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Old 12-03-2013, 09:24 PM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,215,138 times
Reputation: 2715

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Summersm343 View Post
I would shoot for Bucks County... specifically Newtown in the Council Rock school district. Your kids will get a great education and you'll have rail service to both Center City, Philadelphia and New York City.
Nice suggestion given the train options to both Philly-NYC. The schools in Central Bucks are very good but If the best public school districts are top priority I would tend to focus on the Main Line towns .

Top 15 High Schools in 2012 per Philadelphia Magazine

1.Masterman- Philadelphia

2.Lower Merion- Main Line(Montgomery County PA)

3.Unionville Chadds Ford- Chadds Ford PA.(Chester County PA)

4.Conestoga- Main Line (Chester County PA)

5.Harriton- Main Line(Montgomery County PA)

6.Haddonfield- Haddonfield NJ(Camden County NJ)

7.Lower Moreland- Huntington Valley PA(Montgomery County PA)

8.Radnor- Main Line(Delaware County PA)

9.Great Valley Main Line(Chester County PA)

10. Strath Haven -Nether Providence PA (Delaware County PA)

11. New Hope-Solebury (Bucks County PA)

12. Jenkintown- (Montgomery County PA)

13. Central Bucks East- Doylestown PA(Bucks County PA)

14.Council Rock North - Newtown PA(Bucks County PA)

15. Upper Dublin-Fort Washington PA(Montgomery County)
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Old 12-03-2013, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,215,138 times
Reputation: 2715
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitarguy73 View Post
Unionville-Chadds Ford has the best school system, ranked in top 3 in the entire state.
Think OP is looking for a community feel/small town. Unionville area is top notch but it can get a little autocentric, sprawlish with a large mcmansion vibe.

I missed the "Laid back" criteria . That might leave out some of the older Main Line Towns which can be a little needy and demanding from a school standpoint.

My top 5 recommendations would be Doylestown,Newtown,Wayne,New Hope,HaddonfieldNJ.And Princeton if you don't have a problem with central jersey.

Oh and Chestnut Hill in the city is excellent. The only problem is the Philadelphia school district is not great and you would have to pay a measurable city wage tax on your earnings.

January is no paradise around here . Bring warm clothes and Be forewarned
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Old 12-04-2013, 05:59 AM
 
95 posts, read 180,761 times
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My personal inclination would be to live somewhere nice in the city (Rittenhouse, Fitler, Society Hill, Chestnut Hill, etc) and pay for one of the excellent private schools (e.g. the Philadelphia School). This isn't cheap, but you should still be coming out ahead compared to living in the Bay Area. Also, if your kids are smart, they can test into Masterman in 5th grade, which is the best public school in the state. (But this is of course always a gamble)

In my opinion, one of the best features of Philadelphia compared to the bay is its walkability and bikability -- you don't need to get into your car for weeks at a time.

If you are living in an autocentric suburb anyhow, why not keep the better weather of the bay?
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Old 12-04-2013, 08:37 AM
 
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We are in a similar situation and considering similar towns. Feeling a bit overwhelmed as well as far as how to plan a tour and where to look. With a baby our touring hours are limited so need to make the most out of our time. Wondering how Montgomery county life compares to central bucks county life...?
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Old 12-04-2013, 09:03 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carriek314 View Post
Wondering how Montgomery county life compares to central bucks county life...?
Bucks and Montgomery are pretty similar. Along with neighboring Chester County and Delaware County they are the 4 wealthiest counties in PA.. Suburban,autocentric,quiet,safe for the most part. The bad parts are well defined and rather isolated.

Imo Montgomery County is a little bit better centrally located and has a few things that Bucks County doesn't. In Montgomery there is a huge corporate and shopping hub around King of Prussia/Plymouth Meeting /Chesterbrook. King of Prussia is home to the largest shopping mall on the east coast and its high end/upscale. And the Main Line is a rather impressive collection of older walkable towns with all kinds of character, if that's your thing.

Bucks imo has more of a suburban bedroom community feel. In all the counties you may find the segregation rather alarming. Economically, racially,class-wise. In the Philadelhia suburbs for the most part it's demographic x lives here and goes to school here. Demographic Z lives there and so on. That's just the way it is.

A nice area to look into on a visit might be the King of Prussia /Valley Forge area.Decent selection of hotels top stay at . That would give you a central location to look into Bucks,Montgomery,Chester or Delaware Counties. NJ or Delaware would only be 1/2 hour away.
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Old 12-04-2013, 09:07 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
175 posts, read 288,097 times
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Im moving to PA from Los Angeles, and although its not the same as the bay area ive spent alot of time up there as my best friend lives in Millbrae. I highlt recommend looking at Chestnut Hill area with in Philadelphia. it has a laid back small town feel but is only a hop away from all the great stuff in city center.
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Old 12-04-2013, 09:19 AM
 
147 posts, read 283,972 times
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agree chestnut hill is a beautiful area, but its part of the philly school system which is in a terrible state. if you send your kids to public school avoid the city school district. another thing to consider if the city wage tax.
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Old 12-04-2013, 09:26 AM
 
33 posts, read 51,525 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuhusky11 View Post
agree chestnut hill is a beautiful area, but its part of the philly school system which is in a terrible state. if you send your kids to public school avoid the city school district. another thing to consider if the city wage tax.
Chestnut Hill would be a nice neighborhood to live in. Place oozes character. From what I have been told the elementary and middle schools are really good but it's the high school live where you run into problems.


If the whole walkable Main Street USA is your thing then that's where the Main Line towns could come into play. Just like Chestnut Hill but with top notch public schools.
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Old 12-04-2013, 03:57 PM
 
27 posts, read 41,102 times
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This is all killer information. Like someone mentioned above, this is overwhelming (in a good way). When we go to visit, we'll have an 8mo and 3yr old. Thus, looking at everything is going to be challenging.

A suggestion above was to look at Moorestown. My wife took a look, loves the space and homes, and the schools seems to be very good. Thus, when we visit, we're going to focus on Bucks County and then Moorestown up to Princeton.

Any thoughts on the Moorestown area? Princeton I've been to a few times before so I'm somewhat familiar.

Thanks again everyone. This forum is fantastic!
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Old 12-04-2013, 04:26 PM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,215,138 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anotherusername View Post

Any thoughts on the Moorestown area? Princeton I've been to a few times before so I'm somewhat familiar.

Thanks again everyone. This forum is fantastic!
Try checking the New jersey Forum. I believe they have a sub-forum devoted to the jersey suburbs of Philly. Probably get better help over there. I've been to Moorestown,Haddonfield,Princeton and they are all fantastic towns.
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