Montgomery County?? (Philadelphia, Chester, Norristown: real estate, condo, houses)

[risa1230]

HI!
Can anyone tell me about montgomery county, pa? I'm applying for a position at montgomery county community college in blue bell and I was wondering about the area. I'm from CA so I have no idea about PA. Is the area diverse? Is it possible to commute from philly to montgomery county? The salary is 42000- will that be enough to live comfortably? Thanks for your help!

[hlo]

blue bell itself isn't affordable but its right by norristown and ambler which are both affordable and more diverse parts of montgomery county. its definitly possible to live in philly and commute to montgomery county. montco is right outside philly.

[Syrinx2112]

Originally Posted by risa1230

HI!
Can anyone tell me about montgomery county, pa? I'm applying for a position at montgomery county community college in blue bell and I was wondering about the area. I'm from CA so I have no idea about PA. Is the area diverse? Is it possible to commute from philly to montgomery county? The salary is 42000- will that be enough to live comfortably? Thanks for your help!

Blue Bell is a very nice area.Very affluent by Pa. standards. Unfortunately $42,000 isn't going to go very far in Blue Bell. Montgomery County along with its neighbor Chester County make up the top 2 wealthiest counties in Pa.. There are certainly nice areas to live within a 10 minute drive that would be more affordable. I would check out The Plymouth Meeting, Norriton, Jeffersonville, Collegeville areas, as they are a stones throw away and a very nice and much more affordable than Blue Bell.

I do know that Blue Bell was ranked #14 in Money magazines top 100 towns to live in the USA. Montgomery County except for a few exceptions(Norristown-Conshohocken-Pottstown) is very suburban in nature, office parks, very nice condo/apt complexes, 4,000 sf subdivision houses etc. Very green, rolling hills etc.. Beautiful County to live in. Montgomery County population is 775,000. The 5 county Philadelphia Pa. metro population is over 4 million.

[William shivers]

check out lansdale and north wales they are less then 10 minutes from MCCC and they are definately affordable compared to blue bell

[walkingslow]

looking for anyone in the Pottstown area related to a Joseph Everett b. 1815 Pottstown, Pa. d. 1878 Pleasant Mills, Indiana

[Discocasino]

I dunno about the economics, but Norristown and Cheltenham are pretty diverse (Norristown is more affordable, a little dodgy in parts). Norristown is more town like, Cheltenham is a typical suburb.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Montgomery County is the best county out of the 4 county Philadelphia suburban region.Cheltenham, Abignton ,Jenkintown,etc are all very nice and affordable.

[passdoubt]

Originally Posted by risa1230

HI!
Can anyone tell me about montgomery county, pa? I'm applying for a position at montgomery county community college in blue bell and I was wondering about the area. I'm from CA so I have no idea about PA. Is the area diverse? Is it possible to commute from philly to montgomery county? The salary is 42000- will that be enough to live comfortably? Thanks for your help!

Blue Bell is an affluent, white suburb. It's mostly single family homes, including some new (Mc)mansions, and it has some somewhat upscale stripmalls. It's fairly boring.

Coming from California, you might be surprised to find that Pennsylvania is very municipally fragmented compared to Western states. In other words, each borough, township, or postal catchment zone is a very small area. Blue Bell itself has very little to offer, but that's not really very important 'cause you drive 2 minutes and you're somewhere else.

Blue Bell is an easy drive to some neighborhoods in the city you might be interested in: Manayunk, Roxborough, or Mount Airy. The latter is notable for being an integrated community in a city that's mostly fairly segregated. You might want to check that out if you're looking for a diverse area. Center City would be a bit further drive.

MCCC would be a pain to take public transit to though. It's not a very convenient location in that regard.

As for Norristown, it's an okay town, but it's fairly economically depressed and segregated. It has black, Italian, and Mexican neighborhoods, but segregated poor ethnic neighborhoods aren't really what most people are looking for when they say they want "diversity."

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by risa1230

HI!
Can anyone tell me about montgomery county, pa? I'm applying for a position at montgomery county community college in blue bell and I was wondering about the area. I'm from CA so I have no idea about PA. Is the area diverse? Is it possible to commute from philly to montgomery county? The salary is 42000- will that be enough to live comfortably? Thanks for your help!

Well, moving from CA, you're in for a little bit of a culture shock, but that's part of the fun. MontCo is a very suburban county bordering Philadelphia. That said, it is overwhelmingly white and middle/upper-middle class. However, that's not to say that every town is that way. Both Norristown and Pottstown have sizable African-American and increasingly Hispanic/Latino populations. King of Prussia, as well, is becoming more integrated with a significant Asian-American community. A mortgage/rent payment is definitely possible in this area with a 42K salary. Maybe not in a town as affluent as Blue Bell, but definitely in a town nearby with somewhat cheaper real estate. With regard to a Philadelphia commute from MontCo., it is very possible on a variety of routes. Good luck!