back again looking....diversity for biracial family (Chester, West Chester: rent, townhouse)

[Bissie711]

I grew up in the KP area for 35 years, moved out to Latrobe, PA for the last 3 years and loved it. However, the driving force is that my parents are getting older and I'd like to move back towards that area - within an hour to be able to visit them more often and involve them in my kids lives.

I have 2 kids that are triracial and I'm a single parent. My kids are VERY into sports - the 12 yr old girl is into travel softball and my 7 yr old son loves soccer and any other sport. I basically can move anywhere because my job is internet based......my rent is $800 ight now for a pretty new 3 bedroom townhouse with garage - i know I won't touch that but hopefully within a few hundred buck - not ready to buy yet

So that being said.......

I am looking for a town that ....
has great schools (8th grade & 2nd grade)
has a large mix of races
great sports especially softball
is family oriented

Can anyone recommend any good places to live? I just don't even know where to start. Driving through a town for just 1 day doesn't tell me enough about it and the schools. I was thinking like New Holland, Ambler, Chalfont, West Chester.....

I would love to have any input please!

[Avalon08]

I can never think of any towns that have a "large mix of races". The only one that always springs to mind is Mount Airy. Seems like the suburbs are fairly segregated by race, not a whole lot of diversity within most towns. Perhaps the schools would be more diverse than the neighborhoods themselves. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I can chime in on that. I also think it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find a 3-BR townhouse with garage for $1000.

[soraji]

I think you should look for quality of schools and not worry so much about multi-racial children acceptance. I'm half Korean, half Caucasian and have had no problems adjusting to the 15+ places I have lived in the United States/abroad (even some areas that aren't so friendly to "mixed" people)! If your kids are well-adjusted they should be fine anywhere! I'd concentrate on finding the good schooling you want for your kids first.

[Bissie711]

We are in a good school district right now. However, my oldest is having issues with racial prejudice so that is why I am looking. We've had 2 issues that I had to go to the school and the resulting of 2 kids receiving suspensions since that falls under bullying.

My kids are probably 1 in 10 kids that are other than white. I'd like to find a little more diversity than that.

[hiker22]

Hi,

I'm in the same boat ( biracial family, moved back to Northeast to be closer to family), renting about 20 minutes from West Chester. We are in the Unionville Chadds Ford District (not all its cracked up to be, believe me)-- not diverse to say the least ( nice kids from nice families but...). If you want diversity, stay away from the Main Line. There is nothing remotely diverse about the Main!

I would love great schools and diversity too, but it continues to be an elusive combination. First and foremost is the quality of our children's education, you and I, can make up for the latter at home, with friends, activities, etc. We are actually keeping our options open. Maybe we'll move elsewhere, but not after checking every possible option because being near family would be a nice ( for a change!).

Best of luck