Please Comment on these Towns (Philadelphia, York: sale, house prices, neighborhood)

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

District is 40th out of 500 statewide...not bad but you could do better and I would think a small district would mean many fewer opportunites for extracurriculars and Honors/AP classes...

Keep in mind that a large area of Abington township uses the jenkintown post office but isn't actually in the boro or school district of jenkintown. Jenkintown address doesn't mean it is in Jenkintown.

[Sassygirl18]

I'm so glad we don't have to concern ourselves with school districts!

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by Sassygirl18

I'm so glad we don't have to concern ourselves with school districts!

It shouldn't be a big concern for anyone. There are only a handfull of school districts in the philly suburbs (mostly in very poor towns that you wouldn't choose anyway) that are not very good to excellent.

[orrmobl]

More like 18 in the lower half of all school districts in the state or lower...not a ton but enough to make you want to do research...and sorry but the influx of people to Lansdowne (William Penn SD) and Drexel Hill (Upper Darby SD) and even Coatesville for the great houses shows that there are nice areas with high taxes and horrible schools...

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

More like 18 in the lower half of all school districts in the state or lower...not a ton but enough to make you want to do research...and sorry but the influx of people to Lansdowne (William Penn SD) and Drexel Hill (Upper Darby SD) and even Coatesville for the great houses shows that there are nice areas with high taxes and horrible schools...

Question: I am familiar with greatschools.com and schoolsmatter.com but where do you get these state rankings? I can't find them. This might be helpful for others on this thread and other threads as well. Thanks!

[orrmobl]

Pittsburgh Business Times does an analysis of Western PA schools and applies the same formula statewide to come up with rankings...hopefully they will do the same this year as the data is from May 2007.

Three of top school districts in state hail from Allegheny County - Pittsburgh Business Times:

I downloaded the list into Excel and use the autofilter feature to search for Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties...you can only search 2 counties at a time but that's such a large geographic area, most people aren't looking at all 4 counties anyway...I did change Lower Merion to Delaware County as it was one of the districts/areas I was looking at and is technically in Montco.

If anyone would like the spreadsheet, feel free to PM me...

[SouxieSummers]

Have you ruled out Byrn Mawr? Wynnewood is very nice. But expensive!

Best wishes on your search.

[Sassygirl18]

Yes, we are open to Bryn Mawr but there never seem to be single family homes that we like in our price range. I will definitely keep checking, though.

[ajb842]

1.I love Wynnewood. You might be surprised with the current prices of homes in that area, you may find something affordable. It's a good location and has beautiful neighborhoods and homes. More upscale than the others.
2.Abington-some parts are nice, others not so nice. I would in general try to avoid Roslyn, because it really depends on the street you are on. However, near Abington Memorial Hospital is very nice and you might even want to look at Huntingdon Valley though it might be too pricey right now.
3.Jenkintown in general is nice, but I doubt you can find something in your price range and the nice sections sell for well over 250k. There are some neighborhoods that are more affordable with twins and rows on the same street, and if you're ok with that then it might be an option. Jenkintown also borders the fox chase section of philadelphia which many people like.

[PhillyHead]

In order of my preference:
1) Narberth
2) Media, Jenkintown, Wynnewood
3) Abington
4) Ridley Park

Wynnewood & Abington rate lower because they really don't have walkable downtowns, unlike the others. That said, Wynnewood is close to both Narberth, Ardmore, which are walkable towns. I have lived in Narberth, and my daughter lives there now. It's a great place with expensive homes (for what you get), but low taxes.

My other daughter lives in Jenkintown post office address, but Abington township/school district. I like Jenkintown alot, and you will get more house for the money. There is definitely a growing number of homes for sale in Jenkintown. Not as convenient to downtown and other desirable amenities.

Media is a great, family-oriented town. In some ways, Media is the nicest of all of them. But property taxes are high, and its accessibility isn't the greatest to amenities/workplaces in the region. Media, Jenkintown, Abington & Ridley Park all have higher taxes than Narberth, Wynnewood. The difference will be quite noticeable.

The Penn Wynne area of Wynnewood has affordable housing and low taxes. But again, like Narberth, you will get less house for the money than the other areas.

Abington is a large township (56,103 as of 2000 Census) so isn't really a town. Close to Jenkintown, and has town-like areas such as Glenside. Lots of great neighborhoods and more affordable than Wynnewood/Narberth, but similar type of feel. Pretty high taxes (but probably less than Media/Ridley Park).

I like Ridley Park, but it is more blue collar than others mentioned. But good, down-to-earth people with a small downtown, and some great old and affordable homes. Not quite the same socioeconomic status as the others.