between Widener’s campus and City Hall. For decades, Chester hasn’t functioned as a college town. That’s something we’re determined to change by encouraging the private sector to bring in the amenities students and faculty want and deserve.

What are some of the city’s biggest challenges now? 

We need more people living in Chester — period. This city once had nearly 90,000 residents. Today we’re down to 35,000. Much of that decline started after the shipbuilding industry disappeared in the mid-20th century. And since then, we haven’t developed a new economic engine to replace it.

The infrastructure we have could easily support double our current population. At the moment, Chester mainly serves as a destination for affordable housing. While our home prices are low, the homes themselves are often outdated and lack appeal. Our administration is pushing to change that. We want to go beyond just affordable housing. We envision a broader mix, at least two additional tiers of housing, to create a healthier, more economically diverse city.

What other opportunities do you see for the city?

One of our greatest untapped opportunities is youth sports. Nationwide, it’s a booming industry, and we’re positioned to be a regional hub for it. The Philadelphia Union has made a significant investment, close to $90 million, into their stadium and surrounding facilities here in Chester. They’ve developed seven or eight new outdoor fields that support soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey.

When those fields officially opened in March 2024, the demand was immediate. Hundreds of people come to Chester during the week to train, and thousands show up on the weekends. It’s exactly what the Union hoped for.

And then there are the tens of thousands of fans who visit our city for Union home games each year, up to 30 times annually. Right now, we’re missing out on the economic potential because we don’t yet have the restaurants, shops, and attractions to serve them. That’s a huge opportunity we’re working to seize.