Live&Commute west suburbs Phill to New Job at Comcast downtown Philly (Lancaster: home, to buy)

[Patrick Cornelius]

This is a great site! My Thanks to all.

My wife and I, no children, are moving to Philly area from Kentucky.
She just accepted a new job in Philly downtown center.

We plan on living in suburbs to the West and commuting via Main Line? R5 or Amtrack? or XXX? Can she work with laptop, phone on train? WiFi? Are trains clean? on-time? safe?

DESIRED:

Want to buy a home $300K to $350K, prefer rural feel.

Minimize commute time to the Train Station from home door to door (10 to 15 min max) parking? PLUS then Commute on Train to Philly about 1 hour +-
COSTS per month? Which train system to use? Stops where in Philly?

TOTAL from Home to Office (door to door) about 1.5 hours or less.


We are open to suggestions.

We are open to Delaware too? Maryland does not seem practical?

[Otis]

I live in western suburbs tried train but drive now. I used the R6 which is Norristown(northwest of Philly route) very briefly, I did use my cell on the train, no problem. Trains are mostly on time, fairly clean and always safe. Can't help you much on trains.

To minimize my commute I get up 430am and drive the 1 hour into downtown Philly where I work. It takes me 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours to get home when I leave at 3pm. As bad as that is in terms of length it would take me longer on the train.

If you prefer rural, like my wife and I do, try anyplace in Montgomery or Berks Counties. Also you said you're from Kentucky, I graduated from Morehead State University so I was wondering where in Kentucky you're from.

[newmarlig]

You would be best looking along the R5 train line. The trains run more frequently than the R6 line.

http://www.septa.org/service/sched/r5s_wk.html

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by Patrick Cornelius

This is a great site! My Thanks to all.

My wife and I, no children, are moving to Philly area from Kentucky.
She just accepted a new job in Philly downtown center.

We plan on living in suburbs to the West and commuting via Main Line? R5 or Amtrack? or XXX? Can she work with laptop, phone on train? WiFi? Are trains

Great Valley/West Chester/Chester Springs/Exton/Downingtown. You'll never know you left Kentucky. Lush green valleys and rolling hills. Beautiful area. If you look on a map this area is generally located at the intersection of Rt 30 + Rt. 202 + Rt 100. West Chester has a great small town community feel. The other areas are more modern/more suburban in nature.

Suburban Station( Hub for 17 different regional rail lines) is located a couple blocks from the new Comcast HQ's in Center City. The R-5 line runs through all the towns listed above. Depending on where you plan to live a rail line won't be more than 5-10 minutes away-Park your car in a septa lot ($1 day)


If you commuted by car it would be about a 45-60 minute drive into Center City from West Chester/Exton

Good luck

[Patrick Cornelius]

Thanks to Otis, Newmarlig, and Rainrock.

Otis, Wow, I thought I was an early riser. That does not sound very attactive. Are you stressed? Montgomery or Berks Counties OK I will check.
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/county.asp?secid=31 (broken link)
We were thinking Chester or Lancaster Counties just to the WEST of Philly.

OR Even Deleware? Moorehead State...We are in Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati, OH
=========================================

Newmarlig, Thank you so much for the train schedule. R5 it is. Can one sit down comfortably and work on a laptop? Make calls? etc? SEPTA website is confusing to me. Costs per month? Does it constantly stop? or express? Worries about safety? Clean? Is work with laptop, phone possible on train?

-----------------------------------------------------------

Rainrock, Thank you for the ideas on where to live.
Great Valley/West Chester/Chester Springs/Exton/Downingtown
Downingtown was also recommended by a RealEstate agent from "Main Line Realtors" in Paoli. We want everything. Minimize commute and the Rural Feel.

Hope somebody Living in West Chester that commutes to downtown Philly could comment. Sounds like a good place to live and commute from.

SEPTA parking lots sound reasonable ($1 per day...$20 per month)

ANY Comcast employees out there? Living in the Western Suburbs and commuting?

THANKS AGAIN ALL Perhaps we will eventually be neighbors. First Dinner is on us.

[newmarlig]

Originally Posted by Patrick Cornelius

Newmarlig, Thank you so much for the train schedule. R5 it is. Can one sit down comfortably and work on a laptop? Make calls? etc? SEPTA website is confusing to me. Costs per month? Does it constantly stop? or express? Worries about safety? Clean? Is work with laptop, phone possible on train?

Patrick, Fares would depend on the zone you are in based on the distance from center city. You would be in either zone 2 (one month pass $106), zone 3 (one month pass $126.50) or zone 4 (one month pass $145.00). The schedule shows the zones. I don't take the train, but I know you can work on a laptop. Comfort would depend on how crowded the train is. It is safe and clean and there are not local and express trains.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Patrick Cornelius

This is a great site! My Thanks to all.

My wife and I, no children, are moving to Philly area from Kentucky.
She just accepted a new job in Philly downtown center.

We plan on living in suburbs to the West and commuting via Main Line? R5 or Amtrack? or XXX? Can she work with laptop, phone on train? WiFi? Are trains clean? on-time? safe?

DESIRED:

Want to buy a home $300K to $350K, prefer rural feel.

Minimize commute time to the Train Station from home door to door (10 to 15 min max) parking? PLUS then Commute on Train to Philly about 1 hour +-
COSTS per month? Which train system to use? Stops where in Philly?

TOTAL from Home to Office (door to door) about 1.5 hours or less.


We are open to suggestions.

We are open to Delaware too? Maryland does not seem practical?

The R5 is one of the Regional Rail commuter train's on the SEPTA mass transit system. (See septa(dot)org.) You can use your phone and laptop but there is no Wi-Fi connection. The Main Line is arguably the wealthiest area in the metro. It will also be hard to find something with a rural feel, especially within your price range, unless you live within commuting distance of the further two train stops on the R5: Exton or Thorndale. Perhaps look into Lionville or Chester Springs, two towns near those train stops. Actually you might be better off in lower Chester County which overall is less densely developed than most other parts of the metro. However, the trade off would be the lack of rail service.

There are some quiet areas just over the state line into Delaware but it may exceed your 90-minute threshold including a one hour ride on the R2 from Wilmington. You are right not to commute from MD. You may as well head down to DC at that point.

[FindingZen]

Oops. Sorry if I repeated or contradicted any information. That's what I get for not reading other posts.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by newmarlig

Patrick, Fares would depend on the zone you are in based on the distance from center city. You would be in either zone 2 (one month pass $106), zone 3 (one month pass $126.50) or zone 4 (one month pass $145.00). The schedule shows the zones. I don't take the train, but I know you can work on a laptop. Comfort would depend on how crowded the train is. It is safe and clean and there are not local and express trains.

I concur with you on everything but one point: many train routes actually do have local and express routes, particularly the R5.

[newmarlig]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I concur with you on everything but one point: many train routes actually do have local and express routes, particularly the R5.

Of course there are. I don't know how the word "not" got in there. I was probably editing (not too carefully).