Centered around a historic downtown and a college campus
West Chester, a small borough about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, is defined by its historic downtown area in its center and the expansive campus of West Chester University on the south side. In many ways, it serves as a self-contained city, as residents are able to find shops, restaurants, brand-name grocery stores and plenty of annual events without venturing to the City of Brotherly Love’s busy streets. “West Chester is one of those that people get obsessed with,” says Sean Elstone, a Realtor with Keller Williams Main Line Realty. “It’s beautiful, and it’s in horse country. There’s tons of green space, state parks and it’s easy enough to find on a map.”
West Chester University’s presence on the south side comes in the form of a sweeping campus with most of its central buildings surrounding an open, grassy area for students to hang out. The downtown area celebrates its small businesses with various events throughout the year, and outside of the downtown the area takes on the form of a suburb with expansive lawns and large homes. With a population of nearly 20,000, the city also won the 2017 Great American Main Street Award for the growth and revitalization of the commercial district. “People are totally fanatical about Westchester – people love to say they live in, or are from, Westchester,” Elstone says. “It has a beautiful downtown with a great local food scene.”
Friends gather to eat, drink, and laugh at the Gay Street Open-Air Market.
Gay and High Streets serve as the center of West Chester's lively dining scene.
West Chester University students let off steam with some disc throwing on The Quad.
The local pubs enjoy the increased foot traffic the annual Christkindlmarkt brings.
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Several main streets of shopping and dining
Gay, Chestnut and Market Streets all run parallel to each other in the downtown area, and are all connected by High Street, which runs perpendicular to the trio of thoroughfares. Within the historic area of downtown, residents can find a wide array of boutique shops, craft stores and more. Restaurants fall into a selection of breweries, taverns, grills and cafes. “All of it is in West Chester,” Elstone says of finding shopping or dining. “You don’t have to go anywhere. There are so many restaurants in the center of West Chester, and Market Street has a number of restaurants.” The downtown is its own hub, meaning residents won’t have to venture out to Philadelphia. Historic sites include the Lincoln Building, where the first biography of Abraham Lincoln was published.
Residents can also engage in a mixture of events, be it as small as a karaoke night or as large as street festivals. The Gay Street Open-Air Market was first launched in 2021 and has taken place every year since, where four blocks of Gay Street are shut down from Friday to Monday mornings, each weekend from early May to the end of September. Its aim is to bring the community together, and local stores and restaurants set up shop outdoors for residents to stroll through. Grocery stops include a GIANT in the downtown area and a ShopRite to the east.
Red brick sidewalks contribute to West Chester's hometown feel.
West Chester has many historic sites such as the Lincoln Building on Market Street.
West Chester residents have several grocery options such as ShopRite along Rt 3.
Walking and window shopping are popular pastimes in West Chester.
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Commemorating aviation, music, wine and more
Besides the weekly market extravaganza from spring to early fall, residents have no shortage of other events and landmarks. Less than 5 miles north of the region, the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center has more than 40 aircraft for locals to view, including several that allow visitors to get an inside look. Live music fills the air at the Turks Head Music Festival, which has endured for over 40 years and celebrates music, arts and more.
Wineries are also in the area, with a pair of prominent establishments each less than 10 miles away. “There are a bunch of wineries in the area, and Chaddsford Winery is probably the shining star,” Elstone says. “Longwood Gardens isn’t far away. The area is known for farms and horse farms, so there’s a lot of agriculture.” Residents can get a full experience of the wineries by taking to the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail.
The American Helicopter Museum is a hidden gem known to few outside West Chester.
Chaddsford Winery provides West Chester folks with a fun place to enjoy local wines.
The appeal of the West Chester Grower's Market is the variety of products available.
Live music can be seen and heard along the length of the Gay Street Open-Air Market.
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A city centered around West Chester University
The West Chester Area School District is comprised of 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and three high schools, and Niche gives the district as a whole an A rating. West Chester University’s campus sprawls on the south side of the area, with a central open grassy area surrounded by the school buildings. “It feels a little bit more like a main street USA kind of town, and it’s a university town at the same time,” Elstone says. “West Chester University is the heart and soul of West Chester, and it’s a big factor in employment and student housing.”
The school is more than 150 years old and has an undergraduate enrollment of nearly 15,000, along with around 3,000 postgraduate students. “There’s a lot of longtime residents in the center of town, but downtown, a lot of it is rentals for students,” Elstone says. “A lot are local southeastern Pennsylvania residents that will commute, but you probably have 5,000 to 8,000 students in downtown West Chester.” The school’s notable alumni include First Lady Jill Biden and University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
Brandywine reek runs through West Chester and connects with the Christina River in Delaware.
Some call West Chester a suburb of Philadelphia but it's really a city all its own.
A young family takes advantage of a sunny February day in West Chester.
A four-legged West Chester resident asserts his rights over a stump in Everhart Park.
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Nearby highways, but distant from the city
The West Chester Bypass and Route 202 are the closest major roads. The bypass connects the area with major interstates like 76 and 95, and the closest access to Interstate 95 is around 15 miles south in Wilmington. Getting to Philadelphia by car requires a trip of over 30 miles east. “People are living in West Chester to not have to go to Philadelphia for anything except sports and to use the international airport,” Elstone says. “Generally speaking, they are more likely to go to Delaware than Philadelphia. They’re close enough that they can.” SEPTA public transportation services include buses and trains; for rail travel, residents can head about 5 miles north to the Exton stop. Philadelphia International Airport sits a bit closer than the city itself, just under 25 miles away.
Various park sizes and golf courses
A number of parks are scattered in and around West Chester, ranging from smaller, pocket green spaces to more expansive tracts of land. The private West Chester Golf Club has a nine-hole course on the north side of the city. “They have their own park squares throughout the town, but once you get out of town, golf is everywhere that you look,” Elstone says. “Radley Run Country Club is up there, and there’s Hershey’s Mill Golf Club and White Manor Country Club. Brandywine Creek runs through the middle of West Chester, and it’s attached to that. The Brandywine Museum of Art is beautiful.” The three golf courses are all located less than 10 miles from West Chester, and the creek itself is a tributary of the Christina River.
The West Chester Golf Club is a private venue located just outside the downtown area.
At over 1100 acres, Longwood Gardens is the largest botanical garden in the US.
Everhart Park is a popular destination for fun and events such as Turk's Head Music Festival
The memorial fountain at Marshall Square Park is a West Chester landmark.
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Stately homes and a variety of townhouses
Homes in West Chester have a median selling price of $565,808, which is above the national median cost of $416,700 and significantly higher than the statewide median price. “West Chester is amazing,” Elstone says. “It’s like a ton of those stone, colonial, center-hall, beautiful homes. Everybody ends up with a much larger lot. The further out from Philly you go, the larger the lots get. The average is probably over an acre.”
Properties in the city only stay on market for around two weeks, and housing styles include Cape Cods and ranch-style homes along with the colonials. Single-family homes frequently cost anywhere from $550,000 to $1.5 million, depending on style and acreage. Townhouses are also popular in the area, and commonly cost between $350,000 and $700,000. Others can range into the million-dollar range. “Everybody’s got these big, beautiful trees in their yard, and if you drive three miles in any direction, you pass horse farms,” Elstone says. “I’m telling you, it’s gorgeous.”
On a yearly basis, West Chester receives almost a full foot of rainfall above the national mean, with 49 inches of rain recorded; the United States averages 38. Its 22 inches of snowfall are close to the national average of 28, and it experiences cold winters and warm summers due to its location in the northeastern United States.
Homes in West Chester come in many sizes including townhouses close to downtown.
Single-story ranches and Cape Cods with front yards can been throughout West Chester.
Newer, colonial homes with large yards can be found just outside downtown West Chester.
This modern, contemporary home sits on a large lot very close to downtown West Chester.
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Low crime rates in West Chester
West Chester is considered safer than 27% of cities in the United States, recording 17.36 offenses per 1,000 locals on an annual basis according to FBI data. It records about 34 violent crimes each year, as opposed to 305 property-based offenses.
Meghan has worked in Real Estate since 2004, first by owning her own Real Estate Brokerage, Image One Real Estate Services, then for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, and now for Compass RE. Meghan first entered the field to work alongside her husband, Jason Chorin, a real estate investor/developer throughout the area. After a few years of only working with real estate investors, Meghan started to build a referral base that allowed her to expand her business. And 20+ years later, Meghan can confidently say there is nothing else she would rather do! Meghan adores assisting sellers and buyers through their real estate journey and her goal is to make the process as seamless as possible. Meghan works actively with buyers and sellers throughout Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery Counties and is also licensed in New Jersey and Delaware. Meghan’s areas of focus in NJ are all of the shore points and while in DE, her client focus is the areas outside of Wilmington and the DE/PA border.
Meghan graduated with her BSN from Villanova University in 2003 and worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for two years before entering into real estate. When working with her clients, she tries to use one of the most important aspects of nursing- holistic care. There is so much that goes into buying/selling a home and making the focus on the client, their family, and their needs guarantee a successful real estate transaction!
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
