need info on Cheltenham and Elkins Park (Philadelphia, Glenside: real estate, houses)

[glausuche]

I've recently discovered Cheltenham and Elkins Park.
Are those good neighborhoods?
What about the schools?
The houses look great and so does the amount of land and price, but why are taxes so much higher there? What's the deal?

[maf763]

Cheltenham is a township, while Elkins Park is a neighborhood that covers part of Cheltenham and part of Abington townships. This is an inner ring suburb which has both conveniences (close to the city, decent transportation for a suburban area) and drawbacks (older housing stock). Over the past generation, the people who lived in places like EP migrated to further out suburbs that were just being developed, which has resulted in fairly reasonable housing costs. The issue, however, is taxes. Cheltenham is very burdened by real estate tax, more so for comparative housing than any other township in the area. Cheltenham schools get mixed reviews - very good for many kids, but some crowding and a somewhat iffy jr. high (Cedarbrook). Learning support services could be a lot better.

[Ant$]

I dated a girl for about 9 years who was from Melrose Park and I live in Cheltenham for about 7. i noticed a decline in the area.

my ex-girl used the expression, "the neighborhood has gotten really dark." (expressions like that is part of why she's now my ex)


However, race aside, i have noticed that the area isn't as clean as it used to be.


The houses do get nicer and cleaner as you go past the Bill Cosby Estate into Jenkintown towards the Abington Friends school.

[Tone509]

The Cheltenham Square Mall area by the city limits may be a bit dicey but otherwise Cheltenham - and particularly Elkins Park - is a great place to live IMO if you're comfortable with older housing stock. I believe there's relatively little new housing in the inner ring suburbs.

[Mar0]

There are some parts of Cheltenham where I feel unsafe...and I will never forget when I play lax in freshman year, the Cheltenham girls team barked at as like dogs as we were leaving to go home.

[juniperbleu]

Cheltenham can be iffy, depending on where you are. I've never seen anything wrong with Elkins Park. Like maf763 said, it's closer in so it's suburban but close enough to have all the conveniences of living near a city. Also, since it's more compact it's easier to walk around (we always did) from your/friends' houses to a little cafe, store, or park. There's also a train station making it very convenient should you not be able/choose not to drive.

[VivaLaEvie]

Elkins Park is a lovely and diverse place, for those who can't stand to be in boring old lilly white suburbs. Great trains to Center City and beautiful old houses. The "Cheltenham for Obama" group is really reflective of the community - diverse, interesting, civic-minded and active.

The property taxes are high because there is little business income tax to support the township - unlike Abington. The great thing is you aren't loaded down with tons of ugly Target Stores and strip malls and the like. The bad thing is that means higher property taxes to support the schools.

[surferr]

We moved here (Cheltenham) 3 years ago from Pebble Beach California and found our neighborhood very safe and clean. No kids, so no idea regarding the schools. Must be good cause we pay $7K a year in taxes????
Lots of open space around my house so it feels more country than the proximity to the city suggests.

Moderator Cut: Real Estate Advertising

[leighland]

Originally Posted by surferr

We moved here (Cheltenham) 3 years ago from Pebble Beach California

Wow! Thats a culture shock....

[ajb842]

I lived in Cheltenham,techinically Elkins Park, for 12 years until I got married last year and moved. I went to Cheltenham highschool, which I loved. I foudn it to be extremely diverse with generally good teachers, and somewhat of a city mentality. Cheltenham may not be a typical suburb because parts of it literally border Philadelphia, as we lived about 3 blocks outside of Philadelphia as one of the last streets in Elkins Park. The property taxes my parents paid are somewhere around 11-12K/year which is high even for the township, however they live in a nice neighborhood with very large old homes. There is a section of Cheltenham, the village, that would feel more like northeast Philadelphia if anything else, but I never felt unsafe as I had many friends who lived there. Then remember, parts of Glenside are Cheltenham township as well and there are extremely nice areas there. As with any major city, a few blocks here or there could put you in an entirely different neighborhood. I never felt unsafe in my neighborhood and I loved how diverse the township is. Just drive around and see what neighborhoods you like, because Elkins Park, Cheltenham and Glenside are all part of Cheltenham Township.