Confused About Towns, Townships, etc. in Bucks County, PA (Philadelphia: real estate, homes)

[Moving from Virginia]

My family and I are moving from Tidewater, Virginia, to Bucks County, PA. My husband will be working in Princeton. I am so confused on the towns, townships, etc. One of our children will be attending Conwell-Egan Catholic H.S. and I am still searching for a Catholic elementary school for our other child to attend. Can anyone give a recommendation on the Catholic Elementary schools? We have looked at housing in Newtown, Yardley, and Doylestown. I just can't figure out where we should plant our roots. Any help would be great!

[andreaspercheron]

Ohhh Thank God! Now someone else NOT from PA feels my pain! LOL I moved here from Florida years ago. My fiance is from SC and VA. Let me explain, he went to school all of his childhood and through high school graduation then he moved to SC, went to college and lived there for years. We are both back in PA now and awaiting news on job opps to see if we will be moving back down to VA, NC or SC. Any of those locations would be great for us. Yes, you are SO correct to be confused! It's so darn difficult to figure out where you are and where you are going in this state!!! The best thing I can suggest is to get a GPS unit and please remember to take it out of your car and the unit that holds it when it's not in use as the thefts of these are on the rise.

But I digress....
Townships, Towns, cities, etc... all very confusing. The best thing you can do is to pick an area you think you will like (or several) and check with the township building (yes they all have them) to get all the stats for that area. OR just ask here LOL

Incidentally, my fiance also works in Princeton, we live in Horsham (about 20 mins away from Doylestown) and the area is nice, taxes are high, everything seems expensive to me (but I don't think VA is a whole lot less expensive) and the schools in Bucks and Montgomery Counties are for the most part, pretty good. Of the towns you mentioned, I don't know that I have a favorite. I guess I like Doylestown, it's a pretty little town, lots of shopping, boutiques, eateries, etc... My kids are adults now and I'm not Catholic so I can't help you with that particular question but someone on here will..... Good luck!

[dlpres]

St Andrews is the Catholic elemntary school in Newtown and St Bedes is in Richboro about 6 miles away.

[skivino]

St. Ignatius and Grey Nun Academy are elementary thru 8th grade, both are in Yardley, well technically they are in Lower Makefield, but everyone refers to the township as Yardley, (unless you work for the township or boro)! Yardley boro is surrounded by Lower Makefield Township, just as Newtown Boro is surrounded by Newtown Township. Washington Crossing is a 'village' which is surrounded by Upper Makefield Township and has a larger percent of high end homes. All three areas are great and all three have a huge population of people that work in Princeton area. Understand though that anything within say a 20 mile radius of Princeton, although not technically Princeton, is considered "Princeton". Every business wants a "Princeton" mailing address, even if they are in Plainsboro NJ on Route 1. That said getting to Princeton is easiest from Yardley, certain parts of Upper/Lower Makefield and Newtown Township. The traffice to/from Newtown area from Interstate 95 is horrible, nothing like the DC/VA traffice mind you, but being a local person who grew up in this area when it was nothing but farms, it's horrible now, that's why we choose not to buy in Newtown. We live in Yardley (well ok Lower Makefield but as I said, no one really calls it that) and can access 95 easier than from Newtown or Washington's Crossing, although going thru Yardley boro can have some traffic.
All of the bridges, Scudders Falls, Washington's Crossing and Route 1 get very backed up during rush hour as so many people travel into NJ for work. But the good thing is there are many back roads that you can take once you get to know the area.
Doylestown would be a pain in the butt to commute to Princeton from. It is the largest cute town, with a larger selection of great shops/restaurants, but it's quite a distance from the major roads that lead to Princeton. It can be done of course but would entail long commutes.

Newtown is a cute town with many nice shops and restaurants. Yardley is cute with 2 restaurant/bars, and several lunch and pizza places. A few cute shops, but sadly more Real Estate offices, although that trend seems to be fading a bit in recent years, thankfully. Both Yardley and Lower Makefield have active communities, hosting many events and festivals during the year. There's a nice township pool in Yardley ($400 for a family for the summer), lots of soccer/football and baseball fields. Lighted tennis and basketball courts even a bocce court. Newtown township has a swim club as well, with more fun things for the kids, like mini golf, water sprayers, but it's more expensive at about $700 for a family of 4, although anyone can join that, whereas the Lower Makefield pool requires you live in the township or Yardley boro.

The Delaware canal, which has a great tow path runs right thru Yardley and Washington's Crossing (it actually goes from Bristol to Easton PA) which is great for walking, running or biking. You can fish there as well (with a permit of course) . The Delaware river offers boating (there's a ramp/launch area in Yardley) if you like.
Washington's Crossing has a small downtown, mostly consisting of historic homes (it was the site of the famous Christmas Eve crossing during the Revolutionary War (which was a key turning point in the war). A reinactment is done every Christmas Day, all the men dressed in period clothing using the same style wooden boats. The entire area of which I write is immersed in history, but coming from VA you're use to the beauty of that. There are so many cute towns along the Delaware it's so nice to take a drive along on a beautiful day and check them all out.

I could go on for ever about my hometown's', but I'll spare you. I love it here. I've travelled all over the world and still think this is one of the best area's to live and raise a family. You can be at the ocean in an hour (well from Yardley area), the 'small' mountains in just over an hour. NYC in 1-1 1/2 hours (depending on traffic), Philadelphia in 1/2 hour. Ok going off again..Sorry!
Email me if you want more info..