Today that hill is looking better than it has in years. Nobody wants to hide it now. At Chester's Hillarity festival in October, more than 10,000 people came - a record for this town of 7,355. It's important to him to recognize all members of the community. Glinda Price-Coleman, news director of the Chester News and Reporter and a Chester native, says Chester is a pleasant place to live.
Crime is low, neighbors are good.
She thinks the schools provide a good education. At 35, she can see how her hometown has changed, how downtown thrived before a bypass and strip shopping centers attracted people away. Now, with downtown restored, some of the people who grew up in Chester have found their way home. There's also affordable housing, some of it in the town's 250-acre historic district, says Nancy Anderson, the real estate agent. Retirees are moving in, and so are people who commute to Rock Hill, Charlotte and Columbia.