Other than a lone Rite Aid, not a single national retail store occupies space downtown.īut just 20 years ago, things weren’t quite so lively in this town of 20,000, which serves as the Chester County seat. Walter, architect of the United States Capitol Dome.Īlthough Gay Street is considered the town’s primary artery, both High and Market streets-as well as connecting side streets-are populated with more than 60 restaurants and nearly as many retail shops, offering everything from vintage clothing to gourmet chocolates. (There are even a few that date to the 1790s.) More than 4,000 of the town’s 6,000 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of a historic district, including its centerpiece, a Greek Revival courthouse designed in 1846 by Thomas U. It’s got a supremely walkable downtown of approximately 20 square blocks, lined mostly with a mix of commercial and residential structures built between 18. West Chester, located about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, is often held up as a poster child for idyllic small-town living-albeit one with big-city vibes. Want a table? Good luck, the host will tell you there’s a 40-minute wait.
At Sedona Taphouse, diners wait to sample some of the more than 50 beers on draft. Over at the circa-1916 National Guard armory, now repurposed as the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center, film fans watch a series of short flicks, part of the West Chester Film Festival. A group of teens lines up for scoops of Mocha Chip and English Toffee Crunch at Scoops ‘N’ Smiles ice cream shop. Gay Street, the burg’s main drag, is filled with couples out on dates, a smattering of families, and throngs of students from nearby West Chester University. It’s another busy Friday night in downtown West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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