looking for information on Pottstown area (Collegeville, Royersford: vacation, job, housing)

[immster]

My dh is entertaining a possible job offer at Limerick Nuclear power plant. Can anyone fill me in on the area and things like housing, schools cost of living etc? We would be moving from a nice area in New Hampshire and have three sons, one who would be away at college and one in high school and one in middle school. I would appreciate any information.
Thanks,
Lisa

[KoZmiC NinJa]

The city of Pottstown is dismal and depressing.
Im sorry to be so blunt, but if your moving from
Maine, you will want to look outside of the city
area for your housing to match the quality of life you
are used to. There is good stuff available close by,
but I would suggest looking outside the city proper
if you are doing Realtor.com internet type searches.
That area is developing fast so you wont have too
much trouble. Coming from MAine, the traffic is
going to take some getting used to anywhere in that area.

[prototypepariah]

st. pius is a very nice school it's private and $$ high/middle. although if you don't reside in pottstown I think that puts you in spring ford which is big(huge by maine standards) but it's okay.

pottstown is an older factory type town that is on a whole a slum save the outskirts of town(north end I think it's called) BUT limerick itself is nice/very very safe as well as basically anywhere else that would be a reasonable drive collegeville,royersford, coventry pottsgrove...phoenixville even. Really you can't miss if you can afford it housing is pricy along 422. But i'm sure if your working at the power plant that won't be a huge factor. Plus you have the king of prussia mall just down the way.

traffic has gone from none to plenty the last 10 years and will get worse but conpared to closer to philly it's no problem, it's not that bad for a car driven suburban area.

basically just pretend pottstown isn't there pick anywhere else and you'll be fine. There are plenty of strip malls for day to day stuff eveywhere in the area and the k.o.p. mall in a class by itself.

[Otis]

To Immster:

Stay away from Pottstown, plus there are plenty nice places to live and send kids to school. We live in Gilbertsville, which has an excellent school district (Boyertown) but also closer to the power plant is Royersford, we lived there 17 years. The school district there is Spring Ford and it's excellent. But get ready for a culture shock from NH to this area. We know because we vacation in NH and Maine. The area around the power plant has gone from mainly rural to completely developed. Every field is now a development which means plenty of housing, shopping and traffic. Hope this helps.

[woodsmaninberks]

Stay out of pottstown live in another area outside of the town Gilbertsville or around there.

[immster]

thanks for all the help, I totally get staying away from Pottstown. We are now kind of interested in Gilbertsville or Royersford. I understand that both have great schools and are nice places to live and raise a family. Anything else we should consider in choosing between the two? Is one more rural than another?

[Noni19468]

I agree, stay away from Pottstown at all costs. There is high crime and even higher taxes. The schools are BAD. Don't even be tempted by Pottsgrove or Coventry.

Royersford has a much better school district than Gilbertsville, but they are building up so much around the area that the traffic is becoming even more of a nightmare.

I just bought a place in Royersford tho, so it can't be that awful!

[BPP1999]

Check out Collegeville and Trappe as well. Perkiomen Valley School District is good, near 422 (but he wouldn't even need to use 422 to get to the plant). Also, the area is getting a Wegman's in a huge new shopping center right off 422, and Limerick is getting a premium outlet mall, practically in the shadow of the plant.

[dcris]

Don't rule out Berks County in your searches. Lots of choices from rural to city, whatever suits you.

[Icy Tea]

If you want a really rural area and historic small town, Oley is the place. They've kept devolpment down thanks in part to the extremely valuable farmland in the valley. It's just west of Boyertown. Pottstown does have the Hill School, where Donald Trump sent his kids.