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You otherwise make good points, but I find the bolded rather ridiculous. The way I took to get to Center City from Penn Valley during rush hour was PA-23 to Belmont to Montgomery to West River to the Ben Franklin Parkway. If you're referring to the cluster of homes you pass on Conshohocken Avenue before turning to Belmont is "sketchy," I vehemently disagree with you. They may not be so aesthetically pleasing, but there are no logical grounds for feeling unsafe while passing through by car.
I drove through West Philly to get to where I needed to go...and as you'll see in my post, I indicate that there may be better routes that I wasn't aware of.
RE schools: I don't have kids, so I have no basis for judgment/ comparison.
I drove through West Philly to get to where I needed to go...and as you'll see in my post, I indicate that there may be better routes that I wasn't aware of.
RE schools: I don't have kids, so I have no basis for judgment/ comparison.
Unless it was a summer weekend and West River/MLK was closed I don't know why anyone would tell you to take that route to get into Center City (and even then, the Schuylkill is usually alright during those off-peak times).
Google maps/map quest had me going through the park to either Dauphin St, or Diamond St through to Broad. I've also taken Lancaster to Girard to get to where I go in the city. Not sure if we have different views on blight, but these weren't the nicest areas to drive through.
Regardless, it's a minor point that doesn't contribute too much to the OP's goals for making this thread.
Google maps/map quest had me going through the park to either Dauphin St, or Diamond St through to Broad. I've also taken Lancaster to Girard to get to where I go in the city. Not sure if we have different views on blight, but these weren't the nicest areas to drive through.
Regardless, it's a minor point that doesn't contribute too much to the OP's goals for making this thread.
Yeah, Google Maps gave you poor directions, blight or no blight. I don't think it generally treats West River/MLK as a "road" though it really should. The route I mentioned (which is most commonly taken from the Main Line to CC when the Schuylkill is backed up) doesn't touch that kind of urban decay.
And clearly, it wasn't a minor point to you. I'm just correcting that particular misinformation. Most everything else you said was completely valid vis-a-vis the great Haddonfield-Main Line debate.
Yeah, Google Maps gave you poor directions, blight or no blight. I don't think it generally treats West River/MLK as a "road" though it really should. The route I mentioned (which is most commonly taken from the Main Line to CC when the Schuylkill is backed up) doesn't touch that kind of urban decay.
And clearly, it wasn't a minor point to you. I'm just correcting that particular misinformation. Most everything else you said was completely valid vis-a-vis the great Haddonfield-Main Line debate.
HeavenWood, speaking of CC commute, I've now heard that many people move to Chestnut Hill and work in Center City. Is the area safe, and I know you're a proponent of public schools, but do you think the private schools there are worth it? Or just stick to looking at houses in LM and Haddonfield? (My husband visited and just wants a new house in Haddonfield but he's letting me go through this exercise).
HeavenWood, speaking of CC commute, I've now heard that many people move to Chestnut Hill and work in Center City. Is the area safe, and I know you're a proponent of public schools, but do you think the private schools there are worth it? Or just stick to looking at houses in LM and Haddonfield? (My husband visited and just wants a new house in Haddonfield but he's letting me go through this exercise).
Chestnut Hill is a great area and perfectly safe. Do I personally think living there is worth spending $20k-30k+ per child per year (all the way up to grade 12 if they can't get into Central or Masterman)? Hell to the no. That's money I think you're FAR better off saving for college (and I can't imagine how much more ungodly expensive it's going to become by the time your kids hit 18). If you've narrowed it down between there and Haddonfield, do yourself a favor and pick the place you won't have to pay an arm and a leg to get a quality education. Haddonfield Memorial will do just as good a job as any fancy Quaker school.
And good job finding a new home there! That's a lucky steal on your part (brand new construction is not easy to find in either place).
Any chance you can get your hands on some matriculation lists from Harriton, LM or Haddonfield Memorial??
Yes there seems to be two builders in town tearing down old houses, the taxes are going to be much higher than Chestnut Hill or LM though! (I know, I know, still cheaper than some fancy private school).
Any chance you can get your hands on some matriculation lists from Harriton, LM or Haddonfield Memorial??
Splitting hairs between schools on this basis is completely unnecessary. All three of them send more than their fair share to Ivies/Ivy equivalents. Whether your kids will be among them is leaps and bounds more contingent on their native abilities combined with your parenting than what school sends, say, 35% of students to top 20 USNWR colleges and universities (as opposed to, say, 29%). I go to Penn Law, and off the top of my head, there are people my year who went to, among other area suburban public high schools: Harriton, Lower Merion, Penncrest, Cheltenham, Abington, Wissahickon, Upper Dublin, Pennsbury, Cherry Hill East, Shawnee... (a pretty wide range, if you catch my drift). But in any event...
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stuckinsj
Haddonfield is not for everyone. Its not a diverse town. It has a history of being raciest and anti-Semitic. The town had legal segregation of the races in the 1950's as well as blue laws and laws excluding jews. That is why when Jews moved out of Camden they set up in Cherry Hill. Because people in Haddonfield would not sell to them or let them open up businesses. The Woodcrest Country Club was set up because Tavistock would not let Jews be members. Recently there have been news stories of the Police department being anti-Semitic to Jews. Its still alot better than it was 50 years ago but its still a very WASP town unlike the Main Line.
I posted a rebuttal to this in the OP's other thread, where you admit that this is hear-say. Tavistock broke away from Haddonfield & formed their own town. Plenty of WASPs couldn't get into Tavistock. They ran their own fiefdom.
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