Something like Wayne further (north) east? (Ambler, Red Lion: best suburbs, real estate, renting)

[ta_harvey]

Hi all,

My spouse and I and our two kids (ages 4.5 and 2) have just relocated to the area from Minnesota. We're currently renting a place short-term while looking for a house in the Philly suburbs, and I am a little overwhelmed trying to figure out where we should be looking. My spouse works in NE Philly (off of Red Lion Road), and we would really like for him to have < 30 minute commute. However, I will be looking for jobs within the next year at area colleges/universities, most of which seem to fall on the western side of the city. Since my spouse has a job at the moment and I don't, we want to make his commute a priority, yet still try to stay within a reasonable commute time of as many 4-year colleges/universities as possible.

Other priorities are that we want a safe, family-friendly place to live with a very strong school district. Community is very important to us. We visited a cousin of mine in Wayne last night and I really liked what I saw--a very walkable little downtown with a lot of people out and about. A little like a college-town feel to me, which I've always loved. I'd like to find something with that same feel, but a little further east (and probably north). And Wayne is probably a little over our budget as well, which caps off around $450k.

Please tell me what towns have a similar feel to Wayne but might be a shorter commute to NE Philly (while not getting too far from area colleges/universities).

Thanks!

[Duderino]

Welcome to the area!

Wayne is definitely one of the best suburbs in the area, so you have good taste! :-)

While not necessarily as affluent as Wayne, I'd recommend Ambler or Jenkintown/Wyncote (Amber may be a particularly good choice for you, as it is home to a satellite campus of Temple University).

Both towns would give you regional rail access to job opportunities in the city, are located closer to your spouse's job, have a great community feel, located within fabulous school districts, and contain more affordable real estate options than the Main Line (Wayne and adjacent towns).

Good luck!