Marshalton Area (Philadelphia, Chester, Pottstown: house, purchasing, schools)

[ericsinphilly]

Can anyone give me some details on the Marshalton area near West Chester? Looking for info such as grade school quality, nearby colleges, crime, cost of living, traffic, and commute times to around the KoP area. It seems to be a relatively quiet and secluded area and my wife and I both like it from our brief drive-through. We're considering purchasing a house there.

Thanks

[orrmobl]

All good here. West Chester University is the closest college...then you get into places like Cabrini and Immaculata by Malvern. The commute to KOP would be the deal breaker for me though. It takes my wife a good 40+ minutes to get to the Great Valley corporate center during rush hours.

You should check out Phoenixville, Collegeville, Pottstown, Chester Springs, Malvern and areas further north of Plymouth Meeting and West/Northwest of KOP to reduces your commute and still have a good quality of life.

[ericsinphilly]

Thanks, orrmobl.

I tried the drive from Chesterbrook to Marshallton and back yesterday during lunch and it wasn't too bad -- even though I did manage to accidentally drive through Downingtown on the way back. I usually hit the tail end of rush hour in the morning and evening as my work hours are 10am-7pm. Hopefully that will help keep my commute time under 40 minutes!

Phoenixville was originally on the list of places to look for my family, but there didn't seem to be much there besides homes and a main street -- no real shopping or anything. we have not been as far as Pottstown, and we're hoping to stay within an easy drive to a local community college or similar for my wife. My wife was raised in a college town in Michigan, and she really likes the feel of the West Chester area.

How about parks and recreation, particularly areas where you can engage in fishing and swimming, are there any nice ones around that area? Google maps wasn't showing much in that regard.

[orrmobl]

I don't know about that commute time but I guess the off hours should help quite a bit. Phoenixville has the downtown district which should be expanding as time goes on - also there are businesses once you cross over the bridge to the other part of town...very quaint over there, much more old time town feeling. Have you checked out Collegeville/Trappe? Ursinus college is there so again you may get a college town feel.

If you don't move to downtown West Chester, I'm not really getting what living in Marshallton gets you vis a vis a college town experience? Although my wife and i are Penn Staters and know exactly where your wife is coming from!

As for parks, etc, the big ones around here are Ridley Creek State Park, Marsh Creek State Park and French Creek State Park - in fact, I would recommend you move to Downingtown or Glenmoore by French Creek as that will also put you closer to KOP, great wooded area, and the schools are a hair better than West Chester and you will get much more bang for your housing buck as well.

Pennsylvania State Parks - Philadelphia and the Countryside - PA DCNR

[ericsinphilly]

Marshallton would be more of a compromise between living in West Chester for her and having a more rural feel for me.

Thanks for the link and the input. I believe we'll be making another trip through Phoenixville to give it another shot. What road is the bridge to the businesses? I missed that on my previous visit.

I had not considered Collegeville (and Phoenixville to an extent) because of what I have been told of traffic on 422. Chester Springs is one I have not looked into, either, just because I had overlooked it on the map.

[orrmobl]

The main drag through Phoenixville is Bridge St/Rt 113. Follow that through town and hang a left on Nutt Rd/Rt 23 (you can also take 23 from 202 through Valley Forge Park to get a better idea of the area). Also if you turn on Main St (Right coming from 113 and 23 or left coming up 23 from Valley Forge) you will see another small business district with a quaint little park, town clock, etc. I have seen these clocks in Malvern and Downingtown as well - these were the town centers at one time, not sure about now. As for the commute up 422, it's not that far to KOP and they are opening an additional lane to ease congestion - not sure if it's in one direction or both but if I were working in KOP I would not let 422 deter me from considering moving there.

[breadeater]

Marshalton is a nice area, a quick drive east to West Chester. 5 min drive to two of my favorite parks...

ChesLen Preserve. The Natural Lands Trust. Land Conservation in the Greater Philadelphia Region. (great smallmouth bass fishing in the west branch brandywine)

Stroud Preserve. The Natural Lands Trust. Land Conservation in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

There are other places than the state parks for recreation if you look close. I think the schools are Downingtown (Bradford Heights Elem.) if you are looking in West Bradford Twp.