Need advice on towns (Coatesville, Jenkintown: condo, townhouse, find a job)

[all mixed up]

We currently live in NY and it i too expensive. We were looking at Bucks county but it does not look close to Philly and I am not sure what kind of work is in that area. I am in sales. We are looking for a 2 -3 bedroom home or condo. Our budget is 240K max. Here are thing we are looking for.
A safe neigborhood to raise our son.
Close to work, at least a train ride
Affordable
We are jewish, but not very religous, but still would like to be close to a temple.
We would like to live in a suburb town not in the city but within 10-15 miles of the city.
One last thing, we need good schools and Special ed, our son is on the autistic spectrum and has special needs.
Thank for you thoughts!

[billb7581]

Depending on what part of Bucks Cty, it's not that far to Phila.

I don't know if you looked at South Jersey at all. Where I live in Cinnaminson, you have the River Line that makes it a fairly easy commute to Philly. My son has some learning disabilities and the school special education program has been fantastic.

You still have some somewhat affordable home and Temple[/url] in town.

[2bempowered]

for your budget you may be able to find a 2 br condo in Newtown PA, Shir' ami is the temple in that area, and it is the wonderful school district, council rock. Now, Newtown has higher property taxes, and an income tax. I work in Newtown, I could not afford to live there in a single home. There are not "bad" areas in Newtown. Also try Holland, Churchville. I love Langhorne, Neshaminy school distrist is also great, but i can't remember if there is a temple, i'd sure there is one not Far. Bensalem has many Jewish residents in the "valley" there is a temple, It is a more diverse area- a blend of many ethnicities, it's on the border of Phila- huge township, I attended the school system there, and while it was good, the Neshaminy council rock and Pennsbury are rated better, but less diversity and further from Phila..

[thesixth]

Check out the Elkins Park, Jenkintown or Abington areas. They all have good school districts and there is a good size Jewish population as well. You will have to look at twin style homes in your price range. But there are many apt. complexes in the area too.
Also very close to Phila so commute will be easier if you find a job in town.

[Sandi Lichtman]

Cherry Hill may be the ideal town for you. We have a fabulous, vibrant Jewish Community Center - and there is even a program there for special needs kids. There are also several synagogues - from orthodox to reform. Many Cherry HIll residents work in Phila - it is an easy commute. It is also easy to get to NY - there is a bus from Mt Laurel (10 min away) that goes non-stop to Port Authority. You will be able to find a 3 BR townhouse for the low 200s with no or low montly homeowner assoc fees in Cherry Hill , Marlton, or Voorhees (adjacent towns)

[irismike]

How is the Jewish community in Valley Township/Coatesville/Exton?

[hollygolitely]

i can't answer most of your questions... but if you get a job in philly, the train ride from trenton, nj to center city is just under an hour. so basically anything along that line will be less than that... i lived in levitown and bensalem, while bensalem is technically closer, my total commute was about the same (slightly further drive to the train station and much bigger so i made sure to be there a few minutes earlier) which is an hour. i don't think that's bad. i lived not far from the train stations though.
driving in WITHOUT traffic is about half hour from those towns.
i felt perfectly safe in both of them... the further out you go from philly the better... bensalem is the closest i wanted to actually live to philly. once you cross to the philly side be very careful with the area you live. langhorne, yardley, newtown... these are all nice area... further out from the city, but still not terribly far... as they're nicer they're more expensive of course.

[hollygolitely]

Originally Posted by Sandi Lichtman

Cherry Hill may be the ideal town for you. We have a fabulous, vibrant Jewish Community Center - and there is even a program there for special needs kids. There are also several synagogues - from orthodox to reform. Many Cherry HIll residents work in Phila - it is an easy commute. It is also easy to get to NY - there is a bus from Mt Laurel (10 min away) that goes non-stop to Port Authority. You will be able to find a 3 BR townhouse for the low 200s with no or low montly homeowner assoc fees in Cherry Hill , Marlton, or Voorhees (adjacent towns)

cherry hill is very nice. i know plenty of people live there and work in the city. it'd be a half hour to an hour i think depending car/train, traffic/no traffic.

[orrmobl]

Originally Posted by irismike

How is the Jewish community in Valley Township/Coatesville/Exton?

There's a very nice congregation in the Exton area...clipped this from another city-data post:

"Hello,

You should consider the community of Uwchland Township, which about 5 miles north of Exton. A nice synagogue resides there that appears to be pretty active. I'm not sure if they have a pre-school, however. Here is their website:

Welcome to Beth Israel Congregation

Good luck!"