Do you need a car in Doylestown, PA? Or is there another charming town near Philly where you don't? (Philadelphia: crime, neighborhoods)

[IcePasta]

Or can you get around by walking / taking public transportation?

If you do need a car there, does anyone know of a cute town or suburb accessible from Philly via public transport, where you can get around town without a car?

By cute I mean charming & pretty. If that exists!

[Fireshaker]

Originally Posted by IcePasta

Or can you get around by walking / taking public transportation?

If you do need a car there, does anyone know of a cute town or suburb accessible from Philly via public transport, where you can get around town without a car?

By cute I mean charming & pretty. If that exists!

Aww, did we scare you off from 8th & McKean?

To answer your question, not especially. Even our best suburban towns don't typically have everything you would need within their walkable centers (e.g. grocery stores), so it's very likely you would need at least a car for some tasks.

Probably the closest you could get would be in Media, which has two grocery stores on or right next to the main street (Trader Joe's and Acme), plus a trolley that you could take to the Springfield Mall / Target. But that would still be a pretty big stretch overall, though.

[JacksonPanther]

If you understand that few suburbs in the entire country will be able to give you everything you need within walking distance (check out oak park or Evanston in illinois), and you're willing to ride a trolley or even call an Uber for some things, then Media sounds like a possibility.

[bridge12]

In NJ, you could probably get away with it pretty easily in Collingswood, Haddon township, and Haddonfield.

In PA, Ardmore, Narberth, and Media (maybe?). I can't speak much to Philly's northern suburbs.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by IcePasta

Or can you get around by walking / taking public transportation?

If you do need a car there, does anyone know of a cute town or suburb accessible from Philly via public transport, where you can get around town without a car?

By cute I mean charming & pretty. If that exists!

If you're going to live in Doylestown, it will be difficult without a car, although pretty much anywhere, you can use Uber/Lyft as a car service if your car needs are light enough. "Accessible from Philly by public transportation" for Doylestown also comes with a caveat. Doylestown is the end of the line for its Septa commuter line. The ride from Doylestown to the Center City stations is very long and the monthly pass is expensive, so if you are thinking of living in Doylestown and commuting by train to Philly every day, be warned about that.

[KansastoSouthphilly]

Do you mean to live or to visit? You certainly could have a nice visit to Doylestown from Philly without a car as the train station is downtown and the downtown is very charming and walkable. I think day to day life in doylestown would be difficult without a car and would feel very isolating. This is probably true of all the Philly suburbs, however, our suburbs are more walkable than most. Off the top of my head they include:

Ambler
Media
West Chester*
Conshohocken
Glenside
Jenkintown
Phoenixville*
Kennet Square*
New Hope*
Bridgeport
King of Prussia (just the town center area is walkable)*
Lansdale
Lansdowne
Upper Darby
Havertown
Ardmore
Bryn Mawr
Wayne
Collingswood
Haddonfield
Pitman*
Newark, DE

I starred the accounts without train service to center city so they would be particularly isolating. You probably could live without a car in those towns but it will be much harder than living carless in the city. If you are interesting in semi suburban city neighborhoods that are still walkable you might like Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Roxborough, and Fox Chase. I live in Mt. Airy and don't use my car most days. Many of my neighbords don't have cars, however, you have to choose where you live strategically. Where I live I am two blocks from Germantown ave and less than a block from a train station. Some parts of the neighborhood, however, feel much more remote. If you actually want to live in an urban environment but are anxious about crime then I would suggest looking at Manayunk.

[southbound_295]

Haddonfield, Westmont, and Collingswood are on the PATCO line. There are many buses originating from and terminating from the Haddonfield station. Haddonfield and Westmont (a section of Haddon Township) each have grocery stores. The 3 towns are walkable along the Haddon Avenue corridor. You can get buses to the Cherry Hill and Moorestown malls and all of the retail around them.

Cherry Hill is somewhat walkable, with bus routes helping out.

Haddon Heights is the same.

Pitman is walkable with Shoprite, Aldi and Lidl, while being technically in Glassboro, being walkable from most of Pitman. Pitman, however, is the most isolated of this group of towns. No train, not sure about bus routes.

[DocAwesome]

Jenkintown is perfectly feasible to live without a car.

[GuyBucks]

I live nine miles from Doylestown, and I go there all the time. It is a charming town with a lot of character.

The SEPTA train station is right in the middle of town. There are many restaurants and some cute shops right downtown that you can walk to. Larger chain stores such as Staples, and most supermarkets, are in shopping centers just outside of town but not far away. There is a SEPTA bus (rt 55) which terminates in Doylestown and goes all the way down Rt 611 into Philadelphia. There is also a little local bus called Doylestown Dart.

I should think being able to walk to some things, plus using these different public transportation routes, with Uber/Lyft if necessary, yes, one could live in Doylestown without having a car.

[rowhomecity]

Collingswood and Media are the two most walkable suburban towns with some solid transit access.

Collingswood is a little more accessible than Media to get to Center City for convenience.

Mt. Airy is another walkable suburban/urban community located in the cities NW section that also is very walkable with solid transit.

Doylestown would feel quite isolated after a week or so without a car. SEPTA has commuter rail service to Doylestown from Center City... Bucks County actually operates a small local bus service, to access a few amenities on the outskirts of the town. It only operates during the day and has a limited schedule on Saturdays and no Sunday service.

But you really would need a car to get around for most things.