New move to mainline, Haverford vs Merion Station (Philadelphia, Lancaster: houses, neighborhoods)

[drbouba]

I am moving with my wife and kids (ages 1 and 4) to the Philadelphia area in a few months. We are thinking mainly about moving to the mainline because we hear that the Jewish schools there are excellent and go through high school (non-orthodox). It's been a bit disappointing exploring the mainline that there seem to be relatively few sidewalks (we are moving from suburban St. Louis) but we have seen homes that we really like in Haverford and Merion Station that both seem to be in walking distance (on sidewalks) to cafes, restaurants, shops, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any comparisons on these two towns as places to live. It seems like from Merion station, we would be walking to downtown Bala or Narberth, whereas in Haverford we'd be walking to anything on Lancaster. Maybe we're splitting hairs but any advice/ insight into these neighborhoods would be really appreciated!

[JHG722]

I'd go with Merion Station. Great area. I assume you're talking about Jack Barrack Hebrew Academy (formerly Akiba Hebrew Academy). Unfortunately for you, they recently moved out of their campus in Merion Station, but you probably knew that. Anyway, it's a great school. My brother graduated from there last year.

[chessimprov]

All are desirable, though in Havertown, it is quite dense and the location is further out from the city. The density helps makes some of the housing cheaper. I personally like Narberth or Bala more because of accessibility to a small cozy mainstream theater, indie movie theater, quaint little town, and nearby Philadelphia and Ardmore.

Havertown has the Head Nut and probably other great places I don't know about, but the vibe I had gotten from some of the school people in the district is not that great.

[mltimes]

Just to calrify, the OP is considering a move to HaverFORD, not HaverTOWN.

Within Haverford, there is a very different "feel" depending on whether you are looking at the north side or the south side. More specifically, are you looking at the area between Montgomery Avenue and Gladwyne (around and behind the Cricket Club), the area between Montgomery Avenue and Haverford Road (the area around Haverford College), or the area on the other side of Haverford Road (which is Haverford Township, not Lower Merion)? There's a definite range in Haverford from big, formerly old money, stone houses on multiple acres around Gray's Lane, to more family oriented neighborhoods in Coopertown.

Any home in Haverford would be much closer to Barrack than the homes in Merion, but Merion has a larger Jewish population and is more easily walkable.

[drbouba]

Thank you for the responses so far. We have been looking at Haverford, not Havertown. I think the houses we have seen have been just east of Bryn Mawr's campus, just north of Montgomery.
The proximity of Haverford to Barrack is nice, although right now our oldest would be starting the lower school which I think is in Wynnewood, by the JCC.