Langhorne - Possibly Relocating Here (Philadelphia, Levittown: real estate, low crime, houses)

[AverageJoe83]

Hello,

I did a quick forum search and saw a few Langhorne topics, but most of them were quite old - I was curious to see what the general consensus was about Langhorne.

Long story short - I currently live in Round Rock, TX (northern suburb of Austin). Have a wife, 3 year old daughter and 2 dogs. Wife and I both make very good money with combined income of nearly $135K/yr. By northeast standards if we were to take and adjust our salaries we'd be over the 200K mark. I may have an opportunity within the next 3 years to relocate up to Langhorne with my company, as we have a steadily growing office up there and my services as manager for the recruiting department would be useful up there as we continue to grow the location.

Basically, I'm looking to see what the general consensus is for Langhorne. Is it a nice area for families? Are the school districts good? Is it generally a safe area with a low crime rate? Are there better options for younger families up in that area?

It's not necessary for us to be in or near a major metropolitan area but we don't want to be out in the sticks either. Langhorne is only 2 hours from our original home on Long Island, so that's a major driving factor for us to relocate to Langhorne - my parents will finally be able to see their Granddaughter more than once a year!

I'm just generally curious - the City-Data stats look great but I want to hear from actual people, not numbers. Generally seeking info on:

* Schools

* Quality of Life

* Lifestyle/culture (we are mixed race couple - white and asian) (we're coming from Austin, TX - we aren't hippies but we're fans of the geek/nerd culture that's so popular down here)

* Food (we're foodies)

* Diversity ( We currently live in a 70% white neighborhood with lots of mixed race couples and folks of all different backgrounds and ethnicities peppered in between - its nice and diverse enough that EVERYONE gets along and isn't concerned about color, creed or religion- we would very much seek that same community mentality)

* Job Availability - wife is an HR professional, I'm a recruiter (corporate, NOT agency) - I would be relocating with a job, but my wife would have to find a new one and currently makes $80K

* Crime rates/bad areas

* Family functions/events

* Average home prices for 4 bed, 2.5+ bath homes

* Will it be improving? Degrading? over the next few years

* Dangerous wildlife/arachnids/insects common to the area

Again, that city-data stats are great but I prefer to hear it from word of mouth

[Eagles1234]

It's a nice safe area for families with good schools (Neshaminy is the school district in Langhorne). The type of house you are looking for would be in the 400k - 450k range. The neighboring towns of Newtown and Yardley are also very nice, however none of the suburbs in Bucks Country will have the culture or food of Austin. You would need to go to Philadelphia for that as it has excellent restaurants, but it's about 40 minutes away. The area is not very diverse, probably about 90% white but I think it would be a welcoming place for you anyway. Langhorne is at the intersection of Routes 1 and 95 so there is good highway access for commuting to jobs as well as train access to Philadelphia (45 mins) and NYC (75 mins from Trenton NJ which is 10 mins away).

[AverageJoe83]

Good to know - my wife would likely seek work in Trenton or Philly since I imagine HR Manager roles don't come up that often in Langhorne.

[NovaDragon]

Langhorne is one of many relatively small suburban towns in Bucks County. It is located in Middletown township and depending on where you're looking, some parts are solid upper-middle class while others are middle to lower-middle class. Crime is pretty low. As the above poster mentioned, you're not going to find too many other foodies in the area and there's not a ton going on outside of the Oxford Valley Mall (in fact, outside of New Hope and maybe Doylestown, both of which are a solid 30ish minutes away, there's not much culture in Bucks County). It is pretty white but in my experience pretty accommodating. Schools are decent but you can definitely do better in some of the surrounding areas, like Newtown (Council Rock SD), Lower Makefield/Yardley (Pennsbury SD) and Lower Moreland (Lower Moreland SD).

Depending on what matters most to you guys, I would expand your search into the surrounding townships and school districts as they might have more to offer than Langhorne specifically. Newtown & Council Rock are better for schools (but pricey), New Hope has more of a hipper vibe (even pricey-er), etc. IMO, Langhorne is good, not great.

Good luck with your search!

[AverageJoe83]

Thanks NovaDragon - I was looking at some real estate in Newtown - beautiful homes, and quite a few of them seem relatively new. We miss that New England vibe.

School district is definitely important to us - we'd be leaving what has apparently been widely considered across the country as one of the all-around best school districts (Round Rock ISD). I'd want to make sure my daughter and any future child(ren) we have would continue to be in a great school district.

[PLyons13]

Originally Posted by AverageJoe83

Hello,

I did a quick forum search and saw a few Langhorne topics, but most of them were quite old - I was curious to see what the general consensus was about Langhorne.

Long story short - I currently live in Round Rock, TX (northern suburb of Austin). Have a wife, 3 year old daughter and 2 dogs. Wife and I both make very good money with combined income of nearly $135K/yr. By northeast standards if we were to take and adjust our salaries we'd be over the 200K mark. I may have an opportunity within the next 3 years to relocate up to Langhorne with my company, as we have a steadily growing office up there and my services as manager for the recruiting department would be useful up there as we continue to grow the location.

Basically, I'm looking to see what the general consensus is for Langhorne. Is it a nice area for families? Are the school districts good? Is it generally a safe area with a low crime rate? Are there better options for younger families up in that area?

It's not necessary for us to be in or near a major metropolitan area but we don't want to be out in the sticks either. Langhorne is only 2 hours from our original home on Long Island, so that's a major driving factor for us to relocate to Langhorne - my parents will finally be able to see their Granddaughter more than once a year!

I'm just generally curious - the City-Data stats look great but I want to hear from actual people, not numbers. Generally seeking info on:

* Schools

* Quality of Life

* Lifestyle/culture (we are mixed race couple - white and asian) (we're coming from Austin, TX - we aren't hippies but we're fans of the geek/nerd culture that's so popular down here)

* Food (we're foodies)

* Diversity ( We currently live in a 70% white neighborhood with lots of mixed race couples and folks of all different backgrounds and ethnicities peppered in between - its nice and diverse enough that EVERYONE gets along and isn't concerned about color, creed or religion- we would very much seek that same community mentality)

* Job Availability - wife is an HR professional, I'm a recruiter (corporate, NOT agency) - I would be relocating with a job, but my wife would have to find a new one and currently makes $80K

* Crime rates/bad areas

* Family functions/events

* Average home prices for 4 bed, 2.5+ bath homes

* Will it be improving? Degrading? over the next few years

* Dangerous wildlife/arachnids/insects common to the area

Again, that city-data stats are great but I prefer to hear it from word of mouth

The Langhorne area is nice. My wife has family in Hulmeville, which is basically in Langhorne and very accessible to the PA turnpike (rt. 276) as well as Interstate route 95.

I'm not sure about job availability in Langhorne, but Center City Philadelphia certainly has a lot and from Langhorne, it's only a train ride away, which opens up many options.

For a family, I really like Hulmeville.

I hope that helps.

Thanks

[AverageJoe83]

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

Question - which would be the best internet provider in the Newtown/Langhorne general area? We game and stream quite a bit, so we're looking at needing above 25mbps minimum. Any providers up there have some good, fast options? Any word on Google Fiber in the pipeline?

[NovaDragon]

Glad to help AvgJoe! If school districts are really important, I would definitely look at Council Rock or Lower Moreland. Pennsbury is also a pretty good option. Further out, Central Bucks is one of the best districts in the state and Hatboro-Horsham is also pretty good. I'd avoid Bensalem, Bristol Twp, Centennial (Warminster/Upper Southampton Twps) and Upper Moreland as they can be inconsistent (Doesn't mean your children [i]won't[i] get a good education, they're just not as strong as the others I've mentioned).

As far as internet providers, you pretty much have Comcast (boo) and Verizon FiOS (slightly quieter boo). FiOS is in most areas in Bucks & Montgomery counties but it's still kind of neighborhood by neighborhood so check when you're looking at houses. They both do the job (if at a ridiculously expensive price) so it just depends on the deals they have running. FiOS generally has better deals and I know their internet by itself is cheaper than the Comcast's standalone internet. Right now we just have internet from Comcast at 25mbps for $67/mth but apparently you can get 50mbps for $65/mth from FiOS. But see what the deals are when you are ready to see what your options are.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your search!

[motownewave]

Newtown and Yardley nearby (also consider Richboro and Southampton) are nicer, but richer (as in actually rich) and thus more expensive. Richboro and Southampton though are cheaper than the other two. Stay out of Bristol/Croydon/Levittown (and Bensalem, Penndel, Feasterville, Trevose, Morrisville) as these all are economically depressed and have at least some crime. Fairless Hills is kind of a mixed bag.

[alexlar2007]

Originally Posted by motownewave

Newtown and Yardley nearby (also consider Richboro and Southampton) are nicer, but richer (as in actually rich) and thus more expensive. Richboro and Southampton though are cheaper than the other two. Stay out of Bristol/Croydon/Levittown (and Bensalem, Penndel, Feasterville, Trevose, Morrisville) as these all are economically depressed and have at least some crime. Fairless Hills is kind of a mixed bag.

Generally true with a minor correction: Feastervile/Trevose is not depressed in any sense.