Moving to Philadelphia area - need help! (York, Huntingdon: salons, for rent)

[YasminD]

Hello all!
We need your help to figure out which town is the best fit for us.
My husband is considering to take a job in Feasterville, I am considering to take a job in Naval business center.

Please help us found a right place to live for a few years- we have a 4 yo and 1 yo, we are bi racial family (Russian/Asian).
We would like diversity as well as safety in the community. Good school system is also very important for us.

We are thinking about getting rid of one car- so I will have to commute by subway.

We used to live in Park Slope Brooklyn NY and now live in Boston suburbs- we like the convenience of city living.

After searching some websites, we came up a few areas- Jenkintown, Elkin Park, Cherry hill NJ, Chestnut Hill Philadelphia.
Please let us know what you think of those areas- also if you have any other suggestions.

If we are to live in Jenkintown, I will have to take Orange line - is it relatively safe?
I used to commute with F train, A train and 123/456 lines in NY, so I am well aware of the fact that it all depends on what your standard is...

our budget for rent is up to $2800/month for 3-4BR.
Thank you in advance!

[kyle19125]

Hey there....welcome to Philadelphia!

Jenkintown and Elkins Park are great. So is Melrose Park. Great "Park Slope-style" neighborhoods...lots of trees, older very well kept up Craftsman-style Bungalows, very stable neighborhoods for a long time. The Broad Street line is safe, especially at the time of day you'll be using it. Cherry Hill is kind of blah for the most part...a bit characterless compared to what you're used to. Chestnut Hill is nice but you'll have a very long commute into the Naval Business Center and the neighborhood is kind of cut off from the rest of the metro area. You might consider Collingwood, NJ also. It's a very easy commute via the PATCO train into the city. You can transfer easily to the Orange line to get to the Naval Center. Your husband would have to drive but most of his trip would be against the inbound flow of traffic into the city..he'd drive north on 1-95 after crossing one of the bridges. However all in all for safety, diversity, location and good schools...Jenkintown/Melrose Park/Elkins Park would be your best bet. Melrose Park is beautiful, check it out and good luck!

[maf763]

From Jenkintown, Elkins Park or Melrose Park, you would have to take a commuter train then switch to the Broad St. subway. Melrose and Elkins Park stops are often skipped, so you have fewer options from there. Chestnut Hill would also be a train then switch to subway, probably similar length commute as Jenkintown. Chestnut Hill would be much more similar to a place like Park Slope. Jenkintown is a good choice in that it has a decent amount available in walking distance, is closer to Feasterville, and would get you out of the Philadelphia School District. Elkins Park has far less in way of city-style conveniences. $2800 could get you a nice place in any of the spots you mention.

Can't tell you much about Cherry Hill.

[ajb842]

Jenkintown/Elkins Park/Melrose Park are all good options. You can be walking distance from the regional rails, and there are plenty. However, in terms of city conveniences, I wouldn't say Elkins Park/Melrose Park have much. Depending on where in EP/MP you live, you could walk to the Melrose Park train station and then to a VERY excellent asian market (about a 5 minute walk) to get groceries,which considering your biracial family might be attractive to you. Also in EP, the train station is across the street from a small,and not too great, farmer's market and great little coffee shop, Elkins Perk(maybe influenced by "Friends"?).There's also a drugstore and a park. Jenkintown offers slightly more where you could walk to the train and also starbucks,cvs, walgreens(depending on where in jenkintown you are located),old navy, whole foods(this might be a longer walk depending on where you are),barnes and noble,etc. But none of this is really "city living",it's just stores located in the same area. The main road running through all areas,Old York Road, is very busy and congested in rush hour. In Jenkintown there are also salons and restaurants. In Elkins Park actually there are a few salons and restaurants, but depending on where you live, it would be a long walk in order to be near them and the asian market and train station, but possible. I grew up in Elkins Park so I'm familiar with the area. Let me know if you have questions about specific streets.

[tiakathryn]

I'd pick Jenkintown or Elkins park out of those areas. Certainly not city in nature - it's more suburban/urban. It does have an excellent school system and several easy to get to stores in the area if you have at least one car. Commuting is going to be easy to Feasterville (traffic congestion aside) and the subway trip is doable. Any of those neighborhoods will fit your budget for housing. Do at least a trip up here to see the areas in person if at all possible.

If you are actually looking for more of an urban multiracial element in the city that are fitting to the criteria, those areas are elsewhere.

[YasminD]

Thank you so much everybody for all the detailed information about those towns!!
I am glad to know everything you guys mentioned, since we have never been there and can not imagine what it is like to be living in those areas.

We will definitely look into those areas you recommended more closely, especially Jenkintown and Elkins Park.

We like the idea of "city living" (walking distance to shops, commuting by public transportation etc) but it seems iffy in Philly because of safety/school issues.. Jenkintown/Elkins Park sounds like a good alternative to city life.

I have several more questions...
I checked grestschool.net, and it seems Elkins Park school is not as good as Jenkintown school- is it really so?

Also, how many % of commuters in Jenkintown/Elkins park drive into Philly would you say? Is it feasible? I looked up on google map, and it seems like a short trip if there is no traffic.
Thank you in advance!!

[maf763]

Jenkintown is a very small district - one elementary, one middle, one high school, where Elkins Park is mostly the Cheltenham district, which is much bigger by suburban standards. If your kids are pretty close to the norm, Jenkintown is probably fine, but if they have special needs, it might be harder to find the right services in a small district. Because Jenkintown is so small and everyone is generally within walking range, there is no busing.

Elkins Park is the middle school (grades 5-6) and Cedarbrook is the junior high (7-8) in Cheltenham, and they are the weak links in the district. The elementary and high schools are generally more highly regarded.

[reevesy]

With the amount of money you say you have a month for Rent/mgt, you should look into better areas. Try living in Feasterville or just south in Bryn Athen/Huntingdon Valley. I live in the far notheast section of the city. Its not bad compared to where I grew up at. Very family oriented and you could probably find a 3 house to rent for about 1200 but then you would have to send your kids to a non-public school.

[YasminD]

maf763, thank you so much for the information! Interesting to know that Jenkintown does not offer school bus service... we have to keep that in mind.

I have a quesiton for Reevesy- People who live in Feasterville, how do they commute by public transportation? Do they actually take train/subway, or do they mostly commute by car? Also, what kind of area is northeast section of the city? I thought north of the city is quite dangerous.. is it safe and nice, as long as we send our kids to private school?
We thought about living in the city for the convenience of it, but then we heard so much about how dangerous it is... are there any areas in the city where there are lots of young families and community feel- just like Park Slope?
I think we can afford private schools as long as rent is not that high..
thank you in advance!

[ajb842]

It's possible not everyone likes the areas of Jenkintown/Elkins Park/Melrose Park BUT in my humble opinion, I prefer them greatly to Feasterville or the Northeast. Some areas of the northeat are nice some are not, as with almost anywhere. Feasterville isn't bad, I just prefer Montgomery County. I went to Cheltenham high school and I liked it. It's very diverse, and your family would not feel out of place in the area by any means. There is a Russian population, large asian community, african american community, hispanic, middle eastern,etc. Feastervill does have a large Russian community as does the NE(Ukranian as well). It's true Jenkintown doesn't have bus service, but you could in theory be so close you can walk your kids to school every day. Bottom line-you have to visit and see what areas you prefer