Spring City vs Royersford/Limerick (Philadelphia, Chester: 2013, high crime, new house)

[motherofpearls]

Hi forum people!

I am in the process of looking to buy a new house. I found a couple that I like in Spring city and Royersford so far. Not to impressed with the Collegeville housing stock so far.

My question is, is Spring city safe?
Is it a lower middle class area? Blue collar or white collar?
I am not familiar about Spring City and would like to know what are the cons and pros.
Anything you can tell me will be appreciated.
Which town is more clean, neat, growing and upper middle classish among Royersford, Limerick, and Spring City?
My budget is 270K - 350K
Scholl districts matter.
Safety matters.

Also, do you think that buying in Spring City or Royersford or Limerick will hurt my resale value b/c some people might me to concerned with the proximity to the power plant?

[ColinPhillyFan]

I am currently working at a restaurant in Royersford, and grew up in Phoenixville, so I know the area pretty well. That said, I don't know much about the housing market and this is all my very much my opinion and not to be taken as fact. Also, I don't know Limerick very well so I'll leave that out.

Spring City is pretty safe. This area is pretty far removed from the city, and so you don't have the high crime levels that you do in some of the neighborhoods closer to / in the city. This link has some info on the crime rate: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...nsylvania.html

Spring City and Royersford are both blue collar towns. Of the two, Royersford is probably the nicer, cleaner, and friendlier. It has a nice main street that has a couple good restaurants and shops on it that draw out of town customers. Both towns are close to a nice shopping center in Collegeville Providence Town Center | Shop. Dine. Play. | Collegeville, PA, just an exit down on 422.

That's my 2 cents on the area, not too informed on housing markets or school districts, so maybe somebody else can help you out more with that.

[cjmmm]

I can help you to do thorough research on the school districts and the housing markets. 225 to 250K is a realistic price for these areas. These areas are convenient as the shopping is close, there is the perkiomen trail for biking and walking and it is close access to 422. Phoenixville is another suggestion; can you visit these places before moving?

[PhillyPhan95]

Spring City is kind of a small worn down place. It's a working class town, that's for sure. There's a lot of neat victorian style old houses, but as a whole, it doesn't really seem to have anything going for it. No new development, no real "downtown." It's biggest pro I'd say is that it is close to Royersford and Phoenixville, and has cheap housing available. It's biggest con is that it is really rather dull. Royersford is definitely a step up, though it's still similar to Spring City. It has a larger area, is denser, and has a nicer through fare with a few shops and things. These are nice towns, and I have friends who live there, and it's nice to go there every once in a while. I really don't think the proximity to the power plant will do anything to your property values, unless you're in Limerick and they just dominate the view from your backyard because I mean.. they aren't pretty. Other than that, I don't find myself in Limerick often, though it seems to be just suburban subdivision lots everywhere with solid a solid middle class presence, and some upper class too. I've never run into anything in Limerick that would indicate a lower class presence. Between the two I'd pick Royersford, but if you consider the very close town of Phoenixville it would be no contest in favor of Phoenixville. It's larger than both of them combined, it has a great little downtown and is often full of people out eating and doing things on the weekends, as it is home to a lot of events and festivals, much more-so than Royersford. It has access to the Schuylkill River trail for biking and you can go kayaking in the canal or in the Schuylkill. You will find the same sort of housing stock, though I find Phoenixville homes to be a little more well-kept, as a whole, than those in the other towns. Unlike the other two, it has new development going on in its downtown that will fill the gap left by a huge Steel Mill that used to operate in the town. ( Fox Realty Co. to partner on Phoenixville development - Philadelphia Business Journal ) The school district is better IMO, as I am a current senior at Phoenixville and have found that the school is very supportive of its students and makes available all the opportunities it can. Spring-Ford, because it covers Upper Providence township (Very new type of developments, lots of young families with kids in cookie-cutter suburban homes) which has a lot of high school aged kids, tend to give its students less individual attention because there are so many students, so my friends who go there have said. Anyway, for example, Phoenixville has just as many (or maybe even more, not totally sure, though if more not by much) kids taking AP calculus than does Spring-Ford (Spring City/Royersford) despite the fact that it has half the number of kids. The price range you have will do you well in all of the areas, and I think you'll be happy wherever you land. All of these places are safe, though not as safe as the surrounding townships on anyside of Royersford, Spring-City, or Phoenixiville. That's due to the greater availability of a smaller (cheaper) housing stock in the towns, combined with the density of the areas, that makes it prone to some crime that the surrounding townships don't see because they have generally wealthier people. Regardless, it's never been a noticeable problem that I've ever had to deal with, and I feel safe walking in these three towns at night. I keep an attentive eye, but it's not to the point where I'm not going to walk out at night. Well I need to go write college essays.... Happy pickings!

[PhillyPhan95]

Phoenixville, Spring-Ford AP test scores, participation up - The Phoenix Here's an article from around this time last year on both Phoenixville and Spring-Ford high schools in regards to AP testing. As you can see, both schools do very well, though Phoenixville a little better. When looking at the number of students, keep in mind that Spring-Ford has twice the number of students as does Phoenixville.

[motherofpearls]

WOW thank you ALL!
This was a great chunk of information. I am very familiar with Phoenixville and am looking for a house there also. I like the Montgomery County part of it though more than Chester, so housing stock in my price range is pretty much non-existent.
I just wanted to expand my search onto Royersford, Limerick and Collegeville but I am less familiar with those areas though. After what I have heard Spring City is definitely out.

cjmmm are you a re agent by chance? I actually live in the county and am simply looking to upgrade my current home, so yes I can visit. Send me an IM with your info so I can check you out LOL