Where to live between downtown Wilmington, DE and UPenn? (Philadelphia: townhomes, landscaping)

[alecvolkman]

Thank you for your contributions in advance. This forum has been a great resource.

My wife and I are moving to the Delaware Valley. I will be working in downtown Wilmington, while she at UPenn.

We both come from mid-sized cities on the West Coast. We are looking for a place that is family-oriented and safe. Swarthmore, West Chester, and Media are some of the places we're considering. Our budget is $500k - $1m.

We have also checked out some of the houses (4+ BR) around West Chester online. I haven't been able to find a single house that's not like an English country house without a huge yard. What's going on there?

[pman]

Nobody really calls it the delaware valley fwiw.

Why not live in West chester if you want a smaller yard and more walkable environment?

[cpomp]

I would check sites like realtor.com and homes.com, they have a pretty good collection of active listings, and hiring a realtor would help.


And, are you interested in newer housing or older? Single or townhomes? West Chester area is a lot of the shiny huge Toll Brother neighborhoods, Swarthmore is almost exclusively much older homes, and Media area (19063) is a right in the middle.


With up to 1 Million you should be able to find a very nice larger home in most communities. Since you are interested in both Media and Swarthmore I would focus in on those areas, because they are within 10 minutes to each other, and very easy to get to Philadelphia and not too bad of a commute to Wilmington. Settling in West Chester makes the commute to Philadelphia pretty bad (no train either) and the commute to Wilmington would not be much better than living in the Media area.

[ElijahAstin]

Media >>> West Chester for splitting a Wilmington/UPenn commute.

[toobusytoday]

I would also suggest living in West Chester and let the commuter make his/her way to Wilmington. On nice days they can take a combination of back roads but a normal commute of route 202. By living in Media or Swarthmore, both of you will have traffic filled commutes. I've found it very enjoyable to work where we live.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I would also suggest living in West Chester and let the commuter make his/her way to Wilmington. On nice days they can take a combination of back roads but a normal commute of route 202. By living in Media or Swarthmore, both of you will have traffic filled commutes. I've found it very enjoyable to work where we live.

Media has direct rail access to University City and, depending on where in the area, could be a short park-and-ride away from the Wilmington/Newark line. West Chester to West Philly by car is hell any way you slice it, and you're fighting against a lot more people driving to the city from Chester County than Delaware County to Wilmington.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

Media has direct rail access to University City and, depending on where in the area, could be a short park-and-ride away from the Wilmington/Newark line. West Chester to West Philly by car is hell any way you slice it, and you're fighting against a lot more people driving to the city from Chester County than Delaware County to Wilmington.

Oops, I didn't read the OP correctly. I thought one of them was working in West Chester. I'll go along with Media or Swarthmore.

[rainrock]

Garnet Valley/Glen Mills/Chadds Ford

[Pocopsonite]

Originally Posted by alecvolkman

We have also checked out some of the houses (4+ BR) around West Chester online. I haven't been able to find a single house that's not like an English country house without a huge yard. What's going on there?

In Chester County, if you don't live within the limits of a city or borough, you live in a township. Most Chester County townships have zoning that requires at least an acre (sometimes two) for a single-family house. There are exceptions for cluster housing with lots of open space. Over the past couple decades, houses have gotten bigger and bigger and even on the large lots they look a little silly. Many are built on farmland (i.e., acres and acres of treeless open fields) so the landscaping is out of scale with the size of the houses. That'll catch up in another decade or two . . .

We live in a township at the extreme south end of a West Chester ZIP code. I commuted to Philadelphia for three years and it was miserable. I had to drive 30 minutes just to get to the train at Elwyn, one stop west of Media. And then it was almost another hour to Philly. Some parts of the West Chester ZIP code would be much better. But Swarthmore and Media would be preferable because of proximity to SEPTA. Media is probably better for the Wilmington commute. And it's not a college town, which may or may not be a plus to you.

We like mid-century modern/contemporary architecture. You can find it if you look hard and have patience. If you're looking for houses like they build in Portland, OR, for example, you really won't find anything like that. Colonial rules! And in your price range, the McMansions with all those odd jutting out sections. <sigh>