Gladwyne/Villanova area instead of Haddonfield NJ? (Belmont: schools, live)

[stuckinsj]

Originally Posted by Jwaterford

Oh ok. So the Haddonfield patco is even better than septa from the main line?

Originally Posted by southbound_295

You've posted this clap-trap in two threads. It's just plain wrong. My family moved to Cherry Hill in 1964 because my parents couldn't afford Haddonfield. We were not Jewish. I went to high school with many Jewish kids who lived in (old)Woodcrest & Windsor Park. Their parents bought there for the same exact reason that my parents bought in Cherry Hill. It was what they could afford.

I've known plenty of non-WASPs who lived in Haddonfield over the years. That is not what the OP asked about, but you chose to post hear-say as fact, instead.

YOU R NOT JEWISH. I hear things from people in the Jewish community. LOOK IT UP. RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS and lots of anti-semitism. Thats why there are no jewish temples in haddonfield.


Haddonfield Officer Files Bias Lawsuit The Only Jewish Member, He Cited Several Incidents. In One, He Said, An Officer Who Made A Racist Remark Was Promoted. Haddonfield Officer Files Bias Lawsuit The Only Jewish Member, He Cited Several Incidents. In One, He Said, An Officer Who Made A Racist Remark Was Promoted. - Philly.com

btw the officer won the case.

Yahoo! Groups

[stuckinsj]

So you moved here as a kid in the 60's and you knew everything that was going on? You info is coming from other kids in the 1960's whose parents told them everything? Haddonfield has a history of this stuff. It also has higher housing prices.

I posted this in two threads because it was the same thread on two different sub forums SJ and Philly.

I posted because Haddonfield is not diverse and used jews and blacks as examples. Many real estate agents and others hide that some towns are not that great on diversity. Haddonfield as I said earlier is great for people looking for good schools with an easy commute to Center City but don't care if their kids grew up in a monoculture. Its not diverse and if the OP wanted diversity they should choose another town. YOU SHOULD READ all my posts rather than cherry picking.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

YOU R NOT JEWISH. I hear things from people in the Jewish community. LOOK IT UP. RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS and lots of anti-semitism. Thats why there are no jewish temples in haddonfield.


Haddonfield Officer Files Bias Lawsuit The Only Jewish Member, He Cited Several Incidents. In One, He Said, An Officer Who Made A Racist Remark Was Promoted. Haddonfield Officer Files Bias Lawsuit The Only Jewish Member, He Cited Several Incidents. In One, He Said, An Officer Who Made A Racist Remark Was Promoted. - Philly.com

btw the officer won the case.

Yahoo! Groups

Restrictive covenants have been moot since after the War, and places from Merion to Miami Beach that once had them are now filled to the brim with Jews. Of course, there are plenty of such places (like Darien, CT) that still do have anti-Semitic reputations. But they haven't attracted sizeable Jewish presences. Again, Haddonfield is no Cherry Hill, but there are far too many Jews in town for the place to be all that hostile, though there very well may be some anti-Semitic social circles that have persisted into modern times. Also keep in mind that (1) very few Haddonfield police officers can probably afford to live in Haddonfield, and (2) anti-Semitism has been a perennial issue in police departments across the country--my great-Uncle was in the Philadelphia vice squad and he always got a hard time for being Jewish; I'd imagine it's only worse today, given that not very many Jews enter the law enforcement profession these days.

And there used to be a synagogue in Haddon Heights (which was never more than 3-5% Jewish). There probably were never any in Haddonfield because Camden County's core Jewish community flocked to Cherry Hill in line with suburbanization, making it the logical place for most of the synagogues (and nearby secondary Jewish communities that existed at the time--namely Haddonfield/Haddon Township and Pennsauken/Merchantville were close enough that there was no need to establish additional synagogues in those communities--the aforementioned synagogue in Haddon Heights was built in anticipation of a Jewish community that never really materialized in the Borough, so it moved to CH in 1991). To this day even Voorhees only has one synagogue, and that borders CH on Evesham Road.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

So you moved here as a kid in the 60's and you knew everything that was going on? You info is coming from other kids in the 1960's whose parents told them everything? Haddonfield has a history of this stuff. It also has higher housing prices.

I posted this in two threads because it was the same thread on two different sub forums SJ and Philly.

I posted because Haddonfield is not diverse and used jews and blacks as examples. Many real estate agents and others hide that some towns are not that great on diversity. Haddonfield as I said earlier is great for people looking for good schools with an easy commute to Center City but don't care if their kids grew up in a monoculture. Its not diverse and if the OP wanted diversity they should choose another town. YOU SHOULD READ all my posts rather than cherry picking.

Hon, I was told that by my friends' parents. Have you looked at the houses in old Woodcrest? These were not wealthy people. They moved to Woodcrest from the Northeast. Good try, but the OP did not ask about this. You posted hearsay. I was a teenager & was told by my friends' parents, who made the move. I have a right to dispute your hearsay.

[silverspringer]

Originally Posted by Jwaterford

With a center city commute, what are the advantages to staying on the Pa side? Property taxes and car insurance? What about the commute on 76, is it terrible? Lower merion schools vs Haddonfield?

76 is not terrible, but there are a lot of other routes into the city. To me this is the big advantage of being on the PA side. I'm on the main line and can make it to the zoo and museums in 10 mins on a weekend. (Villanova would be farther). I can kind of see the appeal of Gladwyne, but I would group Villanova in with Wayne and Berwyn.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by silverspringer

76 is not terrible, but there are a lot of other routes into the city. To me this is the big advantage of being on the PA side. I'm on the main line and can make it to the zoo and museums in 10 mins on a weekend. (Villanova would be farther). I can kind of see the appeal of Gladwyne, but I would group Villanova in with Wayne and Berwyn.

I would say Villanova is like the "missing link" between Gladwyne and Wayne.

[silverspringer]

Originally Posted by Jwaterford

Heavenwood, cpomp, and others, what is the explanation for LM consistently ranking higher than harriton although it seems that harriton is in the wealthier area?

In general LM is the preferred HS, at least among people I know, and being zoned for LM was our neighborhood's overwhelming preference during a redistricting process a few years ago (we live right along the Harriton/LM border). Not sure how fair the stereotypes are, but Harriton's is that kids there are excessively privileged and not as intellectual. LM's SAT scores are a little higher, and in the past it had a larger student body, so more extracurricular opportunities. The district has shifted boundaries to balance the size of the schools, so some of these differences may wash out in time. They are both highly regarded high schools, and it's a very affluent district with demanding families.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by silverspringer

In general LM is the preferred HS, at least among people I know, and being zoned for LM was our neighborhood's overwhelming preference during a redistricting process a few years ago (we live right along the Harriton/LM border).Not sure how fair the stereotypes are, but Harriton's is that kids there are excessively privileged and not as intellectual. LM's SAT scores are a little higher, and in the past it had a larger student body, so more extracurricular opportunities. The district has shifted boundaries to balance the size of the schools, so some of these differences may wash out in time. They are both highly regarded high schools, and it's a very affluent district with demanding families.

Harriton does have a more privileged reputation, but I've never heard the "less intellectual" stereotype. FWIW, Harriton has IB--Lower Merion does not. Both schools offer a plethora of AP/honors courses, and extra-curricular rosters are pretty much equal. In the past, that meant you had a better chance getting on a Harriton sports team/playing a meaningful role in a Harriton extracurricular activity. IIRC, the slight SAT median disparity stems from the fact that a lot of special education kids otherwise zoned into Lower Merion opted into Harriton for its supposedly better IEP resources, which makes sense, given that Harriton's mean SAT scores are slightly higher than LM's. Like you, I suspect the re-zoning has pretty much rendered these differences moot.

The big reason people didn't want to be re-zoned into Harriton was because Lower Merion was so much closer for them. My childhood home was 5 minutes away from LM. Harriton was 12. But the seemingly wacky zoning patterns make sense, given that the western half of the township is much less densely populated than the eastern section.

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by silverspringer

76 is not terrible, but there are a lot of other routes into the city. To me this is the big advantage of being on the PA side. I'm on the main line and can make it to the zoo and museums in 10 mins on a weekend. (Villanova would be farther). I can kind of see the appeal of Gladwyne, but I would group Villanova in with Wayne and Berwyn.

I've never heard anyone say that 76 wasn't terrible. It's a horrible road and I wouldn't ever put myself in a situation where I used it for commuting (unless you're planning to go to work before 7am). There are alternatives, but those aren't necessarily great either. Even on weekends, I avoid 76 after the morning as it will typically back up both ways by late morning.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Angus215

I've never heard anyone say that 76 wasn't terrible. It's a horrible road and I wouldn't ever put myself in a situation where I used it for commuting (unless you're planning to go to work before 7am). There are alternatives, but those aren't necessarily great either. Even on weekends, I avoid 76 after the morning as it will typically back up both ways by late morning.

LM is close enough to CC that you can avoid 76 altogether and still get there relatively quickly. 20-35 minutes, depending on where in LM.