The Borough of Conshohocken has been putting together an updated version of its Comprehensive Plan for about a year now. Communities are supposed to update these every 10 years for the purpose of providing a framework for goals and aspirations in regard to community development. A task-force of couple members of Borough Council and residents made up the task force. It is not binding.

You can review the draft document here. We read through it. Its pretty repetitive. Nothing to groundbreaking.

We did find the portion on demographics interesting. The changing Demographics of Conshohocken bring up difficult questions on what type of town Conshohocken should be (not in the report, just in our head).

For example, this past year the Borough spent a lot of money on playground equipment in the Borough’s parks. Is this an effort to keep families with kids in Conshohocken or attract them to Conshohocken? If so, will nice parks overcome the issue of house and yard size?

As you will see on page 30, while the number of kids up to age five has grown slightly (6 percent) between 2000 and 2015, the numbers for every other age group made up of children has decreased by over 40%.

The biggest population now living in Conshohocken is those 20 to 35 years of age and 58% of the homes in Conshohocken are occupied by “non-family” households (page 28).

While the draft of the plan acknowledges the population and housing shift, will the money and attention follow?

Should the Borough try to fight the decline of Conshohocken as a family community or fully embrace being a millennial and corporate town.

One thing we have never heard said in a public meeting is what we can do for the young adults we have encouraged to live here through zoning and approving all of these developments. Its always kids and seniors.

Does the Borough really need five parks with playground equipment in one square mile for a population of children that is declining?

Would money on playground equipment have been better spent on beach volleyball pits and pavilions on the river (not that kids wouldn’t enjoy those too) or bathrooms on the Schuylkill River Trail?

What ever happened to kayak and canoe rentals at the Conshohocken Rowing Center? The rowing center and how the Borough portion is utilized is really something that needs exploring in detail.

Its an interesting discussion. Let us know what you think in the comments.