Whittier: Appeal, Promise of a College Town

Sometimes when I walk through uptown Whittier, I get the feeling I’m walking through a college town. Drama and music at the performing arts center and civic auditorium, a fully restored cinema house, coffeehouses with poetry readings, bookstores, antique stores, fitness centers and dance studios.

And people everywhere. People sitting in outdoor cafes, walking, talking, window-shopping. Professionals in business suits out to lunch, bankers in town cars looking for parking places, students on their way to work or the movies, or older couples strolling along holding hands. Most people enjoy the walk. They just park their cars and walk.

People come here to enjoy the variety of arts, enjoy the shops and restaurants, enjoy an evening in the central city. It has much to offer daytime or evening. It’s old, but it’s filled with the wisdom of age. And it’s new, with a youthful appeal and promise. It is, after all, a college town.

BILL McEWEN

Whittier