West Chester verse Phoenixville without visiting... (King of Prussia, West Goshen: sales, 2015, apartments)

[Sophie414]

My wife and I recently signed job offers in Berywn and Malvern and will be moving from across the country within the next 3 months. Due to the virus we will be unable to visit before signing a lease on an apartment.

Based upon this forum and other information we've narrowed it down to these two places. West Chester or Phoenixville.

We are a young family, mid 30s, 1 newborn and another shortly.

We plan to rent an apartment for 1 year but really, really want to buy a house within a year (growing family, apartments our entire life...). House budget will be around 6-750k max. However for what we want (modest 3+ bedrooms, around 2500 sq/feet) we will likely be able to spend less.

We would like to be ~30 minutes from Malvern/Berwyn and ideally ~30 minutes from Lower Merion (family) and somewhat near easy access to Center City.

We're looking for a nice walkable downtown with access to nature and good schools. We very much like taking walks after work either in a downtown area or a nice low-key park, etc. We're hoping for a small town similar in character to places like Bend, OR, Burlington, VT, and Portland, ME but also prefer suburbia (if that makes sense). Like restaurants but not very big into breweries. Very much hate traffic.

The scary part is having to choose without visiting. Yes, we will be renting for a year but I suspect based upon natural factors the place we choose to initially settle will likely be the place we end up living forever.

Thanks everyone!

[Mayvenne]

You have 2 excellent options that you are considering, really. I am more familiar with West Chester and would favor it, but Phoenixville is a great choice as well.
They are both pretty large when discussing areas, so possibly different areas might yield different comments but on the whole, they are both great. I will be curious and sitting back to see the comments offered.

[Flyers Girl]

Hmm, that's a tough one. Neither are super close to Lower Merion, but they're not far either. If I were you, I would prioritize your daily commute (i.e., work) over your occassional commute to family in Lower Merion.

I personally would choose West Chester, but both towns have a lot to offer. The back-road distance between West Chester and Malvern would be about 25 minutes. Tack on no more than 10 minutes for Berwyn. Phoenixville is pretty close to Malvern too, via Route 29. I'd say that Phoenixville wins out on the commute time, but not by enough minutes to be substantive in your decision, IMO.

[Sophie414]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

Hmm, that's a tough one. Neither are super close to Lower Merion, but they're not far either. If I were you, I would prioritize your daily commute (i.e., work) over your occassional commute to family in Lower Merion.

I personally would choose West Chester, but both towns have a lot to offer. The back-road distance between West Chester and Malvern would be about 25 minutes. Tack on no more than 10 minutes for Berwyn. Phoenixville is pretty close to Malvern too, via Route 29. I'd say that Phoenixville wins out on the commute time, but not by enough minutes to be substantive in your decision, IMO.

Thanks! They are close enough to Lower Merion for me (...in laws...).

Looks like we can't really go wrong. There seems to be a bigger supply of housing in West Chester but maybe better nature opportunities near Phoenixville?

[Fireshaker]

Originally Posted by Sophie414

Thanks! They are close enough to Lower Merion for me (...in laws...).

Looks like we can't really go wrong. There seems to be a bigger supply of housing in West Chester but maybe better nature opportunities near Phoenixville?

Yeah, I would say Phoenixville wins on nature. It's very close to Valley Forge National Park, as well as the Schuylkill River and Perkiomen trails. All three are excellent amenities to have in your backyard.

In terms of housing, your budget will probably go further in Phoenixville, since it's a tad more up and coming than West Chester, but you shouldn't have a hard time finding a place in either.

West Chester is the bigger, more bustling town, given that it's the seat of Chester County and is home to the university. Phoenixville is lovely, but it's a bit sleepier in the here and now. You can't really go wrong, but it's just a matter of your preferences.

[TLC1957]

Lived in rural NJ, with few restaurants and entertainment and in 2015 retired and moved to West Chester Borough, we love it. People are very friendly, the town has a community spirit, downtown is alive with always something going on, tons of places to explore, live theater, 50 restaurants plus many shops. The Halloween and Christmas parades are amazing and not to be missed. It seems they always have something going on downtown where they shut down the streets and have a great time. If you love gardens Longwood Gardens is 20 min drive, amazing place a must see. We are members and visit many times during the year. The area around West Chester has many walking and bicycle trails.

Delaware the place with no sales taxes(think liquor, stoves, tv, washer/dryer, etc.) is 20 mins away. Train service to Philly is 15mins away in Exton, local train you are in center city in 55 minutes . You can be in the country in 10 mins. Schools are rated very high. Tons of shopping nearby, King of Prussia mall is 20 mins away, largest mall in the east. Many others malls in the area.

West Chester is a university town, West Chester University with about 10K students on campus, if that bothers you may not like it. You have to be careful not to live near student housing, this website from the borough lists all student housing
http://www.west-chester.com/DocumentCenter/View/34
With that said we have had no problems living near the university. We take advantage of the many free concerts, lectures, etc the university has to offer. The University has a large music program with many talented students. We attend quality concerts 2-3 nights a week, all for free.

https://www.wcupa.edu/music/eventsCalendar.aspx#/?i=1

The local police and campus security keep close tabs on the students and pretty much do not put up with a lot of stuff. Our encounter with students have been great, we were moving in a couch and struggling when all of the sudden it got lighter, a few big guys saw us and stopped and helped and would not take anything for their time.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center http://uptownwestchester.org provides live theater, and concerts. Also the University has live theater, concerts and lectures for a fee
https://www.wcupa.edu/oca/wcuLive/do...18Calendar.pdf

Some streets parking can be a problem so look for homes with off street parking or where parking is not restricted. They love to give out $25 parking tickets! Here is a map http://www.west-chester.com/DocumentCenter/View/764 of where parking is controlled.

Homes can come on the market and be gone in a few hours. When we purchased our home in 2015 we were bidding against 3 others. Our home came on the market on a Friday and they accepted our bid on Monday yea that fast.

When we were looking to move out of NJ,we looked at Media, Chestnut Hill, Phoenixville, Doyestown and several places in Delaware and settled on West Chester a decision we do not regret at all.

More info here
http://www.visitphilly.com/towns/west-chester/

Good luck in your search.

[vimeo]214846692[/vimeo]
https://vimeo.com/214846692

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Sophie414

Thanks! They are close enough to Lower Merion for me (...in laws...).

Looks like we can't really go wrong. There seems to be a bigger supply of housing in West Chester but maybe better nature opportunities near Phoenixville?

The Stroud Preserve is just west of West Chester. https://natlands.org/stroud-preserve/

[TLC1957]

More info on trails in Chester County both existing and planned.

https://www.chescoplanning.org/resou...circuittrails/


https://www.alltrails.com/us/pennsyl...UFkgHzAYFcAMWw

Great blog on West Chester with info on what is happening in town and the schools, comes out every Friday.

https://hellowestchesterpa.com

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Sophie414

Thanks! They are close enough to Lower Merion for me (...in laws...).

Looks like we can't really go wrong. There seems to be a bigger supply of housing in West Chester but maybe better nature opportunities near Phoenixville?

You'll find more to do and experience in West Chester than you will in Phoenixville, and TLC1957 put their finger on one big reason why. But even though there's a sizable university in town, the borough's center doesn't look or feel like the students dominate it, and you still have access to WCU campus arts and culture.

There are a couple of nice trails right in the heart of Phoenixville; one of them begins right at the one surviving building of the old Phoenix Iron Works/Phoenix Iron and Steel Corporation, which gave the borough its reason for being until it closed in the early 1980s.

If you like dining out, however, I think that actually, you will find Phoenixville actually offers a little more bang for the buck on its main street than West Chester does in its downtown, simply because Bridge Street is simply chock-full of eateries and drinkeries. Many of them, however, are craft breweries and brewpubs — beer lovers rate Phoenixville the sudsiest municipality in the Commonwealth, with more brewpubs per square citizen (as one put it) than any other — so you would have to put up with that on your Phoenixville dining journey. But it also is no slouch in the culture department: the Colonial Theater right in the middle of the Bridge Street strip is the keystone of a two-building performing-arts complex, and each year, a weekend festival and street fair celebrates its cameo in the 1957 horror movie "The Blob," which launched a young Steve McQueen on his acting career. The highlight of the event is when patrons who have paid good money to do this recreate the scene in which everyone runs out of the theater screaming when the Blob oozes from its projector. (Of course, they show the actual film the following night.)

[Mayvenne]

I will chime back in to say that the area in general has amazing trails, parks, you name it. We are in the West Chester area, and have been marveling at how many fantastic trails are super close. On a daily basis, now thanks to Covid, we have really enjoyed them. I think there is an abundance of fantastic places to walk/hike in either one but for sure, in WC as well .
Meant to also add that West Chester area is pretty large; there is the boro but there are tons of places outside the boro (Westtown, East and West Goshen, etc etc... all great).