Moving to Pa-How are Newtown New Hope & anywhere else in btwn? HELP ME! (Philadelphia: condo)

[sparklegirl_19]

We're moving to Pa. because of job transfer. We've looked at (internet research) Newtown, New Hope, Holland, Wrightstown, Yardley along that corridor. Are there other towns i've missed that we should consider? Want to be in Bucks County in a good school district.

Can anyone tell me what's it like (eg. property taxes, income taxes, quality of living, kids activities, Starbucks, Target, Costco, Walmart etc. ) in those areas?

Which town would be best for a family with 2 young kids (kindergarteners).
Can only afford upto $500K for a house.

Thanx.

[loose cannon]

I would reccomend Yardley. Beautiful suburban community where a lot of Philadelphia sports players make their homes.

[enviroman]

Well, if you can afford a $500,000 home, are taxes really that much of an issue? Taxes in Bucks County are going to be pretty high. Yardley is in the Pennsbury SD, one of the "lesser" districts in Bucks County. Central Bucks West (Doylestown area) is probably the top public SD in Bucks County. New Hope-Solebury HS is also a great district...

Really, any district in Bucks County is great.

[William shivers]

well in newtown, new hope, yardley, doylestown that price range of 500 will get you very similar properties, 4 bed, 2 full bath, 1-2 partial baths. Taxes are fairly similar around 5000 or above but the newer the house the higher the taxes up to around 7000. School districts are very good, central bucks, new hope solebury, council rock and pennsbury, pennsbury is a little lower statisticlly. All are nice areas, you should look at homes in all those areas.

[sparklegirl_19]

Sorry Enviroman, didn't mean to sound uppity about the $500K home. It's just that I'm originally from Northern California and for that price, you're lucky to own the bathroom in a 'tony' nice neighborhood...It usually means maybe a 1bed/1bath 600-800sq ft condo in a "blue collar" working class neighborhood. I assumed the price of housing would be kind of the same on either side of the coast.

I just want to find a safe, welcoming community with excellent schools for my kids and I'd like a relatively short commute for my husband so the kids can actually see/spend time with him when he gets back from work.

Well, I've only heard good things about Newtown...

Has anyone else have anything to say about New Hope, Upper Makefield (was that Woodbourne, Woodside, Washington Crossing)


Thanx for all your comments. They are so appreciated

[babykeo]

I live in Langhorne; the next town over from Yardley and Newtown. Basically Langhorne, Yardley and Newtown are all in the same general area. The area as whole is nice, slightly expensive, great schools, and insanely safe. I've lived here for 16 years and have yet to see an murders/crimes/break in's etc. I'm not so sure what taxes would be, but I know they arn't cheap. Breaking it down, Newtown has alot of older homes, it has a small main street in town and is pretty expensive to live in. For example getting gas in Newtown is almost 20 cents more per gallon then say in Langhorne. Yardley has some big houses and a small main street also, but I perfer Newtown over Yardley. They are both pretty small towns, which not much to do in them. Langhorne however is slightly bigger and has more sections to it. Theres Langhorne Borough which is basically the middle of Langhorne. The homes are historic in this area and it's really nice. Theres the Langhorne/Newtown section, which is where I live and it's mainly big neighborhoods with nice houses. Further away there's the Langhorne/Feasterville area which is fairly decent but nowhere near as nice and the Langhorne/Newtown area would be and lastly there is the Langhorne/Levitown area which has smaller homes and isn't as nice as all the rest of the areas. But don't get me wrong basically anywhere in Langhorne is nice and definitely safe. Langhorne is basically your typical subburb, which great schools and sports leagues for kids. There's 2 major parks within 5 mins of my house and a mall 10 mins down the street. Langhorne/Newtown/Yardley is all within miles of Route 1, I-95 and the PA Turnpike, which makes getting places easy. It's also about 30-45 minutes away from Philadelphia and about 2 hours away from the Jersey Shore. So even if they isn't much to do in Langhorne itself it's within good distance from everywhere else. Langhorne is in the Neshaminy School District, where I happened to go to school and it's a great school district. I recommend all these towns. But if you're looking for newer houses I wouldn't recommend Newtown or Langhorne Borough. Hope that helps