Wyncote and surrounding areas (Glenside, Jenkintown: houses, crime, suburban)

[mpaninop]

I've been looking at houses in a variety of areas around Philly, mostly in the Western burbs or the NW arm of the city, but I keep seeing all these phenomenal homes at really good prices in Wyncote. Wyncote looks beautiful, green, hilly, very close to the train, near to Glenside/Jenkintown, etc. So what's the rub? Is it the Cheltenham school district that is the problem? It appears to have been given positive recognition, but maybe it is a problem, or maybe there is some other issue with Wyncote that I am not aware of. Does anyone have insider knowledge of this area and its schools? If you have any thoughts about Jenkintown or Abington, I'd be intersted in those as well. Thanks much!

[William shivers]

well if i had a choice between wyncote, jenkingtown or abington, I would choose abington. better schools, lower crime rate. The old saying, if it looks to good to be true it probably is!! Price reflects the neighborhood. You probably want to look a bit further west. Your biggest concern will be 10 years from now, will the property values increase or decrease. If the schools continue to go down and crime increase they will go down. So be careful your buffer zone from the weaker areas of philly is small. Plus a littler further west you can probably find a better deal.

[Discocasino]

The rub in Cheltenham is the school system. It used to be one of the top districts in the area, but it's gone down in the past decade. I go to the high school and the achievement gap is huge, the student body is nearly half black, but if you walk into an honors class it'll be at least 95% white and asian. Outside of the school, the district is really not that bad, outside of a few areas along the border w/ Philly there really isn't any serious crime. Really, other than the school (which other than the achievement gap is just a normal suburban high school) the district is really just a boring suburb. Right now it's fine, but I have a feeling it's gonna get seriously white flighted if the schools don't improve. The school districts to the north and west are a little better, but the areas are pretty much the same.