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Collingswood population age 5-14 1990: 1,874 2000: 1,765 Change: -5.82% Source:U.S. Census Bureau Collingswood population ages 35-54 1990: 3,845 2000: 4,467 Change: +16.48% Source:U.S. Census Bureau Collingswood population ages 55-84 1990: 3,341 2000: 2,847 Change: -14.78% Source:U.S. Census Bureau |
By AHAN KIM
Courier-Post Staff
Joan Ferrara can easily recall three neighbors on her street - all of whom were well into their sunset years - who have passed away in the past few years.
Ferrara, president of the Collingswood chapter of AARP, says what she has witnessed on her quiet borough street is a natural consequence of the overall aging of Collingswood' s population.
"The homes I see going up for sale are the seniors'," said Ferrara, a 25-year resident of East Franklin Street. " What I'm seeing is they are passing and the homes are being bought by younger couples."
Although Ferrara, 68, is saddened by watching her fellow seniors move on, she said the face of Collingswood is changing for the better as a younger population is moving in, bringing life to the community.
"Collingswood is moving forward, not backward," she said. "I can't say in how many years Collingswood will be mainly young people, but it will definitely be coming."
This transition, which has been occurring for the past decade or so, is a slow, but sure, change.
Evidence of this can be found in the number of trendier, upscale boutiques catering to the newer and younger professional families. These stores have been lining Haddon Avenue for several years now. Restaurants, also built to attract families with more disposable income, have not been far behind.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the number of residents aged 60 to 84 has dropped considerably in Collingswood during the past decade. The borough lost as many as 34 percent of its residents between the ages of 65 to 74 between 1990 and 2000, from 1,315 to 870.
But residents say the decrease in the senior population is a result not of seniors moving out of Collingswood, but simply that they are aging.
Also, the number of residents aged 85 and older has increased within the past decade about 25 percent. In 1990 there were 284 people in this age group; in 2000, when the last census figures were taken, there were 357.
"That's because the age group that's past 80, they stay in their homes until they die," said John Kane, the director of community development for Collingswood.
Many of those now moving into the community are younger couples, either with no children or with children who are under school-age, Kane said.
According to the census, the number of children between the ages of five and 14 has decreased more than 5 percent over the past 10 years.
"We're in that state of flux where people are hanging on to their homes and the (number of) people who are moving in has not caught up yet," Kane said.
One young couple, the John and Kathleen Mininno, are part of this migration of younger couples finding homes in Collingswood. Kathleen, 32, is an assistant prosecutor for Camden County and her 38-year-old husband is a partner at Cahill, Wilinsky and Rhodes law firm.
About three and a half years ago, they purchased an old Victorian home on West Browning Road. They have two daughters, 2-year-old Megan and 9-month-old Maddie.
What initially attracted the couple to their corner house was its location. It sits directly across from Knight Park, where Kathleen enjoys taking the kids from time to time.
"Now what attracts me is the people and the town itself," she said. "It's just a friendly town and the downtown has just been thriving."
Realtors serving Collingswood said they are finding many younger couples echo this sentiment.
"What they're really buying is a lifestyle," said Patric Ciervo, a broker for Main Street Realty in Collingswood. " They want to be able to have their kids walk home from school" and play at nearby baseball fields.
Ciervo, whose realty sits on Haddon Avenue, said, " Collingswood is being discovered. You can get more house and more yard, and you're close to the city."
When the Mininnos originally purchased the house, it was a duplex. They lived in it for a little over a year, until Labor Day weekend 2000, when they held a "wall-breaking party" and invited several neighbors over to celebrate.
Since then, they have been renovating the home, built in 1903, which includes 14 rooms, four chandeliers and 12-foot high ceilings.
"I like the size of the house," Kathleen Mininno said. " When we looked in Haddonfield, the homes were smaller" for the same amount of money.
As for those Collingswood residents who are about to enter their senior years, there is an adult apartment community that is under construction on Champion Avenue, at the edge of Newton Lake.
The new apartment complex is on the former site of the Eldridge Gardens, which officials took over through eminent domain in May 2000.
Pewter Village Urban Renewal LLC is in the process of turning the property into Pewter Village, a complex of 84 apartments that will be available to those aged 55 and older. The complex will be set in an environment that is intended to be appealing to those living an "active adult lifestyle."
"We've received an enormous response" from interested people," said Barbara Cheski, the director of community marketing. "We saw a need for this in the community."
Cheski estimates that she has already received about 500 phone calls from people inquiring about the apartments.
Where it was possible, additional dens were added to several one-bedroom apartments and the village will feature fewer steps than would normally be found in apartment developments.
The apartments will go for market rate and potential tenants will need to meet an income requirement, just like residents in other apartment complexes. The developer expects the apartments to become available late this spring.
Today and Tomorrow stories:
- Profile: Collingswood
- Collingswood: Blending its past, present
Incorporated in 1888, the borough of Collingswood has managed to hold on to its past while meeting the challenges of the present and looking forward to those of the future. - English as a Second Language classes double in size
While many teachers at Collingswood schools have seen their class sizes shrink over the past decade, the number of students in Alyce DelCastillo's classes has doubled in the last five years. - Collingswood booms with robust business districts
There's no doubt about it - business in Collingswood is booming. - Slowly, but surely, town's population is becoming younger
Joan Ferrara can easily recall three neighbors on her street - all of whom were well into their sunset years - who have passed away in the past few years. - Library stays connected to town's changing ethnic patterns
Like other institutions in this all-American inner-ring suburb, the Collingswood Public Library has found itself changing to meet the changing needs of the borough's citizenry. - Single-family homes in, duplexes out
Collingswood Mayor M. James Maley Jr. said just about every neighborhood in his borough has a problem duplex property. - Night life: The Living Room is the place to be
On the corner of Collings and Haddon avenues is a building that shines in the evening like a welcoming beacon on a mostly darkened street. It's The Living Room, a coffee house where locals and people from out of town gather to hear live music and have a good time. - What do you think will be different in Collingswood in 2010?
Donna Herbster, 31, owns Halo, a boutique on Haddon Avenueand lives above the store.