Relocating- Downingtown??yes/no? (Philadelphia, Chester: apartment, for rent, condo)

[airicah]

Hi. My husband and I are originally from PA and now live on the west coast. We're looking to move back to PA next spring. We're not that familiar with the Philly area, as we grew up in N.central PA. I need some advice on where to live, as well as commute/traffic conditions since I'll be working in center city.
How about Downingtown? I found a really nice apt complex there that's pretty afordable. How is this area? How would my commute be each day to center city? We're also looking at Conshohocken, Norristown, Lansdale, Doylestown. etc. Downingtown seems to be the most affordable for a very nice apt complex.

Please help if you can. We're a younger couple with no children, so we also want to be in a place where other younger people reside. A place where there's a nice local bar to hang out at every now and then. Also want to be close to shopping.

Thanks so much!

[William shivers]

downingtown is a nice area however the commute to philly is very difficult, by car 1.5-2 hours, train will also take a good amount of time. norristown, well most of that area is not what you would consider a nice area. Doylestown and lansdale are very nice areas that are a much better commute to philly than downingtown, both by car and train. Also conshohocken is decent and problably the closest for commute

[Syrinx2112]

Agreed that Downingtown is very nice area but pretty far out if you are commuting into center city everyday, although from experience its closer to an hour than 1.5 to 2 hours.

Exton is a very nice area and would shave 10 minutes off your commute. West Chester in my humble opinion is the nicest area in the Philadlephia region. There are several very nice apartment /condo complexes in the west chester area and the town itself is one of the best small towns in the country. West Chester is about 40 minute commute into center city on a saturday about an hour or so in rush hour .

[airicah]

Thanks so much for your help. You are speaking from experience on the commute from Downingtown, right? I commute about an hour now where I live to work, which is quite long, but not too bad for me. I would like to be on the west side of the city b/c my family lives in North central PA, just above state college, so I feel I would be closer to them. Any other ideas? Conshohocken seems to be an expensive area... a little out of my range for rent.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. Also- I prefer to drive in to city by car, so train is pretty much out of ?. I heard the train takes a long time when you live outside of the city b/c of all the stops. Is that the case?
thanks!

[Syrinx2112]

Maybe the Media area would appeal to you. Its in Delaware County the commute into center city is easy(20-30 min) Nice town not too expensive.
Phoenixville in Chester County
Pottstown area in Montgomery County is nice, similar commute to Downingtown.

Plymouth Meeting/ Norriton in Montgomery Co. is a nice area.

The NW section of Philadelphia County is tremendous. Roxborough/ Andorra/Mt Airy/ Chestnut Hill.



If you haven't seen it already here is a good apartment website to give you a few ideas of what is out there.




www.4wallsinphilly.com

[sixinthefamily]

I live in Downingtonw and love it. It takes me about 45 minutes to get to the airport. There is a train station in town as well. Phenoxville is really starting to have a boom and has lots of young people moving in and would be less of a commute so that may work well for you too.