Philly suburbs for family (35min or less?) (Collingswood, Haddonfield: house, neighborhoods)

[mckngbrd]

I'm trying to compare these town in hopes of NARROWING down the list. I'd love your opinion abt these.

~~good schools
not IVY League prep.... teachers who are modern,caring,inspiring and knowlegable.

~~35min or less commute is important
How far some of these are when you factor in traffic, and the option of rail. Philly Center city is the destination, and getting there another way than CAR would be great,Too.

~~an older suburb is preferable, we are definately more likely to by an AS_IS old house and make it our own, than a mcmansion. In a neighborhood that is safe. A yard is pretty important, but in theses times you cant ask for too much. (we have a 3/4 acre now, but have also lived in the heart of NYC and Philly before-except now we have kids and animals)


collingswood NJ
all the haddon's in NJ.
moorestown N.J. (too far?)
riverton nj.
cinnaminson (too far?)
westmont nj.

**are there things like charter schools in NJ?
** any other ideas that are in this time frame of 35 min to center city??

Thank you for you help...citidata is wonderful but almost too exhaustive. I sincerely appreciate you input.
[+] Rate this post positively

[MoorestownResident]

You've got it right. Moorestown and Cinnaminson can be 35-40 minutes via Patco just depends where you are going in center city. If you get off at 8th Market and have a short walk, Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Cinnaminson are doable. Just FYI, driving to Philly on a weekend from Moorestown is easy and only 25 minutes or so, no big deal. But in terms of commuting it is more expensive to drive with gas, tolls and parking. It is much cheaper to take Patco.

Collingswood and Haddon Twp will fit your bill, however, the yards tend to be smaller, same is true in Haddonfield. You'll just have to look to see what suits your situation. No reason not to look in Cherry Hill or Voorhees except that they are not walkable towns in the true sense unlike the Haddon's, Collingswood and Moorestown.

[frankgn87]

good info. Cinnaminson is a 25 min drive to center city and its a straight shot down 130 and rt90 over the BR to 95 and there. Cinnaminson has all older well built 50's and 60's homes and tight neighborhoods and GREAT schools with fair taxes. Fantastic area to raise a family. I know we are enjoying it.. We commute to the city every day and its no problem

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

You've got it right. Moorestown and Cinnaminson can be 35-40 minutes via Patco just depends where you are going in center city. If you get off at 8th Market and have a short walk, Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Cinnaminson are doable. Just FYI, driving to Philly on a weekend from Moorestown is easy and only 25 minutes or so, no big deal. But in terms of commuting it is more expensive to drive with gas, tolls and parking. It is much cheaper to take Patco.

Collingswood and Haddon Twp will fit your bill, however, the yards tend to be smaller, same is true in Haddonfield. You'll just have to look to see what suits your situation. No reason not to look in Cherry Hill or Voorhees except that they are not walkable towns in the true sense unlike the Haddon's, Collingswood and Moorestown.

[mckngbrd]

awesome thoughts...---now god willing he'll get the job. hard times suck and we love philadephia.

[JerzBoy]

Agree with pretty much everything said already. If you're looking in Collingswood - the schools aren't that good but are getting better. I'm not sure if Riverton - center city is doable in 35min but it might be. I would also add Audubon to the list.

Good luck.

[NJ987654]

mullica hill for older but established. Haddonfield too