Moving to Montgomery County (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: fit in, house, neighborhood)

[sarago11]

We are moving from Philadelphia to Montgomery County this summer. I will be working at a private school in Blue Bell that my kids will probably attend. We're looking for an area within 20 min. of the school that has a small town center so we can still walk places (not too suburban).

Right now we're leaning towards Glenside, Jenkintown or Ambler. My husband will be commuting into Center City so a train station is important. Our top priorities are schools, safety, and ability to walk places. If anyone has any advice for us about these areas or others I would really appreciate it!

[maf763]

In terms of your commute, the easiest would be Ambler, longest would be Jenkintown, and it would be the opposite for your husband. The best thing about commuting downtown from Jenkintown is that there are three lines that stop there, only one that goes to Ambler. During morning rush hour, it might be a stretch to make it to your school (if it's the one on Stenton) in 20 minutes from Jenkintown or Glenside.

Glenside's downtown is more spread out than the other two. Jenkintown is a small school district which some people like but others find too limiting. Wissahickon is the district for Ambler, and probably carries a better reputation than Cheltenham and Abington, which cover Glenside, though you can certainly get a good education at any of them. Both Abington and Cheltenham have kind of funny middle school set ups in that Abington Schools go K-6, then the jr. high is 7-9 and the high school is 10-12. In Cheltenham, the neighborhood schools are K-4, then the middle school is 5-6, the jr. high is 7-8 and the high school is 9-12 - a lot of transitions for kids.

One other spot that might fit into your search criteria is Oreland, which has a small, compact commercial area, train station, and would be closer than Glenside or Jenkintown. Most of Oreland is in the Springfield school district.

[sarago11]

Thanks for the info on Montgomery County! I really appreciate it. We're leaning more towards Glenside or Jenkintown right now but it all depends on the house search. It's a buyer's market but there just doesn't seem to be all that much in our price range.

We walked around downtown Glenside and saw the Keswick theater. It's a nice area and people seem pretty friendly compared to Germantown. We're glad to be moving out of the city but not too far because of my husband's commute. Thanks for your help!

[orrmobl]

My list has Lower Merion, Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin, ,Methacton, Abington, Jenkintown, Hatboro-Horsham, Wissahickon, North Penn, Souderton, Colonial, Perkiomen, Cheltenham, Spring Ford, Upper Merion, Upper Moreland, Upper Perkiomen, Pottstown, Norristown

In that order...1997 Pittsburgh Business News school district rankings for all of PA. This covers the entire school experience and is based upon much more data than just high school test scores so it is more comprehensive, and IMO, better.

[kelb]

From what you described Ambler would be perfect for you.
Good luck with your move.