Which of these towns would you choose? (Philadelphia, Chester: real estate, condos)

[Sassygirl18]

Let's say you have a budget of $300 - $350K to buy a single family home (no twins, condos or townhouses). You want a house with at least 3 bedrooms and 1500-1800 square feet. Schools are not a factor in your decision. You work in Center City, Philadelphia and prefer public transportation (train) as your mode of transportation to work. You have to choose from the following towns to move to. Which of these towns would you choose and why?

(If you would also like to comment on why you would NOT choose certain town(s), feel free!)

We have narrowed our relocation destination to the following towns, but they all have pros and cons and we're having a hard time making up our minds.

Wynnewood
Jenkintown
West Chester
Media
Doylestown
Yardley
Ambler
Fort Washington

[maf763]

# 1 would be Jenkintown - shopping, movie house, restaurants & bars all in walking distance of each other and a choice of three train lines that run into the city, so there is limited wait time. You can find singles in the price range, but realize that some of the listings you will see in the 19046 zip code will say Jenkintown but really be Rockledge, or Hollywood, or another area covered by that zip code. The boro of Jenkintown itself is pretty small.

I'm a Montco person, so I'd say Ambler #2 for me, though Media may actually be the better choice. There is a train line, but only one, though in Media you also have the trolley to 69th St. They are similar, though Media has a more established downtown. Ambler's redevelopment has been more recent, but with the Ambler theater, Act II Playhouse and several new restaurants, they have done a good job.

Quick hits on the others:
Wynnewood - not sure about home prices
West Chester - too far of a commute
Doylestown - too far of a commute
Yardley - too far of a commute
Fort Washington - might be tough to find a single in price range

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by Sassygirl18

Let's say you have a budget of $300 - $350K to buy a single family home (no twins, condos or townhouses). You want a house with at least 3 bedrooms and 1500-1800 square feet. Schools are not a factor in your decision. You work in Center City, Philadelphia and prefer public transportation (train) as your mode of transportation to work. You have to choose from the following towns to move to. Which of these towns would you choose and why?

(If you would also like to comment on why you would NOT choose certain town(s), feel free!)

We have narrowed our relocation destination to the following towns, but they all have pros and cons and we're having a hard time making up our minds.

Wynnewood
Jenkintown
West Chester
Media
Doylestown
Yardley
Ambler
Fort Washington

Without a doubt or hesitation, I'd recommend Wynnewood.

The biggest downer in an urbanite's life is the workday commute. Of all of the towns mentioned, Wynnewood will provide you with the least headache in terms of commute and commute time....translating to a higher quality of life. The SEPTA R5 train at worst runs trains every 30 minutes. This section of track, unlike the R5 corridor north of the city is not dogged by track/signal problems resulting in frequent delays.

Wynnewood is a great town, it's very quiet, yet with all of the conveniences of living in a major metropolitan area. One of the few Whole Foods Markets in the suburbs is located in Wynnewood, there's a great farmer's market in neighboring Ardmore (less than 10 minutes) as well as a Trader Joe's. Suburban Square in Ardmore as well as the corridor along Route 30 offers tons of retail options. The area also has solid resale potential because it is in the highly sought after Lower Merion School District.

Prudential Fox and Roach - Home Search / Property Profile
1615 Brookhaven Rd, Wynnewood, PA, 19096 - MLS ID#5545742 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®
1527 Brookhaven Rd, Wynnewood, PA, 19096 - MLS ID#5538053 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

[veuvegirl]

I would also say schools are not a consideration in your decision, a good school district is great for resale value....

[Sassygirl18]

That's a good point, veuvegirl. Are any of the towns I listed BAD school districts?

[Sassygirl18]

Thanks for your helpful comments everyone and thanks for the Wynnewood home links, niceguy. I LOVE Wynnewood. Man, that is one beautiful town. Jaw droppingly so. Would you say that Wynnewood has the main line "snob" issues that are often discussed on this board? We're not status-oriented elitists at all and probably wouldn't feel comfortable in a snobby town.

It really helps to hear why you think certain areas are better than others. The commute issue is really one that we struggle with. We currently live in Cherry Hill and our commute is pretty painless ...we'd like to keep it that way if possible - so the areas closer to the city get high marks for commute. But the areas closer to the city also seem to be more expensive - less house for the money - and more traffic, although since we mainly rely on public transportation (for work, at least) I guess we shouldn't focus on traffic too much.

Property taxes are a huge issue for us as we want to half what we pay now (over $8,000) so we're only considering towns where it's possible to get a $300-$350K house with taxes in the area of $4K or less. And we really prefer a town with a wonderful main street, or very close to one (like Wynnewood is), older architecture - a charming old-fashioned aesthetic, a walkable town with interesting/fun places to go, as opposed to sprawling suburban with nothing but houses. And we want to live in a sold middle to upper middle class area that's pretty liberal and educated. Doylestown would be the absolute perfect town for us if it was 20 miles closer to Philadelphia.

Keep the comments coming and thanks again.

[zionrug]

How about Narberth or Blue Bell?

[Sassygirl18]

Hi Zionrug,

LOVE Narberth but there's almost nothing in our price range.

Blue Bell is too suburban for me - and no main street (as far as I could tell).

[H-town reader]

you are going to have a hard time keeping your taxes at 4k or below...probably a better estimate is 5-6k with all of the various county/city/school taxes thrown in....

Wynnewood is a fantastic place...more expensive than Media. Media would have more of a traditional town center, and would be a little bit longer of a commute. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Sassygirl18

Blue Bell is too suburban for me - and no main street (as far as I could tell).

Correct.