Austin to Philly move (Philadelphia, Springfield: fit in, condo, co-op)

[AstronomicalTofu]

Hi folks- our family's exploring neighborhood options for a possible move to Philly area and would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

When are you moving? Within next year
Where are you coming from? Austin, TX
Why are you moving? Closer to family in Warminster
Where will you be working? Remote, if I ever change job I’ll be looking for tech / design
Have you been here yet? Yes, many times, my wife is from Warminster. Right now we’re looking at areas like Jenkintown, Glenside, Chestnut Hill

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House, under $500k

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb?
Not necessarily, but we are hoping to be within 20-30 minute drive from Warminster. Edit: We'd prefer to be closer into the city than Warminster so we can take the train central every now and then.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married with 2 little ones
Do you prefer public or private schools? Public
Do you have pets? Dog
Do you want or need a yard? Yes, a yard is a must even if small, I’m an astronomy nut. Light pollution not an issue.
Are you keeping a car? Yes, but access to train is important. Ideally if we could do under a 15 minute walk to the train station would be great.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Right now we live in a fairly calm suburban neighborhood which is nice, but we’d love to have more walkable access to shopping and activities, parks. I will caveat that we’ve got some light sleepers in the family. In terms of the types of places we frequent- usually quirky indie shops / restaurants, co-op + natural groceries, play places or public outdoor spaces.

What do you want to be closest to?
Parks
Train stations
Shops
Within an hour of PHL airport
Our family’s vegan, so we know Philly has lots of options, but proximity to any veg spots would be cool

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
We’d prefer diverse and at least a good ratio of politically progressive neighbors. An active area with lots of other families would be ideal.

Favorite Beverage - Margaritas, craft beer, whiskey, water

[chessimprov]

Somewhere between New Hope and Warminster would fit your requirements most I think

[AstronomicalTofu]

Originally Posted by chessimprov

Somewhere between New Hope and Warminster would fit your requirements most I think

Thanks for the response, New Hope definitely seemed like a pretty cool little town when we went there once. I just made some edits, I think I'd like to be closer in to the city than Warminster and still have pretty reasonable access to PHL airport.

[FindingZen]

Your preliminary choices are already pretty good for what you're looking for. Jenkintown would be ideal if you're looking for a high ratio of political progressiveness. The surrounding area is center right on average but not but Texas standards. Many towns along the Warminster Regional Rail line would provide easy access to much of what else you're seeking.

Note that Chestnut Hill, despite its suburban appearance, is in the city proper. The school district isn't well-regarded although active parents and motivated kids make the most of Lingelbach Elementary. If your kids don't have the interest or proclivity to get into the magnets, navigating middle and high school could become challenging. Your budget may be slightly low for that neighborhood as well. Sliding down Germantown Avenue to Mount Airy or, as some promote here, parts of Germantown would provide more bang for your buck.

[AstronomicalTofu]

Originally Posted by FindingZen

Your preliminary choices are already pretty good for what you're looking for. Jenkintown would be ideal if you're looking for a high ratio political progressiveness. The surrounding area is center right on average but not but Texas standards. Many towns along the Warminster Regional Rail line would provide easy access to much of what else you're looking for.

Note that Chestnut Hill, despite its suburban appearance, is in the city proper. The school district isn't well-regarded although active parents and motivated kids make the most of Lingelbach Elementary. If your kids don't have the interest or proclivity to get into the magnets, navigating middle and high school could become challenging. Your budget may be slightly low for that neighborhood as well. Sliding down Germantown Avenue to Mount Airy or, as some promote here, parts of Germantown would provide more bang for your buck.

Excellent thanks for the detailed response. I'll have to look into the different school districts, one of our kids is special needs so if in one we can get better services (Texas is particularly difficult) that could be a kicker.

[Penna76]

I would suggest looking in Wyndmoor, PA and/or Flourtown,PA and the surrounding area known as Springfield Township.

Wyndmoor borders Chestnut Hill and is in Montgomery County and part of Springfield Township school district.

Therefore you have access to the amazing amenities and community events of Chestnut Hill, while also having the excellent school district that is Springfield Township.

Be aware though, there are two Springfield, PAs in the Philadelphia metro. You would want to look in the one located in Montgomery County.

I feel like Chestnut Hill is most definitely the best fit in terms of amenities you are seeking. Chestnut Hill has a thriving Main St. known as Germantown Ave. with many shops, restaurants, a natural foods co - op, and many community events.

500k would get you a nicely updated 3/4 bedroom twin home here with a small yard.

The Springfield Twp. school district is well regarded. And borders Chestnut Hill and offers the Chestnut Hill amenities while also having the better schools.

You can buy more for your money within Chestnut Hill or Mt. Airy. And both are fantastic, family oriented communities.The issue are the schools. Many parents send their children to private schools who live in the city proper. The tradeoff is your 500k goes much further in these communities and can get you a larger home.

So you my find a stronger community for your children in neighboring Wyndmoor/Flourtown.

Good luck!

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Penna76

I would suggest looking in Wyndmoor, PA and/or Flourtown,PA and the surrounding area known as Springfield Township.

Wyndmoor borders Chestnut Hill and is in Montgomery County and part of Springfield Township school district.

Therefore you have access to the amazing amenities and community events of Chestnut Hill, while also having the excellent school district that is Springfield Township.

Be aware though, there are two Springfield, PAs in the Philadelphia metro. You would want to look in the one located in Montgomery County.

I feel like Chestnut Hill is most definitely the best fit in terms of amenities you are seeking. Chestnut Hill has a thriving Main St. known as Germantown Ave. with many shops, restaurants, a natural foods co - op, and many community events.

500k would get you a nicely updated 3/4 bedroom twin home here with a small yard.

The Springfield Twp. school district is well regarded. And borders Chestnut Hill and offers the Chestnut Hill amenities while also having the better schools.

You can buy more for your money within Chestnut Hill or Mt. Airy. And both are fantastic, family oriented communities.The issue are the schools. Many parents send their children to private schools who live in the city proper. The tradeoff is your 500k goes much further in these communities and can get you a larger home.

So you my find a stronger community for your children in neighboring Wyndmoor/Flourtown.

Good luck!

Just to chime in as a current Springfield Township (and former Chestnut Hill) resident:

The part of Wyndmoor that has easiest access and is most culturally connected with Chestnut Hill is "Old" Wyndmoor--the roughly Southeastern quadrant of the neighborhood, which has the most sidewalks, a small but fast-improving village center, and a more upscale feel--though there is diversity in housing stock, and there are inner-city style twins and rowhouses as well as sprawling, robber baron estates (and a smattering of everything in between). Taken together with the other sections of the neighborhood, I think Wyndmoor may have the most diverse housing stock of any Philadelphia suburb. We love the area.

Springfield Township schools are not regarded as "excellent," like Lower Merion, or even "very good" like Upper Dublin or "good" like Colonial. Don't get me wrong: the schools are just fine, and I plan to send my son (and whichever other future children) to them at least through eighth grade. One great thing the Springfield Township schools has that those other districts don't is its small (but not too small) size. Enrollment has been steadily increasing; more families (especially Old Wyndmoor families) realize that you don't need to sink a boatload of money into 13 years of primary and secondary school to get a good education and be prepared for college. Because of this realization, and the close proximity to Chestnut Hill, Old Wyndmoor is quite "hot," and should stay that way for the foreseeable future.

While this may not have been true ten years ago, Chestnut Hill is uniformly more expensive than Springfield Township. Old Wyndmoor, which has similar housing stock to the "Eastern" half of Chestnut Hill (in fact, Northern half, because decidedly Westerly Germantown Avenue is the area's "compass") and even shares the same grid down to street names and address numbers, comes close. But Chestnut Hill has the charm and mystique. We'd still be living there if we could stomach the cost of private school, but Old Wyndmoor is a plenty nice substitute, and we can walk to the heart of Chestnut Hill's business district in 20 minutes. Mt. Airy continues to have better bang for your buck. Both Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy families overwhelmingly self-select into private schools (to be clear, far more so than Springfield Township).

$500k can get you a nice, detached, single family home on the smaller side of medium in Old Wyndmoor (think 3-4 bedrooms and 1,500-2,000 square feet depending on how recently renovations were undertaken). Those houses also sell very quickly. You have a lot of very large and expensive detached houses and very small and affordable semi/attached houses and not as much in between. But the "in between" homes are out there. We live in one. But I don't know if we would be if we hadn't gone in over asking price. $500k will get you a bit less in Chestnut Hill--definitely a perfectly nice twin or rowhome. A single-family home at that price point will be much more difficult, unless you're willing to buy something that needs serious TLC.

[AstronomicalTofu]

Awesome, thank you all for the detailed info, I really appreciate the well wishes and help! I love the style of the older homes which stand in stark contrast to what I'm used to coming from Texas. We're becoming endless suburbia here with model homes for dozens of miles out of the city, constantly in construction.