Farewell, Chestnut Hill

Well, Chestnut Hill. The time has come for me to say goodbye.

While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed overseeing our wonderful news and information site for the past few months, it’s time for me to move on.

I was offered the chance to edit the Roxborough-Manayunk Patch, and I took it. In the spirit of full disclosure, my decision was in part due to my familiarity with those two neighborhoods, since I covered that part of the city in my previous job as a reporter for The Star newspaper.

The ability to once again be a part of those neighborhoods was too much to pass up.

At the same time, the decision was bittersweet, since I’ve grown fond of the Hill and the people here.

Covering your neighborhood afforded me the opportunity to interact with new folks, and see a different part of Philadelphia that was somewhat foreign to me, being a Northeast Philly native.

I enjoyed, albeit for a brief period of time, covering a neighborhood with a lot of potential.

I gained an appreciation for the versatile housing stock; being a history buff, I especially enjoyed looking at, and learning about, the historic homes in the community.

I also got to see firsthand the pride local merchants take in the neighborhood. Those occasions meeting with Greg Welsh of the Chestnut Hill Business Association, the group’s president, gave me insight into how business owners and restaurateurs feel about their little corner of the city.

Strolling Germantown Avenue with Eileen Reilly was always an enjoyable experience, the local retail recruiter’s passion for the commercial corridor clearly contagious.

I also met with a few of the local civic leaders, whose pride in the neighborhood also shines through.

All in all, the three months I spent here were well worth it. And now, as I officially move into my new position as editor of Roxborough Patch, I get to reflect on my time spent in Chestnut Hill.

Wednesday is significant because it marks my first day in the new position, but it also marks three months to the day that Chestnut Hill Patch launched, that Nov. 16 date still fresh in my mind.

So it’s now that I get to say goodbye, Chestnut Hill. I won’t be far–just across the park, really–so I won’t look at this as a permanent departure. But it is a sendoff, and one I didn’t want to pass up.

All the best,

Jon Campisi