What is Ambler, PA like? (Washington, Phoenixville: crime, townhouses, schools)

[Lansdowne Resident]

We are researching our next move and have zeroed in on Ambler, PA. At present, we live in Lansdowne and we like the “Vibe” of Lansdowne, with the Farmer’s Market, Coffee Shop, large beautiful trees and cool people, but our house is too much to take care of (we are not brick and mortar types) and the schools aren’t ideal (we have children). My question to all the Montgomery Countydonians is: what’s Ambler really like? Can we reasonably expect to find a nice house for $200-250K? Is the area solid or in decline? Is the community, as a whole, fairly liberal? Is it the kind of place where young families “grow roots” or move on to other places? How far does it take to drive to Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon?
We are scouting it out next week, so are there any places of interest we should check out?
Thanks for your feedback, and I welcome any additional observations of the area!

[Hillrunner]

What exactly does fairly liberal mean?

[Lansdowne Resident]

I feared that someone would take offense to the wording of my post so let me clarify so as not to start an argument and with the sincere hope that it ends with this explanation: I wrote fairly liberal because that can best describe, from a political perspective, the area in which I currently live.

[maf763]

Originally Posted by Lansdowne Resident

We are researching our next move and have zeroed in on Ambler, PA. At present, we live in Lansdowne and we like the “Vibe” of Lansdowne, with the Farmer’s Market, Coffee Shop, large beautiful trees and cool people, but our house is too much to take care of (we are not brick and mortar types) and the schools aren’t ideal (we have children). My question to all the Montgomery Countydonians is: what’s Ambler really like? Can we reasonably expect to find a nice house for $200-250K? Is the area solid or in decline? Is the community, as a whole, fairly liberal? Is it the kind of place where young families “grow roots” or move on to other places? How far does it take to drive to Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon?
We are scouting it out next week, so are there any places of interest we should check out?
Thanks for your feedback, and I welcome any additional observations of the area!

You can find houses in that range, but they might be rowhouses, townhouses, older homes or smaller homes. The area is pretty solid - Ambler boro is actually better than it was 10 years ago and the surrounding area has always been good. As far as politics, the US rep and state rep are democrats, the state senator is a republican, and I'd describe the area as pretty moderate as opposed to either liberal or conservative - you'll find both. Some people have lived in Ambler for generations but others haven't - again, you'll find both. The schools are good. Chestnut Hill would be maybe a 10 minute drive, and Fort Washington park is even closer than the Wissahickon.

[orrmobl]

Garden City, Wallingford is relatively affordable and liberal with great schools and taxes that can be on par with Lansdowne. But the homes are still made of brick and mortar, just the way I like them.

Ambler is supposed to be a great place to live but if the people I know who just moved there (self-involved yuppie types) are indicative of who is moving there, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. Just my $.02.

After some research, Ambler is pretty comparable to places like Aldan (but people make less and the crime is less) and Phoenixville (same but not as drastic a difference). So, yeah, maybe all the yuppies are moving there .

[maestro]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

Garden City, Wallingford is relatively affordable and liberal with great schools and taxes that can be on par with Lansdowne. But the homes are still made of brick and mortar, just the way I like them.

Ambler is supposed to be a great place to live but if the people I know who just moved there (self-involved yuppie types) are indicative of who is moving there, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. Just my $.02.

After some research, Ambler is pretty comparable to places like Aldan (but people make less and the crime is less) and Phoenixville (same but not as drastic a difference). So, yeah, maybe all the yuppies are moving there .

I hate to disagree with orrmobl (you've been a huge help to me on these boards in the past) but I lived in Phoenixville until a recent move to Whitpain and in my opinion Ambler is in better shape than Phoenixville at this point. Phoenixville's Bridge St. is hopping on Fri/Sat nights but there's still a weird element in many of the areas. Almost the whole north side of P'ville is pretty undesirable.

I think Ambler borough has a weird section too, but it just seems to be a bit more "ahead" in its re-development.

Anyway - I don't mean to make this an Ambler vs. Phoenixvlle thread -- my impression of Ambler is that the borough's redevelopment has money behind it and the outskirt areas are very good. The schools are very good and the access to the highways and other fun locales (Bucks County, Chestnut Hill, Conshy) are desirable.

[Jayayess1190]

Also, Ambler is right on the R5 which gives you easy access to Center City. And, Volare Pizza which is right near the train station has some of the best pizza (at least I think) in the Philly area.