U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New Jersey > New Jersey Suburbs of Philadelphia
 [Register]
New Jersey Suburbs of Philadelphia Burlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, Salem County in South Jersey
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-22-2011, 03:52 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
691 posts, read 2,937,901 times
Reputation: 201

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by annabbbanana View Post
Thank you all! And I'm sure there isn't that much of a difference between all the elementary schools but it seems pretty apparent that Larchmont is kind of the less desirable elementary school/area of town. The rest seem to be pretty much equal.

oh and would anyone care to explain whats so bad about willow turn? i saw an ad on craigslist for a townhouse there with a really cheap pricetag, and thought it was too good to be true and after reading the posts here it is because everyone says to stay away. but would anyone care to explain why?
I really don't know why Willow Turn and Delancey Place have such a bad reputation. The condos/THs there are always much cheaper than similar ones elsewhere. I think there is probably a concentration of affordable housing in that area but am not 100% sure.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-25-2011, 08:22 AM
 
14,781 posts, read 41,675,363 times
Reputation: 14596
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerzBoy View Post
I really don't know why Willow Turn and Delancey Place have such a bad reputation. The condos/THs there are always much cheaper than similar ones elsewhere. I think there is probably a concentration of affordable housing in that area but am not 100% sure.
Take a drive through and you'll see why. My wife and I had looked in that area a couple years ago. I was drawn there by the low prices and relatively low taxes for Mt. Laurel. However, after driving through there several times and talking to people, it became obvious that the best advice is to avoid anything along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. That area is NOTHING like the rest of Mt. Laurel.

Someone mentioned the low income housing and my guess would be, this is where it's located. It's probably also the reason that Larchmont is the "worst" of the Mt. Laurel schools.

So, in general I would try to avoid anything that sends to Larchmont and wouldn't even consider housing along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. From talking to people at work who live there, the kids in school associate living in Larchmont with being poor/ghetto.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2011, 12:55 PM
 
Location: South Jersey
7,780 posts, read 20,910,105 times
Reputation: 2345
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT View Post
Take a drive through and you'll see why. My wife and I had looked in that area a couple years ago. I was drawn there by the low prices and relatively low taxes for Mt. Laurel. However, after driving through there several times and talking to people, it became obvious that the best advice is to avoid anything along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. That area is NOTHING like the rest of Mt. Laurel.

Someone mentioned the low income housing and my guess would be, this is where it's located. It's probably also the reason that Larchmont is the "worst" of the Mt. Laurel schools.

So, in general I would try to avoid anything that sends to Larchmont and wouldn't even consider housing along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. From talking to people at work who live there, the kids in school associate living in Larchmont with being poor/ghetto.
And I have to be honest, most of the crime (police blotter thing)in my county paper happens in Mt. Laurel. For whatever reason it seems to have the most petty crime(car break ins, robbery, burglary etc)
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2011, 02:17 PM
 
1,955 posts, read 3,707,656 times
Reputation: 1099
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT View Post
Take a drive through and you'll see why. My wife and I had looked in that area a couple years ago. I was drawn there by the low prices and relatively low taxes for Mt. Laurel. However, after driving through there several times and talking to people, it became obvious that the best advice is to avoid anything along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. That area is NOTHING like the rest of Mt. Laurel.

Someone mentioned the low income housing and my guess would be, this is where it's located. It's probably also the reason that Larchmont is the "worst" of the Mt. Laurel schools.

So, in general I would try to avoid anything that sends to Larchmont and wouldn't even consider housing along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. From talking to people at work who live there, the kids in school associate living in Larchmont with being poor/ghetto.
Weird, I never got a bad vibe from that area. I've been to Angelo's Pizza right around there plenty of times. Pretty good pizza. A family friend lives along the next stretch of Larchmont, between 38 and Marne Highway, and that seems like a nice enough neighborhood. I guess the fact that it's multi-unit housing/ small single houses could be the reason why kids think it's "ghetto," especially with those random neighborhoods of basically McMansions that are cropping up all over Mt. Laurel.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2011, 02:25 PM
 
1,247 posts, read 2,892,611 times
Reputation: 643
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT View Post
Take a drive through and you'll see why. My wife and I had looked in that area a couple years ago. I was drawn there by the low prices and relatively low taxes for Mt. Laurel. However, after driving through there several times and talking to people, it became obvious that the best advice is to avoid anything along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. That area is NOTHING like the rest of Mt. Laurel.

Someone mentioned the low income housing and my guess would be, this is where it's located. It's probably also the reason that Larchmont is the "worst" of the Mt. Laurel schools.

So, in general I would try to avoid anything that sends to Larchmont and wouldn't even consider housing along Larchmont between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. From talking to people at work who live there, the kids in school associate living in Larchmont with being poor/ghetto.
I noticed a few shady things west of Rt 73 too a few years ago. I can't remember what street it was exactly, but it was one of those few streets between 73 and Church Rd (Fellowship, Beaver, Oregon, Federal etc) that had all these boarded up houses, 1/2 dozen or more. This was about 3 years ago so it may be different now, but I was surprised when I saw that since Mt. Laurel always struck me as a pretty decent place to live.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2011, 05:16 PM
 
Location: South Jersey
7,780 posts, read 20,910,105 times
Reputation: 2345
Quote:
Originally Posted by HubCityMadMan View Post
I noticed a few shady things west of Rt 73 too a few years ago. I can't remember what street it was exactly, but it was one of those few streets between 73 and Church Rd (Fellowship, Beaver, Oregon, Federal etc) that had all these boarded up houses, 1/2 dozen or more. This was about 3 years ago so it may be different now, but I was surprised when I saw that since Mt. Laurel always struck me as a pretty decent place to live.
Those home (I believe) were part of a buy out to put in a by pass type highway that never happened.. At least that what I was told..
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2011, 05:20 PM
 
Location: South Jersey
7,780 posts, read 20,910,105 times
Reputation: 2345
Quote:
Originally Posted by soug View Post
Weird, I never got a bad vibe from that area. I've been to Angelo's Pizza right around there plenty of times. Pretty good pizza. A family friend lives along the next stretch of Larchmont, between 38 and Marne Highway, and that seems like a nice enough neighborhood. I guess the fact that it's multi-unit housing/ small single houses could be the reason why kids think it's "ghetto," especially with those random neighborhoods of basically McMansions that are cropping up all over Mt. Laurel.
yea, isn't that around the Scotto's pizza is on 38 too? We were there last weekend and its seems like a nice area..
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-26-2011, 01:04 PM
 
1,247 posts, read 2,892,611 times
Reputation: 643
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankgn87 View Post
Those home (I believe) were part of a buy out to put in a by pass type highway that never happened.. At least that what I was told..
Or possibly a ramp to get directly to 295 from the turnpike - or vice versa - without having to get on 73 at all. Would have been nice.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-26-2011, 02:40 PM
 
14,781 posts, read 41,675,363 times
Reputation: 14596
Quote:
Originally Posted by soug View Post
Weird, I never got a bad vibe from that area. I've been to Angelo's Pizza right around there plenty of times. Pretty good pizza. A family friend lives along the next stretch of Larchmont, between 38 and Marne Highway, and that seems like a nice enough neighborhood. I guess the fact that it's multi-unit housing/ small single houses could be the reason why kids think it's "ghetto," especially with those random neighborhoods of basically McMansions that are cropping up all over Mt. Laurel.
Well, Angelo's is all the way at the end of Larchmont near Hainesport Rd. The area I was talking about wasn't the full length of Larchmont, but the section between 38 and Union Mill Rd.

It doesn't look bad driving down Larchmont, but turn into Willow Turn and then into Delancey Place and you definitely get a different vibe...you know, the people sitting on cars drinking out of paper bags vibe. The area's along Carleton and Burnamwood are a little nicer, but still not exactly "nice". I live in a townhouse, so don't think I'm just snubbing townhome developments.

FWIW, doing a little internet sleuthing I discovered that Larchmont is in fact the location of the first affordable housing built under the Mount Laurel decisions. There is a book called "Our Town: Race, Housing, and the Soul of Suburbia" that goes into great detail about the history of what happened.

Larchmont was the second planned "PUD" community built in the state. The first was Ramblewood. The developers envisioned a complete life-cycle community that would house people from newly-weds to emtpy nesters. It was targeted as dense luxury housing surrounded by open space, e.g. a golf course ala Ramblewood.

They also considered adding subsidized low income housing. In order to accomplish the subsidy, they would build the homes in a denser configuration to maximize profits. When Mt. Laurel rejected the plan, the township was sued and the Mount Laurel decisions were made. It is more complex than that, but that's the short version. Of note is that the developer was also the lawyer that sued the township.

As Larchmont went up, they designated 20% of the development for low and moderate income housing, as well as some HUD housing. Today the HUD housing is located in sections of Willow Turn and Delancey Pl. The remainder of those sections are low income housing. The townhomes across Larchmont from those sections was designated as moderate income housing. The townhomes on the other side of Union Mill along Calderwood are also designated moderate income housing. The remainder of Larchmont are all medium to large single family homes and are not designated as anything.

So, yes, it would appear that there is some validity to the "ghetto" reputation. The area north of 38 up to Marne Highway, is a different section and while it contains a handful of low income units, they are not clustered the way they are in Larchmont. Same thing with the townhome development on the otherside of Hainesport Rd. at the end of Larchmont.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-26-2011, 11:06 PM
 
8 posts, read 40,588 times
Reputation: 10
omg thank you all so much, i think i get the picture of the willow turn area!
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New Jersey > New Jersey Suburbs of Philadelphia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2023, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top