Philly or Jersey?? (Philadelphia, Chester, Media: mortgages, how much, home)

[MoorestownResident]

Originally Posted by rainrock

Quit while you are behind. A little friendly advice, stop getting your info from wikipedia unless you want to look like a stooge. Mercer is not included in Philadlephia's CMSA or the PMSA. NYC political power somehow stole Mercer County away from the Philadelphia metro. Doesnt make any sense to me seeing how Trenton is 10 miles away from NE Philly and 70 miles from Manhattan but it is what it is.

And by the below chart you can easily see the NW suburbs of Philadelphia are the growth leaders of the metro.

Area Census Population Change, 1990 to 2000
April 1, 2000 April 1, 1990 Number Percent

Philadelphia--Wilmington--Atlantic City, PA--NJ--DE--MD CMSA 6,188,463 5,892,937 295,526 5.00%
-Atlantic--Cape May, NJ PMSA 354,878 319,416 35,462 11.10%
--Atlantic County 252,552 224,327 28,225 12.60%
--Cape May County 102,326 95,089 7,237 7.60%
-Philadelphia, PA--NJ PMSA 5,100,931 4,922,175 178,756 3.60%
--Burlington County, NJ 423,394 395,066 28,328 7.20%
--Camden County, NJ 508,932 502,824 6,108 1.20%
--Gloucester County, NJ 254,673 230,082 24,591 10.70%
--Salem County, NJ 64,285 65,294 -1,009 -1.50%
--Bucks County, PA 597,635 541,174 56,461 10.40%
--Chester County, PA 433,501 376,396 57,105 15.20%
--Delaware County, PA 550,864 547,651 3,213 0.60%
--Montgomery County, PA 750,097 678,111 71,986 10.60%
--Philadelphia County, PA 1,517,550 1,585,577 -68,027 -4.30%
-Vineland--Millville--Bridgeton, NJ PMSA 146,438 138,053 8,385 6.10%
--Cumberland County, NJ 146,438 138,053 8,385 6.10%
-Wilmington--Newark, DE--MD PMSA 586,216 513,293 72,923 14.20%
--New Castle County, DE 500,265 441,946 58,319 13.20%
--Cecil County, MD

1. PMSA is not the same as the Greater Philadelphia Area as defined by the Delaware Valley Regional Authority

2. Argue all you want. The bottom line is nobody thinks of the PA burbs as anything other than a lower cost of living area where people from NJ go to save money on housing and property taxes. That's the reputation PA has in NJ - north or south.

3. Main line is great sure but you live in the 30th or so ranked state for household income in an MSA that is primarily considered blue-collar. Get outside the Main Line and you will soon run into trailer parks.

4. Nobody says those things about SJ and it does not have a blue collar reputation.

I've enjoyed this discussion and I hope you have confirmed for yourself that PA burbs are superior to NJ's. Unfortunately, independent ranking sources that include such things as proximity to culture/media/quality schools/air quality/restaurants, etc. confirm that the very best places to live in the delaware valley are not in PA.

[billb7581]

Seems to me the OP was looking for value for their money, not necessarily the richest zip code

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

2. Argue all you want. The bottom line is nobody thinks of the PA burbs as anything other than a lower cost of living area where people from NJ go to save money on housing and property taxes. That's the reputation PA has in NJ - north or south.

Well if thats the reputation in New Jersey then you have alot of uneducated people in the Garden State. My guess is that it's just your perception and you would be emphatically incorrect.

[FindingZen]

Alright everyone, let's take a breath. <inhale...exhale> This is a healthy debate but let's not get personal with each other or our home areas.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Alright everyone, let's take a breath. <inhale...exhale> This is a healthy debate but let's not get personal with each other or our home areas.

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

2. Argue all you want. The bottom line is nobody thinks of the PA burbs as anything other than a lower cost of living area where people from NJ go to save money on housing and property taxes. That's the reputation PA has in NJ - north or south.

South Jersey is a great area and I would never criticize it but MoorestownResident has things completely backwards. People looking to move into the Philadelphia region move to South Jersey because they cant afford homes in Chester,Montgomery,Bucks,Western Delaware counties. Thats the reality of it.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

Philly itself is a low income city, with no job growth and declining population so it is not surprising any and all wealth moves out to the burbs in search of stronger economic growth. What you apparently don't understand is, SJ is the one of the few strongly growing regions of the northeast.

I don't think anyone is discounting that growth in SJ is strong. However, being that most of the Philly metro area resides in PA, that's where most of the growth is. Places like Western Chester, Northern Montgomery, and Northern Bucks Counties are all experiencing double-digit growth each year, with strong real estate appreciation:

Pa. Suburban Median Home Prices | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/19/2007

Also, to claim that the PA 'burbs are "trailer parks" outside of the Main Line is an extremely inaccurate and ignorant comment. Clearly you haven't visited "nouveau riche" areas like King of Prussia, Exton, West Chester, Oaks, and Collegeville -- all areas not part of the Main Line -- that match or top median income/public schools/or job opportunities to that of any town in South Jersey.

Anyway, I think this is a silly argument. We're all apart of the same region, so we shouldn't be debating about "which suburbs are the best," as though we're in different parts of the country. I love many areas of South Jersey, but it seems as though you get a little less bang for your buck while living there due to exorbitantly high property taxes. It's all a matter of preference, I suppose.

[janny]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Alright everyone, let's take a breath. <inhale...exhale> This is a healthy debate but let's not get personal with each other or our home areas.

In the meantime, the OP isn't really getting his/her original question answered. He/she specifically asked about Cherry Hill vs. living in the Philly suburbs and how he/she would get the best value for his/her money while living in a safe neighborhood. Instead, it has turned into a "my-state-is-better-than-your-state-nyah-nyah-nyah" debate between Rainrock and MoorestownResident. People like me, who might be interested in reading on-topic responses for their own information, instead have to sift through all of R & M's quibbling only to find the original question really isn't even being answered.

[MoorestownResident]

Of active listings in the area here are three of the most expensive homes I could find that are directly comparable for resale in terms of square footage and lot size.

You be the judge.

Gladwyne

$8.7 million, 2.68 acres, 15,000 square feet

Price per square foot = $580

New Hope (Bucks)

$4.3 million, 3.28 acres, 12,800 square feet

Price per square foot = $335

NJ

Moorestown

$6.87 million, 3.6 acres, 11,000 square feet

Price per square foot = $624

[vizanje]

I've lived on both sides of the river, and it's really a matter of taste. Jersey is pretty much tacky strip malls, endless highways and gas stations, it doesn't feel like it has any soul. Now, I do like Moorestown, and main st. there. But it's not like it's the center of community activity. You drive through it to get somewhere else. Some of the same applies to the burbs of Philly. But there are beautiful areas with older buildings and a more traditional layout of the community. They don't have the same cheap feel of the "new" suburbs of america. Which I find pretty tasteless and boring. If you were blindfolded and dropped in a suburb, could you tell where you were? Jersey? Ohio? NC? Seems we are paving the way to a really ugly country. Just my two cents. Personally I like cities, and would prefer to live near a city than in a soul-less suburb where everybody lives because they couldn't hack the city.

[billb7581]

I would hate city living, but like having the city convenient to me.


Nothing sounds like more fun, after a long day of work than riding around the block 6 times , looking for a place to park