Job in Collegeville - where to live (Chester, King of Prussia: middle-class, fit in)

[moving_time]

My husband is interviewing for a job in Collegeville, and we know very little about the Philly area. Honestly, this is a total surprise but a great job, so I'm learning quickly. What I'd love is some suggestions of good towns to look at renting in (will rent for a year or more). Criteria and price range below.

We tend to like walkable, inner-suburb or city neighborhoods, with independent restaurants, libraries, parks, etc close by. Honestly, Collegeville seems so far from Philly that I'm floundering about where to look (usually just live in or next to the city, but with the distance here...)

ideal criteria for place to live:
-w/in 45 min. commute of collegeville
-We're middle-class professional types age 30+/- with a 1 year old. Politiclly liberal. Don't need everyone to be like us, but a place where we wouldn't stand out too much and could meet people
-safe
-somewhat walkable area
-train close by
-easy acess to Philly for museums/cultural activities. NOT the kind of place where everyone is afraid of the city and never goes in.
-Some older charm - not into cookie cutter developments
-Independent business - not all big box stores/chain restaurants (some are fine, just want a variety)
-Can rent a 2-3 bedroom 1300 sq ft+ townhouse/house/nice condo for under $2300/month. Preferably less.
-Parks/activities for toddlers/preschool kids. Will probably move before our son needs public schools, so that's not an issue.

Is there anywhere that meets most of these?????

THANKS

[sbhubbell]

I recommend Phoenixville. Great town, a hop skip and jump from Collegeville. Very walkable downtown undergoing a huge renaissance. Lots of independent little businesses. Plenty of walk up condos and townhomes around for rent. Seriously, check it out.

[maestro]

it's funny, your situation sounds a lot like me + my family (early 30's with a 2-year old). We've always enjoyed the "hipper" urban area with a walkable town with shops and restaurants (and bars) before having to start thinking about school districts and stuff.

We are renting in Phoenixville right now because Bridge St. is full of restaurants and bars, and there are some pretty cool rowhouses (and twin houses) in the area. On weekends it gets pretty packed. Apparently Phoenixville was pretty dumpy even 7-8 years ago, and all this growth is a recent thing.

The downsides of Phoenixville: some of that "dumpy element" is still there, meaning that there are some sketchy areas of town and some questionable characters at times. Also, there is a decent lower middle class element -- nice people, but not the trendy people you'd get in a town closer to Philly.

Another downside is that, while the newer upscale shops in Exton and Downingtown (and King of Prussia) are all only 15 minutes away, we were used to shops being 3 minutes away in our old town. Phoenixville is still in growth mode, so hopefully they start getting some stores in the borough (by stores, I mean Target, Barnes & Noble, etc).

[orrmobl]

Politically liberal is the hard part - I would check out Wallingford/Nether Providence/Swarthmore/Rose Valley and Media first...Media has the walkable downtown vibe, even a Trader Joe;s...very Norman Rockwell type town.

West Chester is a bigger hipper version of Media with college kids and families galore...more upscale restaurants and bars but also a ton more people...and the outskirts are development city.

Conshohocken is a youngish hip place with liberal folks etc...definitely worth checking out...

That's all I can think of...if you or anyone else knows of a liberal neighborhood in Chesco, please pass it on as I'm looking for that myself...

[moving_time]

I have heard great things about those towns, but that commutes from some of those places (Media, Swarthmore, Wallingford, etc.) to Collegeville would be really rough - is that your sense?

West Chester, we've heard, isn't as bad in that category.

Our limitation seems to be commute times/traffic. We'd like to keep it under an hour each way, if possible. From what I've read/heard that's a real issue in Philly.

[orrmobl]

Those locations put you right off of Rt 476/Blue Rt and Rt 252 and I'm pretty sure you can make it to Collegeville in an hour...just depends where in Collegeville you are working...my friends make it from Collegeville to Broomall in 35 minutes non rush hour...Broomall is about 15 min from Media which is South and East of Broomall...so maybe 10 extra minutes to Collegeville...

[moving_time]

I'd be at Wyeth. I have heard the roads are completely different in rush hour vs. not in rush hour. That'd be my main concern (and really - is "rush hour" really rush hour or more like rush-3-hours? ).

If commutes are ok, then maybe Media or a lot of the Main Line'd be good.

[orrmobl]

I worked at Wyeth for about 6 months as a consultant in 2001 before the 202/422 interchange was completed. I could make it from my home on the border of Clifton Heights to Wyeth in about an hour...on the way home it was 40 minutes no problem...leaving about 6:30 PM...so I'm sure the commute to the areas you mentioned are an hour or less....

The Main Line areas I would recommend: Wayne, Paoli, Berwyn, parts of Devon, parts of Malvern (all Tredyffrin-Easttown school district, best in this area, one of the best in the state) or Malvern proper (Great Valley schools) will all be easily accessible. Media as well, and I think Media or Wallingford may suit the liberal in you a tad better..but like I said, if you find other areas, please pass them on...

[moving_time]

This is great to hear, thanks! It really opens up the range of possibilities.

FWIW, I have largely heard Media, West Chester and some other lower-Main Line areas would fit our criteria, elsewhere, as well. Out of curiosity, why are you looking for other alternatives to those?

[orrmobl]

My wife works in Malvern, we moved from Delaware County and after living here in semi rural Chester County for 2 years we really can't see going back...it would be closer to my family which would be a good and bad thing . The people out here are so much more friendly etc...so the service sector in the lower Mainline/Malvern will all be much more accessible and less "city" rude...

BUT we are middle class sensible and pretty liberal at heart so we are torn between the best schools for the kids/close to wife's work so she can actually see their school presentations etc and moving to Wallingford where the people are so friendly its like Mayberry but the surrounding stuff is what we've always known...and are not sure we want more of...

A lot of people love West Chester but it's becoming too trendy chichi for my taste...I like nice things, but I don't buy them to impress anyone but myself...I wear jeans and sneakers and T shirts most of the time...metrosexual I am not...nor am I cookie cutter like a lot of the housing developments in this whole area...it's tough when your American dream doesn't fit what most other people's are.

I'm guessing we will end up in Tredyffrin or Great Valley or Downingtown school districts but if the perfect old house in Wallingford pops up, we may just bite the bullet and move back to Delco. It's also the liberal/nerdy thing for me...I like deep thinking friendly people who believe what they believe and don't care what the popular opinion is...makes it harder to find a place to fit in or at least not stick out .