is Bucks co. really worth it? (Philadelphia, York: ob-gyn, to rent, houses)

[ltguid]

Council Rock is a Very good school district. So is Central Bucks. Neither one is cheap. Both districts are Very competitive. Taxes are extremely high. I would definitely not choose Pennsbury over CR.

http://www.paayp.com/

There are the school scores - you can see for yourself.

[L.K.]

[quote=ltguid;328595]Council Rock is a Very good school district. So is Central Bucks. Neither one is cheap. Both districts are Very competitive. Taxes are extremely high.

so, when you say it's not cheap,is it the housing,taxes,food,insurance.What makes Bucks co. so expensive?

[ltguid]

Housing, taxes, all of the above. Double the cost of everything.

I live in Chester County, and the homes where we live are a fraction of the costs in those districts. I have friends who live in both districts. Homes similar to theirs would be maybe $300,000 here - but up there, they are *at least* $500-600,000.

My friend in Central Bucks pays $16,000 a year in taxes. For the same size property here it would be $4000 maybe?

[Rosanne]

Itguid, what are some of the nice towns to live in Chester County? My husband and I are planning on moving to SE Pennsylvania next year. My mother-in-law lives in Allentown, and though we don't want to live there, we don't want to be too far from her. We're really worried about the taxes that we're seeing and hearing about online, but you've mentioned that the taxes in Chester County aren't as bad as some other places. Any help would be appreciated so that I would have an idea of some towns to search for homes online. Thanks much.

[rainrock]

Keep in mind Chester County is the wealthiest county in Pa., although there are some affordable areas to be found.

For starters West Chester, Exton, Downingtown,Malvern,North +South Coventry, Paoli, outskirts of Phoenixville.

Further south in Chester County your money will go farther. Kennet Square, Avondale, Oxford, Toughkenamon.

Good luck.

Rule of thumb regarding Chester + Montgomery counties. The further away from Philly you are the cheaper the cost of living.

[The Trailing Spouse]

L.K.- In reading these posts I keep thinking... You get what you pay for... we are now in transit and are in DE (staying with family) while we look for temporary living in the Newtown/Yardley area -- trying to decide which is a better choice ( we too have three kids 8,5,3) and education is top on the list commute second, and I stay home too... when I read your post I thought to myself.... I agree! You don't want to be priced out of a neighborhood that doesn't have "you" in it.. but if you feel strongly about an area then there must be people like you living in it too.... as for the eagle wallpaper... I'm resigning myself to get the scrapers out... we are leaving behind a brand new custom built home and for the same price here I think I'm getting 1960's shag carpet. But, in the long run, I think I'd rather have it from an education perspective than to have the brand new home in the South... I look at it as a positive. When the snow clears around here we are going up to look at both Newtown and Yardley... I'll give you my birdseye view after next week.

[L.K.]

Nice to hear from you again! I couldn't agree more!Nothing would get in the way of us being in a great school district/great town.Even though we have not been there yet,we are leaning heavily towards Doylestown and the CB school district.Once I found out that my current neighbor[her daughter is our babysitter]is from there and all her family still lives there,and her 2 oldest went to school there,loved it and she would go back in a minute,that kind of sealed it.You're right,you can make due with and fix up any house. For us just being together and in the right environment is the important thing!

[ltguid]

I would say look at Downingtown, Tredyffrin-Easttown, Great Valley, and Unionville - those are the top districts in Chester County.

You can also go a little farther east, over to the Main Line - while not in Chester County, Radnor and Lower Merion are also excellent districts.

You get more for your money south and west in Chester county. But it just depends on what you want.

Keep in mind good districts are very competitive. Kids don't get to do as much in bigger districts. If you can find a very good small one (like Unionville or Great Valley) your child will have more opportunities. I can tell you that most of my friends' kids (the ones in CB and CR districts) tell me that only a very small percentage ever get to play sports or get the scholarships. When you have 50 kids getting all A's and high SATs....only 10 can still make the top 10. They tell me that most kids end up being in the middle of the pack. With 600 kids in a class....there's only so much room.

[ltguid]

Rosanne - If you don't want to be that far from Allentown, why don't you try the Skippack/Collegeville area? That's just outside Chester County (northeast of Phoenixville) and you would have really easy access to Allentown.

[Rosanne]

Thanks Itguid, I will check out those areas.