Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a faded 11,000-population steel town 46

Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a faded 11,000-population steel town 46 miles west of Philadelphia, is trying to move forward with ideas that were generated last October in a charrette organized by the Knight Fellows in Community Building at the University of Miami. The charrette’s proposals included redevelopment of a steel mill site and improvement of the downtown by adding new buildings that complement the old ones. “The charrette triggered the signing of development agreements (essentially promises to work together) between the City and two developers, and one of them has actually begun rehabbing a building in town that will house a restaurant and medical offices,” says Knight Program director Charles Bohl.