Help decide between NJ & PA suburbs!

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by ashsurry

Thanks everyone for your quick and valuable replies. While we are not fixated on a magical % of Indian/Asian population, we would like a diverse mixed neighborhood. Lower Merion schools are excellent, but we could not find much we liked in upto the 400K mark last year. Also, we did notice the 'snob' factor on the Main Line which was a turn-off. We are well-educated upper-middle class professionals as well, just don't like the "better-than-you" snootiness that one post mentioned. We have met some very nice people as well, don't get me wrong. I am going to research some of these SD options and see what we find!

For some reason, I thought you also didn't find LM Asian enough. My apologies if I misconstrued your post, in which case Upper Dublin, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Wissahickon, Lower Moreland, Wallingford-Swarthmore, etc., etc., etc., could be just fine, depending on commute tolerance.

[eastwestcoast]

Originally Posted by ashsurry

Thanks everyone for your quick and valuable replies. While we are not fixated on a magical % of Indian/Asian population, we would like a diverse mixed neighborhood. Lower Merion schools are excellent, but we could not find much we liked in upto the 400K mark last year. Also, we did notice the 'snob' factor on the Main Line which was a turn-off. We are well-educated upper-middle class professionals as well, just don't like the "better-than-you" snootiness that one post mentioned. We have met some very nice people as well, don't get me wrong. I am going to research some of these SD options and see what we find!

You'll probably not find any hugely diverse overall populations in the top suburban school districts regardless of the area. However, there are certainly pockets of higher diversity that you can look for in just about any region. This mapping tool might be helpful for finding these areas, just change the data layer to Asian %:

http://www.city-data.com/zips/19096....[fs]=false

In this case, I just put in the zip code for Wynnewood as an example and filtered to show concentrations of people reporting Asian heritage. As you can see, although the zip is overall fairly low in Asian population, there are census tracts that report much high percentages. You can do a similar investigation for any other area.

For what it's worth, my wife and I recently bought a home in Lower Merion close to the Philadelphia city line in your price range. It only has 3 bedrooms, but I know 4 bedrooms do come on the market from time to time in similar price ranges, you just have to jump on them quickly. Not sure about the snob factor, but most of our neighbors in this part of the township seem pretty down-to-earth, at least compared to further up the Main Line.

Other suburbs further west that have already been mentioned are also good choices from a school district point of view, but they require a longer commute and are not really any more diverse than Lower Merion. We considered some homes near Wallingford and Media when we were house hunting, but taxes ended up cancelling out the lower home prices, and all things being equal I'm much happier having more of each monthly payment go to principal than to the government. Don't know as much about New Jersey, but most people I know there pay much higher property taxes per price of house than in most PA suburbs of Philly. Although since you are working in the city, I believe you can at least deduct your wage tax from your New Jersey income tax, so there is that.

One other place to look at might be Jenkintown if you don't mind a small, but well-regarded school district. It is very convenient to Philly on transit with three regional rail lines going through it and is near some more diverse areas like Cheltenham.

[nsg702]

Lived in the PA suburbs for years, 2 years ago made the massive mistake of moving to Voorhees NJ. Have you checked Abington/Glenside PA (Blue ribbon schools), good transit, excellent shopping, great community.

Voorhees is HORRIBLE - both big and small stuff. There is really no transit except for PATCO, which is regional not local, and its not great. No employees in most stations, none on the trains (security issue?), no bathrooms in the stations, no WIFI, etc.

Local people here are insular and rude and decidedly unfriendly. I know people who have lived here more than 20 years and don't know their neighbors names. People don't shovel their walks and don't seem to care. Township plowing is a joke, even on main roads. I've seen dead rotting animals on main streets for days before anyone comes from the township and picks them up. There is no real "downtown" and unless you want to spend 20 minutes in horrible traffic in your car, there isn't even a decent coffeeshop or really anything else around. Town Center is a joke, stores closing all the time. Same with the Walmart shopping center. The new Ryan townhomes on Evesham Rd aren't even completed yet and already there are for rent signs out....owners bailing.

[nanava]

I have similar concerns as the original poster. We'll probably be relocating to the area this summer, and I could have written this post. I find myself gravitating more and more toward Cherry Hill, although I'd definitely miss not having a town center. Otherwise, it seems like it has pretty much everything we're looking for, with the caveat that we haven't gone so far as met with a realtor to really see it up close and personal. I'll be curious to hear what the OP decides.

[nsg702]

Try Abington/ Glenside area in Montgomery County. Top rated schools, excellent transit, housing not cookie-cutter, great communites