GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2021 - 35

GreaterReading.org
West reading
Pumpkins and new
businesses punctuate
the avenue
By Mark Ratcliffe, Main Street Manager, West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation
F
all in West Reading kicked off with our Annual Fall Fest at
the end of September. The weather was perfect, be it a little
warm, but I will take it. Thank you to everyone who came
out. It was great to see the community on this amazing day. It was
fun to see all of West Reading's 25+ new businesses experiencing
their first major event. Most of these businesses opened during the
pandemic and haven't truly been able to experience business as usual
in West Reading and the excitement during events.
Events are something we all look forward to, and this year we
will continue to add new events to our calendar, West Reading
Taverns Big Pumpkin Fest and Mystery on the Avenue. With
everything being pumpkin-related this year, we expect this to
be HUGE! Our business promotions committee will be hosting
Mystery on the Avenue Oct. 28. This inaugural event looks to be a
lot of fun. Holiday Glow in December will be bigger than ever this
year with more carriage rides, more entertainment on the Ave. and
more in store events. You can learn about this and all our events at
www.VisitWestReading.Org.
Living their West Life
We welcomed three more new businesses to Main Street this
summer - Lucky Finds, a women's consignment shop, in the 700
block, Spoonful Thai bistro in the 600 block (formally Rice) and
Betsey's Boutique in the 500 block (formally Picturesque). It is
great to see clothing retail coming back to the Avenue, expanding
our retail offerings. As businesses continue to open, we are also
seeing a surge in the price of property values. That is good not only
for West Reading, but also our area in general. The average home
price in West Reading has gone up 20% from $138k to $165k in
the past year, while Pennsylvania's average home price rose 15% to
$240k. Not surprising as West Reading is one of the most livable
and affordable communities in Berks County and the perfect place
to start a family. Within a one-mile area, we have an amazing park
system, the area's largest hospital, one of the state's best school districts,
a world-class museum, a new teaching hospital and a vibrant and
growing business community.
We continually work to improve West Reading. Starting this fall,
we will be working with our businesses on façade improvements.
We will also be working to improve the look, feel and walkability
of Penn Avenue. Our façade improvement program is designed to
help our small businesses improve their store fronts, help increase
their sales and elevate the look of Main Street. We are also working
on streetscape improvements to include a pocket park, beautification
efforts and encourage traffic calming, making West Reading a safer
and better place to shop, dine and live.
35
http://www.GreaterReading.org http://www.VisitWestReading.Org
GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2021
