Summary Dashboard · Event 1 · Highland Gardens · Ward 11 · June 26, 2026
Event 1 data loaded
What Event 1 tells us
Chester residents are naming the same crises across every ward and age group — schools, jobs, housing, and health.
130 responses across adult and teen surveys. Ward 11 Highland Gardens is the baseline. Every two weeks adds more signal. The data below is what this community is telling you right now.
Adult responses
118
Community survey
Event 1 baseline
Teen responses
12
Teen survey
Expand at Event 2
Top issue category
Education
67 respondents · 57%
↑ Nearly 2× next issue
Wards represented
9 of 11
Ward coverage (Event 1)
Growing each event
Community priorities — how many selected each area
Education
67
Housing
39
Healthcare
37
Employment
35
Safety
24
Transportation
13
Civic
13
Social Services
12
Ward distribution — where respondents are from
Most "not sure" respondents are Ward 11 event attendees who don't know their ward. Address auto-lookup (next build) resolves this.
Not sure (≈ Ward 11)
69
Ward 1
18
Ward 2
8
Ward 3
5
Ward 11 (known)
5
Ward 7
4
Wards 4, 9
3 ea.
Policy implication Education funding, school safety, and school meals are the top three K-12 sub-issues. These are Chester Upland School District budget priorities — this data supports advocacy for state funding increases.
Grant angle This dataset is a community needs assessment in all but name. It directly supports funding applications to Lenfest, William Penn, and DCIGRA as evidence of documented resident demand.
Candidate question Every Chester council and school board candidate should be asked: "57% of Ward 11 named education their top concern. What is your specific plan for Chester Upland funding?"
Geographic Coverage
Ward 11 Highland Gardens is the Event 1 origin point · Coverage expands every event
Geographic finding
This dataset is Ward 11 — and it's already spreading.
69 "not sure" responses almost certainly belong to Ward 11 residents who attended the Highland Gardens event. When added to the 5 confirmed Ward 11 responses, Ward 11 accounts for an estimated 63% of all adult responses from a single community event. That's strong signal density.
Ward 11 + Est.
74
~63% of total
Ward 1
18
15%
Ward 2
8
7%
Ward 3
5
4%
Ward 7
4
3%
Ward 4
3
3%
Ward 9
3
3%
Ward 10
2
2%
Ward 8
1
1%
Wards 5, 6
0
No data yet
Ward 11 — Highland Gardens precinct detail
Precinct 3 (event site)
Core
Precinct 5 (event site)
Core
Middle precinct
Core
Precinct 1 (waterfront)
Future
Precincts 2, 4, 6
Future
Next event targeting Wards 5 and 6 have zero responses. Wards 4 and 9 have 3 each. Prioritize these locations for Events 2-4 to build city-wide coverage before presenting to city council.
City collaboration pitch This ward coverage map is your opening slide for the city coordinator meeting. Show Event 1 density in Ward 11 and the roadmap to full city coverage across 12 city events.
Education
67 of 118 adult respondents (57%) · Highest-ranked issue by a wide margin
The dominant finding
More than half of every person surveyed named education — and they're not talking about test scores. They're talking about safety, meals, and whether the building works.
One resident put 8 years of context into a single sentence. Teen voices confirm the picture. This is the clearest policy mandate in the dataset.
Community voice
Adult + teen
"Concentrate on the three R's at the elementary levels. The programs tried by Chester Upland over the last 8 years have been ineffective."
"Que sea mas segura" — make it safer. (Spanish-speaking resident)
"Less fights and more teachers that teach." — Teen respondent
"Teachers who believe in you." — Teen respondent
K–12 education issues — what residents flagged
Funding
38
School safety
28
Facilities
26
Meals
26
After-school
25
Counseling
23
Teachers
22
Technology
19
Arts programs
18
Adult education needs — workforce pipeline issues
Job training
36
Affordable programs
26
GED / adult diploma
23
ESL classes
21
Computer literacy
18
Vocational training
14
Accessible programs
14
More programs
11
Policy pressure point Chester Upland School District has been under state receivership. This data provides documented resident demand for funding restoration — direct input for state-level advocacy letters and testimony.
Grant narrative The Chester Media Institute / workforce training frame for Barra Foundation maps directly to adult ed needs here: job training (36), GED (23), ESL (21). This dataset is supporting evidence.
On-air story "57% of Ward 11 says education is failing — we asked the Chester Upland superintendent to respond." The data gives CMP Radio an accountable, documented hook.
Housing & Infrastructure
39 of 118 adult respondents (33%)
The housing finding
Residents aren't choosing between affordability and quality — they're experiencing both failures at once, from landlords who won't fix units they're overcharging for.
Quality (22) and affordability (20) are nearly tied. Blight and landlord issues (14 each) confirm this is a renter-dominated community with property condition and cost compounding each other.
Community voice
"High rent etc" — repeated across housing and employment sections
"Pot holes, the smell on the west side" — paired complaint: infrastructure + environment
"All houses" — sweeping quality concern, not one specific building
"Inseguridad" — a Spanish-speaking resident connecting housing conditions to safety
Housing concerns
Quality/conditions
22
Affordability
20
Blight
14
Landlord issues
14
Homelessness
12
Lead paint
4
Foreclosure
2
Infrastructure concerns
Sidewalks
16
Roads
15
Waste mgmt
15
Electricity
10
Lighting
10
Sewage
9
Water quality
6
Green space
6
Policy pressure point Landlord accountability (14 respondents) + housing quality (22) = a documented case for strengthening Chester's rental inspection and code enforcement. This is city council territory.
Grant angle Foundation for Delaware County and similar local funders support housing access and community development. This data documents the need baseline for a housing-focused application.
Candidate question "33% of Ward 11 residents flagged housing quality and landlord issues. What enforcement mechanisms will you support to hold property owners accountable?"
Healthcare
37 of 118 adult respondents (31%)
The healthcare finding
Chester doesn't have a hospital. Its residents know it, feel it, and said it out loud — multiple times, independently, without being asked.
No insurance (27) dominates the data. But the open text tells the real story: residents aren't asking for better healthcare — they're asking for a hospital to exist at all. This is a healthcare desert with documented community demand.
Community voice — the hospital demand
"We should definitely have a hospital by now for the sake of the kids."
"A hospital." — Named independently by multiple respondents without prompting.
Healthcare barriers — ranked
No insurance
27
Not enough doctors
19
Too far away
16
Too expensive
11
Wait times
10
Lack of specialists
8
Pharmacy access
6
Language barriers
5
Policy pressure point Crozer-Chester Medical Center's closure left a documented gap. This data gives advocacy organizations and state legislators a community voice record supporting healthcare access legislation for Chester specifically.
On-air story "31% of Ward 11 residents named healthcare as a crisis. Chester has no hospital. We're asking the Delaware County Health Department: what is the plan?" — Direct, data-backed accountability journalism.
Employment & Economy
35 of 118 adult respondents (30%)
The employment finding
Even when jobs exist, systemic barriers are keeping Chester residents out — criminal records and discrimination are equally named, and nearly as common as low wages.
Lack of jobs (31) is the dominant barrier, but criminal record barriers (11) and discrimination (11) tie for second. This is a community asking for both job creation and barrier removal.
Employment barriers
Lack of jobs
31
Low wages
12
Criminal record
11
Discrimination
11
Ed. requirements
10
Transportation
8
Lack of experience
8
Childcare
7
Business development needs
Tax relief
16
Funding
14
Training
14
Buy local
9
Permits/red tape
8
Commercial spaces
8
Minority support
6
Policy pressure point Criminal record barriers (11) and discrimination (11) tied: both point to fair hiring ordinances and ban-the-box policies at the city level. Documented community demand exists here.
Grant angle Job training (36 responses) is the most-requested adult education need. The Chester Media Institute / workforce training frame for Barra Foundation is directly supported by this data.
Candidate question "Residents report criminal records and discrimination as the top systemic employment barriers. What specific ordinances will you introduce to remove these barriers?"
Safety & Policing
24 of 118 adult respondents (20%) · Teen survey adds critical depth here
The most politically significant finding
Zero residents want less police. The community wants police who build trust, respond better, and are better trained — not fewer police.
This directly contradicts defund narratives. It is a documented, ward-level community position that any candidate or official must now contend with if CMP publishes it.
Safety concerns — what residents named
Drug activity
17
Gun violence
15
Domestic violence
13
Youth safety
11
Abandoned buildings
11
Community trauma
10
Gang activity
10
Poor lighting
10
What residents want from police
Build trust
17
Better response
16
Better training
15
Community programs
12
Accountability
11
More presence
7
Addr. discrimination
5
Less presence
0
Policy pressure point Trust-building + better response + better training = a community-endorsed platform for police reform that is not defunding. This data is a political shield and a mandate simultaneously.
Candidate question "Ward 11 residents want trust-building and better training — not fewer officers. Where do you stand on community policing programs and officer accountability?"
On-air story "Chester residents say zero want less police. We asked city officials: what is the current plan for community policing?" — Factual, documented, and politically significant.
Social Services & Civic Engagement
Social Services: 12 respondents · Civic: 13 respondents
The civic finding
Residents want to participate — but they're blocked by time, distrust, and a government that doesn't communicate in plain language.
One resident's open comment cuts to the core: city council meeting summaries should be "digestible for the average person, especially in a community whose education system is lacking." That's both a civic design brief and a CMP Radio opportunity.
Civic engagement barriers
No time
4
Don't trust govt
4
Childcare needs
4
Don't know how
3
Language barriers
2
Voice doesn't matter
2
Social services needed
Food assistance
7
Housing help
7
Mental health
7
Job placement
6
Trauma support
5
Senior services
5
Addiction treatment
5
Community voice — civic requests
"Have Town Halls." — Residents want direct access, not filtered government.
"Provide summaries of city council meetings in layman's terms. Make the city happenings digestible for the average person, especially in a community whose education system is lacking."
"I want to be an immigrant advocate." — A resident identifying as a potential civic leader.
"Cars" — a resident's note on transportation as the real civic barrier
CMP Radio opportunity The request for plain-language city council summaries IS CMP's mission. A weekly "What City Hall Did This Week" segment directly answers this community ask — and creates a regular accountability platform.
Platform implication Distrust (4), "voice doesn't matter" (2), and "don't know how" (3) combined = 9 residents who want to participate but can't. Town halls with CMP Radio coverage are a direct structural solution.
Teen Survey
12 respondents · Ages 13–19 · Chester High, Farrell, STEM, Charter Scholars, Overbrook
What Chester's youth are saying
Teens want jobs above everything else — and they want leaders who actually listen to them, not leaders who dismiss what they feel as excuses.
The raw quote from the mental health section says it directly: "Stop thinking we're just saying this as an excuse or joke because it's not." This is a generation asking to be taken seriously.
What teens wish leaders understood
"Listen to us when we talk."
"They don't get our emotions."
"Life is stressful for us."
"It's not as easy as they think."
"We need more resources."
"Stop thinking we're just saying this as an excuse or joke because it's not." — on mental health
Teen top priorities — all 3 slots combined
Jobs
9
Schools
7
Voice / agency
6
Safety
4
College / career
3
Mental health
2
What teens say would make Chester safer
Teen jobs
7
Better lighting
5
Youth centers
5
Violence prevention
5
After-school
4
More police (fair)
4
Less police
0
Grant narrative Teen responses document youth job demand (7 of 12), mental health need, and school environment concerns. This directly supports NBCU Local Impact Grant and People's Media Fund youth-focused frames.
On-air story "We asked Chester teens what would make them safer. Their #1 answer was jobs — not police." — This is a CMP Radio story that leads with youth voice, backed by data, and challenges assumptions about what safety means in this community.
Community Voice
Unfiltered open-text responses — adults and teens
Why this matters
Numbers count what people chose from a list. These responses are what people chose to say on their own.
Research shows that identifiable, individual voices are more persuasive to policymakers and funders than aggregate statistics. These quotes are evidence — not illustration.
Adults — top priorities (unprompted free text)
"Fix streets, more police in the area / frequency"
"Stop the street violence"
"School safe"
"Security"
Adults — desired changes for Chester
"That there was no violence"
"Pot holes, the smell on the west side"
"Inseguridad" — unsafe conditions (Spanish)
Adults — civic requests
"Have Town Halls"
"Provide summaries of city council meetings in layman's terms. Make the city happenings digestible for the average person, especially in a community whose education system is lacking."
"I want to be an immigrant advocate"
Adults — Chester strengths
"Coming together as a community"
"Community" — named by multiple respondents
"Not aware of any" — an honest response worth tracking over time
Teens — change one thing about Chester + hopes for the future
Change one thing
More pools Clean up Safer neighborhoods Have it just be peace Violence (×2) Crimes
Hopes for the future
"Less gunfire and kidnappings"
"People who actually want to help the youth"
"People helping out"
Language note: Spanish-language responses appeared across housing, education, and safety sections ("Que sea mas segura," "Inseguridad"). The bilingual survey is capturing voices that would otherwise be invisible. As volume grows, a separate Spanish-response analysis layer is warranted.
Build Roadmap
Chester Community Platform — CMP Radio Foundation · CMP is the sole data steward
Collection cadence
Every 2 weeks
Started June 26, 2026
Surveys deployed
2
Adult + Teen on Cloudflare Pages
City events (potential)
12
City coordinator conversation active
Ward coverage
9/11
Event 1 baseline
Build sequence — evidence-based platform development
1
Community surveys — adult + teen
Bilingual, mobile-optimized, Google Sheets backend. Deployed on Cloudflare Pages. Ward map added to survey for reference.
Live
2
Evidence-based staff dashboard (this file)
Redesigned around: insight-first narrative layout, loss framing, social norm indicators, action blocks per section, pre-attentive visual encoding. Grounded in JMIR 2026 dashboard research, Kahneman/Tversky behavioral economics, City Health Dashboard model, and CHI narrative visualization research.
Built — this file
3
Address-to-ward auto-lookup
Replace ward dropdown in both surveys with a street address field. Google Maps geocode + Delaware County GIS precinct boundary polygon lookup assigns ward/precinct invisibly. Eliminates the "not sure" problem from Event 2 forward. Requires GeoJSON download from maps-delcogis.opendata.arcgis.com — note 2026 precinct consolidations may affect boundaries.
Next build
4
Live Google Sheets data connection
Dashboard pulls directly from the Google Sheet via published CSV URL. Each new event's responses appear automatically without manual export or rebuild. No backend infrastructure needed.
Next build
5
Multi-event longitudinal tracking
Once 3+ events are collected: trend lines per issue, ward coverage progress map, response volume growth, issue rank shifts over time. This is where the platform becomes irreplaceable — no one else will have this longitudinal Chester data.
Planned — Event 3+
6
Candidate scoring framework
Issue-based voter education tool: candidate positions mapped against community data by ward. Scoring methodology documented and applied consistently across all candidates in a race. Structured as education, not endorsement — protects 501(c)(3) status while enabling civic impact. Behavioral economics note: social norm pressure ("Your ward said X — candidate Y has no position") is the mechanism.
Planned — election cycle
7
CMP Radio content integration
Data feeds on-air programming. Every issue section becomes a show segment. Every ward finding becomes an accountability interview. The platform and the radio station become the same civic infrastructure.
Planned — ongoing
Research foundation: This platform is built on evidence from the City Health Dashboard (NYU/PMC 2019), JMIR healthcare dashboard scoping review (2026), public health dashboard playbook (PMC 2026), CHI narrative visualization research, Kahneman & Tversky prospect theory, Thaler & Sunstein nudge theory, and Urban Institute community data equity frameworks.