Desperately Seeking Suburbs... (Bethlehem, Lansdale, Montgomeryville: townhomes, neighborhood, good schools)

[tothepointe]

Okay, maybe not desperately, but I liked the play on words. You know, Desperately Seeking Susan? ... Madonna in the 80s? ... Bueller?

Anyway, I'm a 30 year old, recently divorced woman currently living in the Lehigh Valley. I was born and raised on Long Island and moved here while still married, but now that my life has changed, my priorities in a neighborhood have changed too. I don't want to go back to LI, but I want something more suburban and less spread out than the Valley.

I'm looking for a nice neighborhood 30-40 minutes from Philly (at non-peak times) where I can get a detached or twin home with a yard or a townhome near a dog-friendly park for about $225K-250K and no more than $3600 per year in taxes. I also want no more than a 45 minute commute to my job in Center Valley. I'd ideally like a walkable "downtown" area with some nice bars/restaurants/shopping, but I'll settle for having CVS and the supermarket within a five minute drive and Target/Lowe's/Bed Bath and Beyond (and the like) within a ten to fifteen minute drive. Although I don't have kids now, I'd like good schools where I live so that if I do one day start a family, I don't necessarily have to move.

I'm don't want to have to take the blue route to work every day. I'd rather be able to take 309 if possible, but I'm not sure what traffic is like on that road during rush hour for a reverse commute like mine.

I've been looking at places like Lansdale, Ambler, North Wales, Chalfont, Doylestown, Souderton, and Montgomeryville. Am I on target here or way off base? Any other 'burb suggestions for me?

[toobusytoday]

Doylestown would be my pick but I'm not sure about the prices. One big concern about the location is the winter commute between any of those towns and Center Valley might be tricky at times. Instead of 309, I would think of going on 313 in nice weather, especially if you choose Doylestown.

Alternatively, have you considered just going over the hill to Emmaus or Bethlehem? Both would give you a slightly different vibe but the cost would be lower and the commute easier.

I've found that most people on this forum are not very familiar with Northern Bucks or Montgomery County.

[tothepointe]

toobusy, I appreciate your suggestions. I briefly considered staying here in Bethlehem (I've been living here for about four years now) or hopping over to Emmaus/Macungie, but I really just want to move closer to Philly.

Am I correct in assuming that I can't go much further south than Lansdale while keeping inside my 45 minute commute window?

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by tothepointe

toobusy, I appreciate your suggestions. I briefly considered staying here in Bethlehem (I've been living here for about four years now) or hopping over to Emmaus/Macungie, but I really just want to move closer to Philly.

Am I correct in assuming that I can't go much further south than Lansdale while keeping inside my 45 minute commute window?

Well, not much further. I go down to Montgomeryville to make a pilgrimage to Costco and Trader Joe's about every 3 weeks and it's 45 minutes. My daughter tutors in Lansdale and it takes her 35 minutes. We live in Coopersburg. If you choose to use 309, I'm sure the traffic backs up in the eight or nine lights through Quakertown, but that's when you could hop on Old Bethlehem Pike.

[H-town reader]

One area you didn't mention; but, seems to fit your criteria is Media. Easy acces (via train or car) to Philly; walkable downtown area, and close to major box stores along Baltimore Pike...just another area to keep in mind...

[toobusytoday]

H-town, the poster works in the Lehigh Valley...... Media would be about an hour and a half, which is why she's looking in Bucks/Montgomery counties.

[HALIT]

tothepoint,

Any of the areas you have considered should put you within 45 minutes of Center Valley. I live in Telford (it borders Souderton) and I can get from here to Salisbury Township on a Friday around 6pm within 40 minutes. I travel to CHOP once a month and can get there in 45 minutes or less (I actually made it in 25 minutes last week, shocking). Of course accidents, weather and traffic backups can make a hugh difference. For those peak times of day I've found shortcuts on the backroads and they can really come in handy when trying to avoid 309. I think you could go as far south as North Wales and be within 45 minutes.

[highstrung]

Doylestown is very expensive... not too many houses in the 200's and taxes are pretty high.

[Mom in Bedminster Twp]

Everything you described is here in this area... Bedminster Twp./Perkasie/Souderton area - which is West of Doylestown, North of Lansdale. We can get to, say, the Copperhead Grille and LL Bean, in about 30 minutes or so.
To get to Philly Int'l, with no traffic, we can get there in about 45 mins. to a hour. Our friends live on Passer and taking a side road, we can get there in about 20 mins. They are on the other end of Passer away from Rt. 309.
We're not over the edge of nowhere but we can see it from here.
Only problem may be the price of homes. but my husband said he heard some of the new townhomes that went up around here are going for about $250-$300K. There is A LOT of new homes going up all around us.

Good luck in your search!