The real low down on Yardley, Langhorne and surrounding areas (Philadelphia: apartment complexes, rentals)

[nashreph]

I am moving to the area this summer (august). I am working in Monroe Township, NJ. I do not want to want to live in NJ. I don't want to commute more than 45 -60 minutes, If possible. We are looking at Yardley / Langhorne. I want a place that I can settle down with my kids and spouse. Good schools, not extremely expensive.
So I guess my questions are:
is it a good place to live?
safe?
fun stuff around?
food, shopping, etc.
not overcrowded?

I read other posts but it is really hard to get a feel from them. Are there any people out there from this area that can tell me what it is really like to live in these areas?
Many many thanks!!!

[Pat_in_Pa]

I lived in Langhorne for two years. Now I live near Yardley. I will try to give you the perspective of someone who has lived in several different towns and has commuted both into Philadelphia and into NJ. I also currently commute into NJ.

Both are family-oriented, suburban towns with good schools and plenty of shopping within a five mile drive.

They were both built during the the railroad boom with the beautiful old Victorians located near train stations, and then some shotgun and clapboard houses on alleys further out. Many smaller homes have been taken down, but some remain.

Both have a range of housing, in terms of age and price. If you consider Yardley to also include parts of Lower Makefield Twp., then there are a great deal of condos/townhomes as well. You might see more single working professionals in the outskirts of Yardley than in Langhorne, due to the condo/townhome availability in Lower Makefield. Langhorne also has more working-class, lower-priced apartment rentals, especially in the Langhorne areas around and below business Route One.

Crime is not such a problem. Langhorne may see more action than Yardley because of its larger size (it's contiguous with other towns like Newtown, Penndel, Middletown) and its closer proximity to the PA turnpike/Bensalem - but not that much more crime. But realize, this is from someone who worked in Philadelphia for years, so you might think a couple of car break-ins in a month is a lot, when for me, it's nada. Go to phillyburbs and type public safety log into the search term line.

A big difference is that Langhorne is larger and more "traffic congested" than Yardley. Many of the people who live in Newtown (above Langhorne) must filter down through Langhorne to get anywhere on the weekends. Also, more people in Langhorne tend to work in and around Langhorne, again, because it's larger and has places to work, while Yardley is residential.

Another difference is that Yardley has a flood plain you need to watch for near the river. But any home you look at will be designated as flood insurance required and you should be told how many of the last three floods impacted the home, and by how much.

Honestly, you might want to consider Yardley/Lower Makefield strictly because you'd be shaving some miles off your commute every day, for years.

[fivekids]

Hi,
we too are looking to move to Langhorne area. We have been out to the area 4-5 times now, going to open houses, searching the area etc. We currently live in NJ and dh works in Trenton. His commute is 50 min. from where we live in NJ. His commute from Langhorne would be about 15-20. Less taxes, less conjestion, closer to work etc. are in the mix for us making this decision. We don't see NJ getting less corrupt any time soon. We are looking for a better quality of life. There are many things I will miss about where I am now, but in the long run I think this move will be better for our family.
We looked at Yardley, Newtown and Langhorne. Yardley seemed difficult to get to certain areas, Newtown was quite expensive so Langhorne seemed to be a good fit. There are different areas of Langhorne we discovered so try to find a good realtor that can steer you away from those undesirable areas. We are looking at homes in the 400 range, there seems to be quite alot out there. Everything I have heard about the school systems is all postive and on great schools rating as well. The school system is Neshaminy (sp) our realtor told us they are in the process of building a new high school. We hope to be relocating this summer. Waiting for our house to sell in NJ. Good Luck

[nashreph]

Thanks for your information!! I really appreciate it! We live utside of DC. Of course, crime is relative. Thanks for your help and perspective!

[mojo58]

My job has me relocating to Princeton NJ. We (me, wife, three small dogs) are looking for a short term rental in either NJ/PA with not too crazy of a commute. Initially looking to rent just for myself, short term, maybe six months. Where is the condo/apt. market better? Property taxes would not be an issue since I would be renting, other considerations?

[Pat_in_Pa]

There are a ton of places available. You can rent a 2/2 condo for 1200 to 1400 in either NJ or PA. Try craigslist for Lawrenceville, Hamilton, Yardley, Newtown.

You can also rent a small ranch house in PA for about 1400 plus utilities. Probably the same in NJ. Watch for Lawrenceville, Falls Twp, Fairless Hills and Morrisville. Keep watching cl daily, and check phillyburbs (click on shopping, homesearch, and then For Rent on the dark green bar) .

[kwade]

I too am considering a move from Chicagoland due to a teaching opportunity in Langhorne. Our family (my wife and two kids, ages 13 and 11) is black and desirous of living in an area with some semblance of racial/ethnic diversity. Only 3-4% of the population of the community we're currently in is black. It's important to us to raise our kids in an area in which they're exposed to a range of ethnicities but we'd prefer an area where they will more routinely encounter other black families than is currently the case. Anyone have any recommendations about neighborhoods near Langhorne where this might be a possibility? Thanks.

[Pat_in_Pa]

kwade, you have a big selection. Langhorne is close to a lot of places with more than 3% black population.

Yardley is definitely out. Nice, but the two families I know who are black who live in Yardley would not call it diverse. Their kids go to private school, anyway.

Morrisville has more diversity, as does Bensalem. Trenton still has some great neighborhoods (just be open-minded and be prepared to send your kids to private school) with more diversity.

There are some other areas in lower bucks/NE Philly with more diversity, but I won't recommend them because of the crime and the poor school test results.

If you are out here to test the waters, hit a couple of libraries in the area on Saturday between ten and 1. Go to the Langhorne branch, and look around. Then hit the Bensalem branch. Then the Morrisville branch. Then head over to Ewing.

Number one, it's a great place to have your kids meet kids that get taken to the library, if you know what I mean. Number two, you see the population.

See ya there.

[kwade]

Thanks for your assistance, Pat. I appreciate it!

[MamaBee]

Do not move to Trenton with children!

Langhorne is a nice area but their property taxes are high compared to surrounding areas...Neshaminy Schools are good but the return on the money spent per student isn't that great. My boss lives in Langhorne and he loves it; he has two daughters in the high school and can't say enough about it.

As far as renting; I would see if you could rent a home in the town center of Lawrenceville. It's a very nice area with a quaint main street and very close to Princeton. It seems that most of the apartment complexes in Lawrenceville keep a portion reserved for affordable housing...and it lets some of the riff-raff in (before we purchased our home we rented in Lawrence and suspected our neighbor was a drug-dealer...but I suppose you can run into this anywhere). For a close commute in renting you can check out Hillsborough, it's a nice area just to the north of Princeton. I'm not sure how many apartments they have there. Plainsboro/West Windsor is also a pretty nice area.