What's West Chester like? (Phoenixville, Downingtown: for sale, rental, neighborhoods)

[scubashawn68]

What's West Chester like?

[kelb]

Fun town with lots to do. Cool restaurants and bars along Gay St with outdoor dining. Some nice shops, coffee shops, etc.

[sbhubbell]

Very nice town with a college town feel, some trendy spots but familiy friendly. Decent school district with tons of nice neighborhoods, some established and some new.

[toobusytoday]

I just spent most of the day in West Chester at a huge festival in the center of town. We lived North of the city in Downingtown for four years and South of the City in Garnet Valley for six years and went to church in WC for those ten years. This morning I went back to the church and then stayed afterwards for the restaurant fair. They closed off several blocks of the downtown area and had lots of booths of restaurants, crafts, non-profit, etc. The whole area was packed and it was even hard to move in the crowds. I couldn't believe the diversity of the food. WC is a great town with good schools and lots of things to do. No, it's not a city and if you are looking for stores open 24 hours it's not going to be WC, but a good place to live and raise a family.

[orrmobl]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

... The whole area was packed and it was even hard to move in the crowds...

This is why I don't like West Chester...we went to a food festival a few years back and between the people, large dogs (I kid you not) and other strollers, it was a zoo.

You know how an up-and-coming place is all cool until everyone discovers it and moves in and changes it and then it's not cool anymore? West Chester is heading that way. No thanks!

But I would recommend you check out Media for an old fashioned downtown complete with Trader Joe's or Phoenixville for that up-and-coming type vibe...

[toobusytoday]

If you go to the Media Food Festival the first weekend in October (I'll be there!) you will see the same crowds, different restaurants. The festivals make the towns fun, imho, but those crowds are not there during the week.

[scubashawn68]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

This is why I don't like West Chester...we went to a food festival a few years back and between the people, large dogs (I kid you not) and other strollers, it was a zoo.

You know how an up-and-coming place is all cool until everyone discovers it and moves in and changes it and then it's not cool anymore? West Chester is heading that way. No thanks!

But I would recommend you check out Media for an old fashioned downtown complete with Trader Joe's or Phoenixville for that up-and-coming type vibe...

Thanks. I will look into Media also...Love Trader Joe's !

[Pilot1]

I love West Chester and go there every time I come to Philly to check my rental property which is just north. I like Gay St. (except for the name ) and the Iron Hill Brewery and restaurants in that area.

[orrmobl]

I went to the Media food festival maybe 10 years ago and there was nowhere near the crowd West Chester gets. West Chester is a bigger town with a huge suburban population, and it gets a lot more "lookie loos". And the college kids with the dogs!

Media is a smaller town with a smaller population - unless you're from Media, a lot of people don't even know the food festival is going on - they wait until their little town has one or don't bother going at all...

[toobusytoday]

I do hate to argue with you orrmobl, but I happened to go to the Media food fair last year and it was just as crowded as West Chester's was this year. Coincidentally, yesterday was the first time I had attended West Chester's in probably ten years and it was like night and day between now and then. I think the festivals just gain in popularity year after year. It's a pretty cool concept to have appetizers for sale from so many restaurants so you can sample several different places. Weather is probably a huge factor too. Yesterday was a perfect weather day. I hope it's just as nice in a couple of weeks when we go to Media's. That will be my stock-up day at TJ's too. I think the two towns have more similarities then differences.