Suberbs of Philadelphia (York, Chester, King of Prussia: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[lmarcos1]

I am considering a move from Richmond VA to the outskirts of Philadelphia such as Chester, or Coastsville.

Any information on these areas? Is there access to shopping and good restaurants? Are the people generally friendly? What about the homes? Is there decent housing in the price range of $300,000 to $350,000?

I am from NYC and not well accepted by the Southerners. Hope the people in Philly are more tolerant of New Yorkers.

Thanks
NYCGIRL

[William shivers]

well if your talking about chester the city, thats a horrible choice, as well as coatesville. Both have cheap housing but bad bad neighborhoods!!! Chester county on the other hand is very nice except for the coatesville area. Chester county is a more rural area that is certainly being developed. It's also a bit far from the city and nightlife if your looking for that. Chester cty has lower taxes though. You can certainly find a nice home with some land for that price range, probably not new construction though. I live in the delaware county area newtown square. If you need any help in finding a house let me know I do work as a real estate agent. I also went to school at West Chester univ and lived in downingtown for a couple years.

[newmarlig]

Chester County is home to the King of Prussia Mall, very upscale stores (Neimans, Nordstroms for example. (kingofprussiamall.com) There are also beautiful suburbs in both Bucks and Montgomery Counties. I love New York and New Yorkers (other than the sports teams!)

[enviroman]

King of Prussia is in Montgomery County, not Chester County (it's like 30 miles from Coatesville!). It's a nice mall, though.

Also, Chester County's taxes are sky high. However, if you're looking for a $350k home, that shouldn't be too much of a bother.

Yeah, I'd say Philadelphia is a fairly tolerant place. I'm not one for a huge commute, so I'd recommend some areas closer to Philadelphia, like Lower Merion, Villanova, or even Swarthmore. They are upper-middle class areas.

[newmarlig]

Of course it's in Montgomery County, I don't know what I was thinking.

[bostongirl]

William shivers - can you tell me what Downingtown is like? I hear the schools are terrible however it seems appealing to us, since there is a Wegman's and newer construction

[bostongirl]

My real estate agent has always mentioned looking in Lower Merion- does anyone know about living here??

[William shivers]

downingtown has some weak spots in it and the school district is good, lower merion is one of the nicer areas to live in, not to bad on prices and the taxes are good there. the school district is very good also. the coatsville area schools are poor. check out schoolmatters.com type in the school dists name it give you the stats on them.

[Ava Cado]

Lower Merion & Radnor both have excellent schools, as does Easttown-Tredyffrin township. Chester County has much lower taxes than Delaware County, and its schools are far better overall. How far of a commute are you looking for? You can get to center city Philly from Malvern/Paoli/Radnor/Berwyn in about 40 minutes, from Exton in 45, from King of Prussia/Wayne/Devon in about 30. SEPTA runs regularly along Route 30 from almost all of those places into the city, although train fare is quite expensive. If you have a free place to park in the city & don't mind wear & tear on your vehicle, it'll be cheaper to drive yourself in. The closer you get to the city, the more expensive houses are, but you shouldn't have any problem getting a very nice house in the range you mentioned. Good luck!

[enviroman]

I agree with Ava Cado. Although, if you can swing the taxes, Radnor High School is probably one of the best public high schools in the state, maybe even the entire country.