Media, PA and surrounding towns.... (Philadelphia, Chester: crime, homes, neighborhood)

[Shellys3angels]

My family and I will be visiting the PA region this weekend in search of a wonderful family friendly community. I have heard that the Media area is nice. Can someone tell me what the town has to offer to a family with children under the age of nine? The town we live in right now has a wonderful, walkable, safe downtown with lots of seasonal events for families. Can someone tell me about the elementary schools, middle schools and high schools? Is there a lot of traffic in that town? Can you find new construction or homes under 5 years old?

[Hockeynut]

Media is a beautiful area in delaware county about 15-20 minutes away from Philadelphia. School system is Media is one of the better ones in Pennsylvania. It is the type of town you can walk down the street and feel safe. Homes are are nice and the town has some history to it. I do not live in Media but have friends who do and family doctor is there. It really has that small town feel and very little crime. I enjoy it everytime I go there. It is a nice place to raise a family it has it share of restaurants etc. but 10 minutes in any direction you will find 2 malls the first being the springfield mall the other larger mall being the Granite Run Mall.

[thesixth]

Media is a great small town. Lots of typical events, i.e. arts/crafts festivals, 5k runs, restaurant promotions. It is the county seat so the courthouse it there & law offices abound.
The school district is RoseTree/Media and has good schools at all levels. The HS is Penncrest with @1300 students with most going onto college. Also have many private or religious schools to choose from too.

[Shellys3angels]

Thanks for all of your feedback on the Media area. My family and I went to PA this weekend to take a look around. The town of Media is very nice and is similar to the town we now live in. My only concern is that my husband will be working in Salem, NJ and I don't know how long of a commute that would be for him. Does anyone have any ideas?

[rainrock]

Add Another Stop to Your Route!

Salem, NJ US
Revise | New Directions


Media, PA US
Revise | New Directions

Total Est. Time: 44 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 32.40 miles

[Shellys3angels]

Thanks for the estimated time information! .

[toobusytoday]

Shelly,
I was also in Media this past weekend. My husbands band played at the Media Food Fest on Sunday. It really is a nice town! We have lived in the Lehigh valley for 10 years but used to live in Delaware County. My youngest son was born in Media. We lived in Garnet Valley School District, just south of Media and that's where you could easily find a new or newer home. As you saw, Media has a long history and not a lot of new development. But, it's a great place to live - it's all about what important to you.

Garnet Valley doesn't have a town center like Media. When we lived there our social lives revolved around our childrens activites like sports, scouts and school events. Our kids tended to play with the children in their own neighborhood or from school so having a town center didn't matter to them. I like the idea of a downtown area and our small town here has that, but when my kids were younger I was happier to have more youngish people to make friends with and that's an easy thing in a younger town like Garnet Valley. According to mapquest it's about 28 miles between Garnet Valley and Salem.

We actually moved to Garnet Valley because my husband worked in Bridgeport, NJ so were doing a similar search as you. Good luck!

[rainrock]

Toobusy is absolutely right. Garnet Valley is an excellent suggestion for a young family. Great schools, sports + club programs. No crime whatsoever. 10- minute ride to West Chester, 10 minute ride to Media,10 minute ride to great tax free shopping in Delaware, 20 minute ride to King of prussia Mall, 30 minutes to one of the best downtowns in the country,center city Philadelphia. Not to mention incredibly convenient to Salem NJ considering you are in Pennsylvania.

Garnet Valley consists of Bethel Township,Concord Township, Chester Heights

[Shellys3angels]

Toobusytoday and rainrock - thank you so much for your feedback on this very important decision my husband and I are facing. Garnet Valley sounds very nice and I like the fact that we can find a somewhat newer neighborhood with children are age. We just want a safe place with good schools for our kids. We want them to be happy because when they are happy we are happy. I'm hoping that you get some snow in PA during the winter months. I don't necessarily need a blizzard but enough so the kids can go out and play and build a snowman.

[rainrock]

The snow season is Jan-early March. Suburban Philly averages about 30" of snow a year,less in Jersey(closer to the coast) we usually get 6 snow events per season. The kids on average will get 3 snow days off from school. There is a small golf course/park(Clayton Park) right in Bethel Township where there are decent hills to go sledding.

Depending on weather patterns we've had as much as 70" a year and other years 0".

Good luck