Where to live in Buck's County? (Philadelphia, Allentown: real estate, 2010, leases)

[eatwell]

Hi-
I just stumbled upon this website and am looking forward to delving further into it.
As for my question... My husband and I are looking for a move. We are currently living in Upstate NY (Syracuse). We are in our late 20's and looking to find "the place" to settle and start a family. A friend turned us on to the Buck's County area based on some of our main criteria:
-less snow than Syracuse (however still want 4 seasons)
-closer to a big city
-within a day trip's drive to the ocean

We are planning a trip to explore Buck's County soon, but I thought locals and people familiar with the area might be able to help us narrow down which locations we should focus our trip on.

Some things we would find a "plus" in our future community are:
-an area supporting the arts, lots of galleries, artist-friendly
-a cute downtown area near-by
-good restaurants close-by
-parks or hiking trails
I'd also love to have a Wegman's close (are there Wegmans down there?), but that's not essential

I know that anywhere we go we will experience sticker shock at home prices coming from where we are now, but I am curious, is there a such thing as a "cheaper" area of Buck's?
Thank you so much for any input you may have!

[Will Kelly]

You have described the Doylestown area to perfection. The housing market in Bucks county is alot different than Syracuse. The average price per squarefoot for a home is double in Bucks County when compared with Syracuse.

I would use Doylestown as the hub and work outward. Head west when looking for less expensive real estate.

All the best,

Will

www.pennrealtylink.com

[FivePointsGolf]

I'll go ahead and agree with Will-- Doylestown seems to meet your criteria. The further South you head from there, or closer to the river, the home prices quickly escalate. Living in Doylestown, or around Sellersville and Perkasie, provides quick access to Philly, the Jersey shore and quaint but extremely over-trendy towns like New Hope and Lahaska.

Not to mention easy access to the Fall foliage of the Poconos.

[newmarlig]

The closest Wegmans to Doylestown would be in Princeton, NJ, about 30 miles away.

[L.K.]

actually,there is a new wegmans in warrington,open last fall [and wonderful I might add!] so,very close to doylestown.We just moved to doylestown and agree,it is a nice,convenient spot.

[emanon]

There is one area of Bucks county that does have some homes that are less expensive than other areas of Bucks County. The area is known as Upper Black Eddy.
I have looked at homes in that area and some sections are just a little too "Deliverance" for me if you know what I mean.
There are some very nice areas in UBE but you will see that reflected in the home prices.

The best thing is to go see for yourself.

[nativePAgirl]

Doylestown is indeed, beautiful, but very expensive.......

[Phish Head]

quakertown is still relatively cheap and nice

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by Phish Head

quakertown is still relatively cheap and nice

Yes, quakertown is still relatively cheap, but a dead beat town...I live here and they take forever to do things...the boro is unwilling to change...and they had a corrupt boro manager that they still pay....in charge of construction. I've written them several emails and get nothing back from them...I've called them twice and nothing...it is run by elite Christians who think they are running some big grand city, and are in love with their own mirrors...sorry...yet are so behind the times...there are though, many people trying to better Quakertown, especially down town, which is deplorable...it's still a small town, with small town mentality...but politics aside, it is cheap if you can look beyond that...but surely doesn't have the quaintess of Doylestown, nor the class...it's still run by people who think a great dining experience is when the food is cheap and you get a lot??????? There are also a lot of illegals moving into the area...they have train capacity, but nothing opening as of yet...traffic is deplorable....backed up every night, and not much in the way of good shopping, except a new Target and Walmart...that is it...

There is the market, fresh veggies and meat...open on weekends.. and a movie theater which is starting to get run down....it is a shame...but perhaps that to, is why it is still cheap...it just doesn't have the attractiveness and charm that other little towns have....it can't change and it's full of citizens that deem themselves Christains, but are so sold on themselves, it isn't funny and they frown upon anyone who has any new ideas to open the town up...

They do do a great job with the outdoor Quakertown Alive program every spring...and the park is great...the swimming pool and library are new...they do host concerts in the Park every Sunday night in the summer...

So there is good and bad...like everything else.

You are close to Philadelphia, which is surely changing in the department of the arts...growing and growing.

3 hours to the beach...and 2 hours to NYC...so the location is paramount...

Your 20 - 40 minutes from Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton which hosts some really great shopping...

15 minutes from Montgomeryville, which also has some very good shopping capabilities....

Quakertown, has great needs in the shopping catagory...

Coopersburg is rural but great...and New Hope is fantastic...festive, alive...I love it there...

Also...Lansdale, Perkasie, Telford, RichHill, Richlandtown, Hatboro, Harleysville, and the very best area is out by Nockamixon, the Haycock Area...country yet close to town...

[Jamel]

[quote=cremebrulee;1320778]Yes, quakertown is still relatively cheap, but a dead beat town...

Creme Brulee, I take offense to your characterization of Quakertown.

It would be easy to find fault with every town you mentioned, so let me start by saying Quakertown is not as bad as you make it seem. It is arguably one of the best values in Bucks County. You can still buy a decent home here for under $300,000 and you can spend up to a million, if you so desire. The town -and it is a town compared to a collection of buildings by the side of a road that people have become tired of-- has interesting architectural styles, a colorful history, a better recreational parks system than Dolyestown, a decent school system, a library and community pool that are the envy of many surrounding communities, and an interesting mix of unique retailers. The fact that you cited Target and Walmart as your idea of the only decent shopping says a lot. People are now searching the country for small towns and Quakertown, though not perfect, fits the bill nicely. Although not in the downtown, the current and upcoming offerings of Route 309 and the Promenade Shops in Center Valley are enough to satisfy most shoppers and we're actually quite happy to have them "out there" and not on top of us.

There is a strong sense of community here. The borough council cares about the local residents and though overwhelmed at times by slick outsiders and union representatives, it serves the people to the best of its ability. Keep in mind, serving on borough council is still a part-time position, so you can't expect the reaction of a state or federal representative. Recent elections have made it clear that the locals have raised the bar and now expect more activity from this group. To say the former manager was "corrupt" is unfair though and unproven. Although driven out of town by a bully columnist with a hidden agenda, he still lives here and has friends here. His biggest offense was cutting corners which was wrong, but not malicious. No one thinks he was taking advantage of the town. He just took on more than he obviously was able to handle. The police chief who has since assumed the manager's position has been adding personnel to his staff to keep up with the demands of a contemporary community.

The downtown is not "deplorable" as you say. It has live theater, a new music shop, a school of dance, two of the best authentic Mexican restaurants you'll find, a new Spice Pantry (with fresh coffees, candy, nuts tea, etc.), two upscale restaurants, an authentic 5&10 (owned by the same family for a 100 years), the usual pizza shops/Italian restaurants, a new Chinese restaurant, travel agencies, investment firms, doctors, lawyers, one of the best cardiac units in the state at St. Luke's, a variety of churches (Yes, predominantly Christian, but so is 85% of the country!), a great women's clothing store, an impressive cigar shop with a coffeee bar, two bars, a food store and two Mexican groceries. Two new restaurants are set to open within a few months and the local Main Street organization is the pride of the state.

For the record, the beaches are two hours away and Quakertown Alive is the Main Street organization, not a festival.

There are actually two large festivals held downtown: Arts Alive! in May and Autumn Alive! in October. There is also a Memorial Day parade, a Community Day/Fourth of July celebration with great fireworks, a Halloween parade, and a holiday tree lighting in December. We also have two YMCA buildings (one is relocating to a new facility still in town) and a semi-pro baseball team: The Blazers. Next spring we hope to see the new antique lampposts that have been approved for the downtown as well as a re-landscaped mini park and water fountain in the center of town. Passenger rail service is expected to return in 2009 or 2010 which will connect us to the R5 line in Lansdale.

Most of that is not true of the other places you said you preferred and, by the way, the market you mentioned is a great place to get fresh vegetables and meats, but to be honest is probably the seediest, most embarrassing location in the area. It is one of the biggest reasons people still look down their noses at Quakertown and it isn't even in Quakertown. It's in Richland Township just outside of town. The merchants there are good hard-working people who like the fact that they only have to be open a few days a week and, even though many would rather be in downtown Quakertown, their leases do not allow them to relocate nearby. Thus, they are trapped there by the owner of the market who coincidentally happens to be the same columnist who makes it a hobby to tell people how bad Quakertown and its schools and its borough council are. I wonder what his motivation might be to do that?

Try to be one of the people making a positive difference in our town. It's much more noble than joining the critics who remain on the sidelines uninvolved and all too consumed in their hatred and condemnation of everything that isn't them.