by Steve Reinbrecht
[I reported this in August.]
Premise: We want people to come to Berks County.
We want the best workers to work in our businesses.
We want people to visit and spend money and go home and tell friends how much fun they had in Greater Reading.
We want smart young people to come and study here and maybe stay and start businesses and families.
Reality: We have to work hard to attract people here.
At this point, we don’t have the jobs to lure many employees. In fact, more than 40 percent of Berks workers commute to jobs outside the county, according to 2011 statistics.
We don’t have nationally ranked colleges.
We don’t have blockbuster attractions like neighboring counties do, such as the Valley Forge Casino next door in Montgomery County or an amusement park like Dorney Park, with Steel Force, the ninth longest steel roller coaster in the world. Longwood Gardens, in Chester County, had 1.1 million visits in 2013. Valley Forge National Historical Park gets 1.3 million visitors a year.
But maybe Berks doesn’t have to be a regional powerhouse in education or tourism or even employment.
“Be careful what you wish for,” said Berks County Commissioner Mark Scott. Many people like the quiet life here, prefer cornfields to development, and are happy to drive an hour to ride a roller coaster, he said.
“People who live here don’t feel deprived of a Dorney Park.”
