For the first two years of my college career at West Chester, I was carless. It was such an inconvenience, or so I thought. I am slowly but surely listening that driving in West Chester incomparable to the tenth circle of hell. I am from a suburban area and hate city driving, which is exactly what West Chester is. Here is an honest rant about how much I really can’t stand driving in WC.

The Borough of West Chester is way too small and whoever designed it was drunk when they did it. Too many narrow, one-way streets make driving around here miserable. I personally think that too much traffic comes through such a small town with tiny streets that just aren’t built for intense flow. Whoever thought that driving an eighteen-wheeler down High Street to turn down tiny Gay Street is off their rocker. Not to mention the SEPTA buses that almost hit cars every time they make a turn. High Street may be considered part of Route 100, but it is by no means built to be used as the main road. Tractor trailers and big buses should not be allowed to drive in the tiny borough of West Chester because it causes way too much traffic and frankly, too many headaches for me.

There are definitely way too many cars in West Chester. Of course, being a college town, it should be expected that lots of students have cars. But there is not nearly enough parking or space for all the cars in this tiny little town. We need more parking garages and parking lots and to stop handing out parking tickets like they’re candy. All these cars make the streets even narrower and clog up the streets with tons of traffic. Not to mention all the cars on the street making driving borderline unsafe, because it’s very difficult to see cars coming down the damn one-way streets because the cars are parked corner to corner. The pedestrians don’t make driving in West Chester any more enjoyable. College kids (myself included) walk right into the middle of the street. I am religious about using the crosswalks, but I’ve learned from personal experience that not everyone else is as cautious.

Driving in West Chester is so unbelievably frustrating to me. A drive from Rosedale to Chestnut street should take about five minutes. But, due to WAY too many cars, huge vehicles that do not belong in tiny streets, pedestrians who don’t look where they’re going, and general idiots who don’t know how to drive, it can take up to twenty-five minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I really love West Chester and going to WCU, but driving around there makes me want to drop out and never drive on High Street again. There really needs to be another main road that doesn’t cut through a tiny little borough, because there are too many huge vehicles trying to make small turns down one-way streets. Driving in West Chester gives me tons of anxiety, but also headaches and road rage.