Head up 75 North and then take exit 19, 21 or 23. This is your ticket to that little township that seems to get bigger by day.
1. “You know where IKEA is? That’s where I live.”
I have no idea how the kids who went to school before IKEA was built were able to explain where West Chester is. Without a doubt, every single person that isn’t from Cincinnati (or is) links West Chester with that IKEA, which, plot twist, has been around for five years.
2. 1998 West Chester is not 2015 West Chester.
When my parents moved to West Chester in 1998, probably 80 to 90 percent of the township was farms. Today, I’d say it's about 15 percent. West Chester isn’t the place you take your kids back to and show them the movie theater you had your first kiss at, your old high school or the woods you use to play in. Cause chances are the woods are now a Target, and the movie theater and school have been relocated or remodeled 247 times.
3. There is no one “Lakota High School.”
C’mon. It’s not 1990. There is a Lakota East and Lakota West. In another 10 years there will probably be a Lakota North and a Lakota South as well. Then we'll be talking about Lakota South East and Lakota North West. But those two are as separate as oil and water. You probably would never associate with your neighbors that live half a mile away if they went to school in the other district.
4. We have our own West Chester staples.
The Cone. Fratellis. Stan the Donut Man. Twin Dragon Buffet. Big Dogs Pizza. IKEA café (just kidding). But the list goes on. We have our little West Chester Classics, and you don’t say they taste bad. Ever.
5. There are more places to eat than neighborhoods.
If you google “Where to Eat in West Chester” Google laughs and tells you to drive down Tylersville because you’ll pass easily 30 different restaurants, fast food joints and everything else in between. We have Voice of America, Union Centre and now The Liberty Center. For some reason, West Chester needs every food place known to exist.
6. You attended Olde West Chester’s Christmas Walk at least once in your life.
First of all, Olde West Chester consists of two blocks that don’t look “Olde” at all. But if you grew up here, you would spend one Saturday during the holidays watching the Christmas parade, drinking hot chocolate, petting the three animals at the petting zoo and were forced to visit the Saint John’s Craft Show. It was awesome.
Even though every year a new restaurant, building, neighborhood or mall seems to pop up, I'm glad I get to call West Chester home.
