Towns for commuting to Philly and Atlantic City

[bellmark]

I would settle on a town closer to Philly than AC. The 1/3 of the way closest to Philly has traffic 10 times denser on a typical morning than the remaining 2/3 into AC (I hope that makes sense).

If you simply split distance of Philly to AC in half to find your home, one you'll be livning in the boondocks, but two... the 25 miles to AC will take 25 mins, but the 25 miles to Philly will take 60+ mins.

As I mentioned, the closer you get to Philly or Ac the more civilization you have. Closer to AC is probably not an option but closer to Philly could be.

There is a train that runs from Philly, through South Jersey and into AC. Check out its towns.

[Mwalt]

Thanks for the continued input (except for the advice to buy a house in Pennsylvania! What a nightmare that commute would be). And thanks for the traffic bit above. I'm more interested in being closer to Philly but I'm getting lots of advice (offline) to be closer to his job, at least in the short-term. My only school-aged child will be in kindergarten so the quality of the schools is not as much of an issue initially (not that I don't care how good the kindergarten is, but I don't want to be making neighborhood decisions based on the test scores of the middle schoolers, you know? And unless it's unsafe, I imagine most schools are fine for kindergarten). My family is doing some in-person research and Hammonton keeps coming up, but it's hard to tell the difference between quaint and deathly boring. I've heard mixed things about the schools in Voorhees but again, it's hard to tell if that's based on older kids when it's the district as a whole that's been rated. Greatschools weighs the test scores so heavily - I'd love a more parent-based review of the options.

Can anyone speak to weather and/or bug issues in the different areas? We've been recommended to check out Linwood and Egg Harbor Township but then others say that the mosquito/fly situation really varies from town to town. I grew up around mosquitoes but trying to keep my kids from being eaten alive.

[bellmark]

Originally Posted by Mwalt

Thanks for the continued input (except for the advice to buy a house in Pennsylvania! What a nightmare that commute would be). And thanks for the traffic bit above. I'm more interested in being closer to Philly but I'm getting lots of advice (offline) to be closer to his job, at least in the short-term. My only school-aged child will be in kindergarten so the quality of the schools is not as much of an issue initially (not that I don't care how good the kindergarten is, but I don't want to be making neighborhood decisions based on the test scores of the middle schoolers, you know? And unless it's unsafe, I imagine most schools are fine for kindergarten). My family is doing some in-person research and Hammonton keeps coming up, but it's hard to tell the difference between quaint and deathly boring. I've heard mixed things about the schools in Voorhees but again, it's hard to tell if that's based on older kids when it's the district as a whole that's been rated. Greatschools weighs the test scores so heavily - I'd love a more parent-based review of the options.

Can anyone speak to weather and/or bug issues in the different areas? We've been recommended to check out Linwood and Egg Harbor Township but then others say that the mosquito/fly situation really varies from town to town. I grew up around mosquitoes but trying to keep my kids from being eaten alive.

Voorhees - premium town with a high percentage of college educated adults. A friend used to joke that it was "new" money (business owners) but I think it has its mix. Its in civilization, well at the edge of it. ha.

Be clear on taxes... When people tell me horror stories on high real estate taxes, Voorhees is mentioned a lot! Nice newer homes that are for professional incomes but not crazy.. with tax bills of $18,000 a year. But do your research.

Washington Twp is a higher end town... starts around the start of the AC Expressway.
Williamstown (Monroe Twp) is a mix. Older big properties, mixed in with a LOT of new construction (all the farms getting turned into housing developments).
Williamstown could be a good compromise.

[southjerseyliving]

Facebook! There are many different local groups which have tons of recommendations and advice on all of these.

[Sassygirl18]

I would recommend Washington Township (a.k.a. Turnersville, Sewell) in Gloucester County. I grew up there and can testify that it's a nice middle class area and I believe it has good schools (I am not sure as I went to Catholic school). It's right at the beginning of the Atlantic City Expressway and about a 45 minute drive to AC. It is also right near Route 42 which can take you to directly to Phila. It's been awhile since I lived down in that area so I am not sure how brutal the traffic is on 42 into Philly. It used to be terrible, but they have widened that highway several times over the years. Perhaps others can chime in about that.

My personal opinion is that everything south of Washington Township starts getting a little hillbilly.

[NJSouth]

Sassygirl18 has good point. I lived in Wash Twp. for 22 years (Also knowns as "Township", Turnnersville, Blackwood, Sewell for Realtor purpose. Wash Twp puts you right on main route to Philly or Atlantic City. Traffic can be horrendous during rush hours and in summer on Fridays and Sundays.

I now live in Vineland and commute to Philly and Trenton. I use Rt 55 and it flows well but again Rush Hour anywhere around here is brutal. All the best with it.