Relocating to Bucks? (Levittown, Washington, Newtown Grant: real estate, how much, houses)

[MCNPA]

I know there are quite a few threads about this, but much easier to get information when it is a focused question.

My wife and I are going to re-locate to Bucks County area, namely a place like Yardley, New Hope, Newtown, or Washington's Crossing. I want to know opinions of these areas and how they compare. In my estimation, they are all neighboring communities, but it seems that your dollars go further from one town to another. We're trying to focus our search a bit and have noticed when searching the real estate that:

1) Newtown/Upper Makefield seems to get you less for your dollar. Council Rock schools are very good of course, which might be the case, but the schools aren't as good as New Hope/Solebury (in terms of rankings).

2) New Hope seems to have a bit nicer houses for dollar value, as well as a better school district than even Council Rock. Trying to figure out the reason why, but it seems so from the houses one can get compared to Upper Makefield. Maybe somebody can help as to why as I don't understand it? Maybe further from highways?

3) Yardley seems to be a place with good value, but some areas, the taxes are a bit high. Also has Pennsbury schools which rate a bit lower than the aforementioned school districts. Should I stay away for that reason?

All are beautiful areas, and the areas that my wife and I have focused on are these above. We're planning on leaving Long Island in 2 years most likely. Long Island is a nice place, but a bit too congested, and it is changing a bit. As another bit of information, I actually plan on commuting(at least for a year or so) to Long Island to keep some job stability when making the move. I know it sounds crazy, but I only work 3 days a week and it shouldn't be all too bad for that few days, at least for a while. Any help or recommendations on these issues might be able to help us focus a bit more. Thank you.

[MCNPA]

I'd also like some opinions on Pennsbury schools. I come from Long Island with TONS of great schools. I know that Council Rock and New Hope/Solebury are certainly better, but is Pennsbury good? I'm wondering whether I should stay away from Yardley based on the large size of the school district and lesser rankings of Pennsbury vs the other two? Thanks...

[dlpres]

I live in Upper Makefield just above Newtown and have 2 little girls that go to the Sol Feinstone school which is in the Council Rock School District.

The Pennsbury school District is not bad but you kind of have a unique situation there where you have kids that live in Yardley and Lower makefield living in multi million dollar houses going to school with kids from Levittown not living in anything close to million dollar houses. As you can imagine there can be some issues there. In my opinion it is something that I wanted to keep my kids away from.

You can't go wrong with Council Rock or new Hope /Solebury but the reason you can get more house in New Hope/ Solebury is that there really is no easy way to get to I 95. For you going up to LI a few days a week would probably add 20 mins to your trip. I have made the trip to LI (Rockville centre) many of times and if you don't hit traffic and the Belt Parkway(LOL) the trip can be done in well under 2 hours. As with any school there can be issues but Council Rock, New Hope or Central Bucks SD are the best in Bucks County by far. Anyway if you want let me know how much you want to spend and I can give you some places to look at. I think you will like the PAincome tax and school district taxes compared to LI. Bucks County is a great place to raise kids.

Good Luck

[MCNPA]

Originally Posted by dlpres

I live in Upper Makefield just above Newtown and have 2 little girls that go to the Sol Feinstone school which is in the Council Rock School District.

The Pennsbury school District is not bad but you kind of have a unique situation there where you have kids that live in Yardley and Lower makefield living in multi million dollar houses going to school with kids from Levittown not living in anything close to million dollar houses. As you can imagine there can be some issues there. In my opinion it is something that I wanted to keep my kids away from.

You can't go wrong with Council Rock or new Hope /Solebury but the reason you can get more house in New Hope/ Solebury is that there really is no easy way to get to I 95. For you going up to LI a few days a week would probably add 20 mins to your trip. I have made the trip to LI (Rockville centre) many of times and if you don't hit traffic and the Belt Parkway(LOL) the trip can be done in well under 2 hours. As with any school there can be issues but Council Rock, New Hope or Central Bucks SD are the best in Bucks County by far. Anyway if you want let me know how much you want to spend and I can give you some places to look at. I think you will like the PAincome tax and school district taxes compared to LI. Bucks County is a great place to raise kids.

Good Luck

Thanks for the excellent advice. As far as New Hope/Solebury distance goes, 15 minutes in addition doesn't make much of a difference to me in all truthfulness. I still have a long haul to Long Island (Roslyn) to be precise, which isn't far from Rockville Centre. My main concerns are being in a very good school district and getting the best bang for my buck. I'll be spending mid 500K- mid 600K. I'll probably eventually look to find a job much closer (I'm a Physician Assistant), but for the sake of stability, I'd rather stay where I am for a year or two until I find a great job situation that is closer.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by MCNPA

Thanks for the excellent advice. As far as New Hope/Solebury distance goes, 15 minutes in addition doesn't make much of a difference to me in all truthfulness. I still have a long haul to Long Island (Roslyn) to be precise, which isn't far from Rockville Centre. My main concerns are being in a very good school district and getting the best bang for my buck. I'll be spending mid 500K- mid 600K. I'll probably eventually look to find a job much closer (I'm a Physician Assistant), but for the sake of stability, I'd rather stay where I am for a year or two until I find a great job situation that is closer.

Wow, that is a two hour commute! I can't imagine.

[MCNPA]

Originally Posted by veuvegirl

Wow, that is a two hour commute! I can't imagine.

As I said, I work nights only 2-3 days per week, so it isn't all that bad. I would eventually look for a closer job of course.

[dlpres]

In Newtown for 500K to 600K I would look at Eagleton Farms of of Stoopville Rd and Newtown Grant which is across the street but a much bigger development. Also check out Pheasant Point and Cliveden Estates. Both Cliveden and Pheasant are off of Eagle Road. Let me know if you need anymore info.

Oh I did the drive from Rockville Centre to Newtown(Door to Door) it took almost 2 hours.

[kelb]

We moved to Yardley two years ago and find it to be just an outstanding place to live. The taxes are a bit high, but you will get so much house for the money in your price range. Great time to buy now with plenty of homes on the market.
You don't say how old your kids are, but we are always impressed with the young people we encounter in Yardley. Pennsbury is a fabulous school district, and as someone pointed out in a negative way above, it is somewhat more diverse than the other districts you mentioned. In Yardley you get the added value of being close to I-95 and closer to center city Philly. Good luck with your move.