Business View City & Municipal | August 2022

76 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 We were founded in 1695, so we’re an older community. We basically grew up around its road system. We didn’t have the ability to plan for growth back in the 1700s and 1800s as the roads were being developed. All of the housing and the commercial district grew up around that road system.” “Our geographical location in the center of Gloucester County is excellent,” Medany adds. “We have six major highways that touch Deptford. It’s very easy access to get here. Deptford Township is a suburb of Philadelphia, located just ten minutes outside the city. And we are an hour from Atlantic City and not even two hours from New York. We’re an hour and a half to the Poconos. We’re right in the center of everything. So that’s a big draw.” Medany credits two things for Deptford Township’s growth in the 20th century. The first was the post WW2 housing boom. He notes, “We had housing developments start to pop up for all the veterans’ housing. People were getting great mortgages who served in the military. So builders came and started building these housing tracks. And then, people moved here to get out of the big city. It was an urban to suburban flight. A lot of folks moved here from Camden. Everybody wanted a home with a lawn, as opposed to living in the city.” Next, came the Deptford Mall, the largest mall in AT A GLANCE DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY WHAT: A forward-thinking retail-based municipality; population approx. 32,000 WHERE: Gloucester County, New Jersey WEBSITE: www.deptford-nj.org