Need help..Moving to Philly from India in September 2019 (Philadelphia: sale, houses)

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

In addition to the fact that he says Secane is far out. I wouldn't exactly call an inner-ring suburb "far out." Certainly not on par with Bucks County.

Correct.

Secane is not that far out. It's main drags are Baltimore Pike, just west of Clifton Heights, and Providence Rd. Transit into the city is the Media/Elwyn which takes about 30 minutes one way.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by abhinkoi

Thank you bigfish1 for your response. Going by the research I have done so far, it appears that King of Prussia has large community of Indians and it is relatively closer to my office in Market St. compared to Landsdale. I think BNY Mellon is the nearest metro station which can help commute to Market St.

Any good public schools recommended in KoP?

Bustleton would be very far from what I see so I prefer KoP over Bustleton.

Thanks again

Afaik the KoP school district is Upper Merion.


Bustleton is a neighborhood within the Philadelphia city limits.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by abhinkoi

Thx for your response newmarlig. Its S 24th St. and I am not sure how far it is from Center City. Please advise if Cherry Hill is still an option or there are better options in Philly. We are liking Ardmore based on our initial research and based on distance from office, schools and vicinity from SEPTA.

24th and Market (you're working at Aramark maybe ?) is in Center City. It's adjacent to 30th St Station which is the major rail transit hub in the area. It serves Amtrak and SEPTA regional rail and some New Jersey transit.

And, yes, Ardmore would absolutely work. It's split between two good school district, Haverford and Lower Merion, and there is direct rail transit to your office area from Ardmore.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by KoNgFooCj

University City right around 40th and Market Streets has a large Indian community. Milbourne inbetween Upper Darby and the western part of Philadelphia has a huge Indian community. Schools should be OK in those neighborhoods.

The folks in Milbourne are primarily Sikhs. Their school district is Upper Darby.

[abhinkoi]

Thanks much for your response NewtownBucks. This info is really helpful.

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

Ardmore and Cherry Hill are both very nice places to live. I think there is probably a bigger Indian community in Cherry Hill, but I'm not really all that familiar with that. As far a public transportation goes, 24th St & Market is a little inconvenient for public transportation. Both the regional rails and the Market-Frankford line stop at 15th & Market (Suburban Station on regional rail) and 30th St Station, and 24th is kind of right in between. Patco (train you'd take from Cherry Hill) ends at 15th & Locust, so that is another 3 or 4 blocks south of Suburban Station as well.

[abhinkoi]

Thanks TownDweller. I completely get your point hence I have increased the budget to $2000 to ensure that we get a decent apartment in a decent locality. After doing some more research & talking to some people, we are now zeroing down towards Wayne & Berwyn areas considering the fact that those areas have excellent schools. Our first priority is getting great schools for both our kids and we are inclined towards Conestoga Senior High School and Valley Forge Middle School. Please let me know your thoughts.

Originally Posted by TownDweller

KOP is a desirable area but finding an apartment for family of 4 there at $1000-16000 won't be easy. Or in Ardmore for that matter. Generally, the farther out the lower the cost. Lansdale is pretty far out but you will probably find more options in your budget there.

[abhinkoi]

Thanks FromGA. The info you shared is really helpful. However, after doing some more research & talking to some people, we are now zeroing down towards Wayne & Berwyn areas considering the fact that those areas have excellent schools. Our first priority is getting great schools for both our kids and we are inclined towards Conestoga Senior High School and Valley Forge Middle School. Please let me know your thoughts.

Originally Posted by FromGA

I think your options, in the order I would consider, are:
- Take PATCO train from Cherry Hill (it might be the most convenient)
- Take regional rail train from Lansdale (closer stations on the same route are: Glenside (Abington High School), Ft Washington (Upper Dublin High School), Ambler (Wissahickon High School). All these schools are good, the Asian percentage will be lower.
- Figure out how to come from KoP. There may be ways to take a train but it probably will not be that convenient.

SCHOOL STARTS LAST WEEK OF AUGUST, I would move to the US sooner rather than later.

[abhinkoi]

Thank you KoNgFooCj for your response. Appreciate it.

Originally Posted by KoNgFooCj

University City right around 40th and Market Streets has a large Indian community. Milbourne inbetween Upper Darby and the western part of Philadelphia has a huge Indian community. Schools should be OK in those neighborhoods.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by abhinkoi

Thanks TownDweller. I completely get your point hence I have increased the budget to $2000 to ensure that we get a decent apartment in a decent locality. After doing some more research & talking to some people, we are now zeroing down towards Wayne & Berwyn areas considering the fact that those areas have excellent schools. Our first priority is getting great schools for both our kids and we are inclined towards Conestoga Senior High School and Valley Forge Middle School. Please let me know your thoughts.

Conestoga is indeed an excellent school district, although you shouldn't get too caught up in the specific rankings if you are looking at the ranking sites. Almost all of the Philly suburbs have excellent schools. For example, if you looked at Narberth instead of Berwyn, that is Lower Merion schools instead of Conestoga. Both are usually listed in the top 10 or so public school in PA, so it doesn't matter if Conestoga is 1 and LM 6 or whatever, they are both great schools. Narberth will cut your commute time on the train roughly in half compared to Berwyn. Any of the top at least 75-100 school districts in the state have pretty much no worries at all.

[FromGA]

I assume you are familiar with greatschools website. The schools I mentioned in my previous post are similarly well-ranked:
Glenside (Abington High School)
Ft Washington (Upper Dublin High School)
Ambler (Wissahickon High School)
They are all on the same train line (the one that goes to Lansdale). Glenside has two train lines passing through, so the frequency will be higher.

I am not very familiar with the schools you mentioned. I think Wayne/Berwyn might be better located for the train to your location. In case, for whatever reason you choose not to go with Wayne/Berwyn, you can go with any of the school districts I mentioned. They are all good ones.

Can anyone think of reasons for OP to not go with Wayne/Berwyn area?