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We currently live in Haddon Township but aren't real happy with the schools and the community - it's not very diverse, most people grew up here and it's been hard to "break" into the community. We've given it 6 years and have been looking at houses in Cherry Hill for the last 6 months.
We have 2 offers in on houses in Wexford Leas. It *seems* perfect for us, but so did HT. We would be in walking distance of a highly rated elementary school and swim club and the neighborhood seems very family oriented.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by elsasmom
We currently live in Haddon Township but aren't real happy with the schools and the community - it's not very diverse, most people grew up here and it's been hard to "break" into the community. We've given it 6 years and have been looking at houses in Cherry Hill for the last 6 months.
We have 2 offers in on houses in Wexford Leas. It *seems* perfect for us, but so did HT. We would be in walking distance of a highly rated elementary school and swim club and the neighborhood seems very family oriented.
Looking for any input. Thanks in advance!
Wexford Leas was built after Barclay Farms by Bob Scarborough. The houses are built well. Drive around & scope out the people on weekend days. If you see people out in the yard stop & ask them questions.
What haddon township schools do your children go to? May I ask why you feel they don’t meet your needs? My wife and I currently live in Collingswood (right on the border of Haddon Township by burwood), we are expecting a baby, and depending on how the school district goes, we will probably move before she goes to school. She would go to Tatem elementary if we stayed in our area, and we recently saw the ratings go down from an 8 out 10 on greatschools.org to a 6 out of 10. I know it’s just a score and doesn’t mean our child will do poorly in the school, but it does make us a little uneasy.
If we move, we were thinking Haddon Township, Haddonfield or Cherry Hill. Haddonfield is obviously the best schools, but the taxes are outrageous but could make it work. We wonder how we would fit in though, considering we are a same sex couple. My wife and I both work in center city, so cherry hill would be more of a distance, and no main town area (which we love about Collingswood). But we would still consider it. We lived off of evesham, in the chanticleer development for a short time and we commuted into the city, was a 10 minute drive to Patco Ashland and then a 25-30 min train ride into the city. Not bad, but not the best. And again, area doesn't have a "town center" and the traffic can make you want to pull your hair out.
But what are your issues with Haddon township? Just curious for the future. I’ve heard nothing but good things. We have only lived in Collingswood a year now, and so far people are friendly….but our neighbors kind of keep to themselves. Our neighbors are families that have lived there their whole lives, and the house was passed on (type thing), so it’s not that they aren’t friendly…they just are not “looking” to be neighborly and make friends. Maybe that's the same type of thing you're experience with Haddon Township? But we also have only lived here for a year and it’s been quite the busy year for us too, so it’s all a matter of time. We both love the area though. Beautiful and very home-town feel…it’s a shame the schools are so-so.
Just from driving through that neighborhood at least 100 times, it seemed like a really nice area. I am sure it is a safe neighborhood with normal South Jersey people. When I worked for Enterprise, all the customers from there were pretty nice.
I wouldn't say it is diverse if that's what you are looking for.
daysable - We moved from Center City 6 years ago when our daughter was nearing school age. We looked in Cwood first but ended up not buying because we were concerned about the schools. Now we live just over Cuthbert Blvd in HT. We did a LOT of research before we moved. We thought HT would be perfect and it's not bad. In fact, we're pretty conflicted about moving but we just don't feel like we fit in. I love the location and the neighborhoods but it's just not right for us.
1) In CC we just naturally became great friends with parents of our daughter- and still are. The VAST majority of people we've met in HT grew up here and never left. Three out of 4 of our daughter's teachers so far graduated from the school they are teaching at for example. There's something to be said for that, but if you're an outsider coming in, it's not easy. I have met a few other "outsiders" who have had the same experience.
2) If you're looking for any diversity, you're not going to find much in HT. There was one asian girl in my daughter's entire school last year, but she moved. There is one indian boy and a handful of hispanic kids this year. To my knowledge, no jewish families in the school. This is not what we're used to.
3) Our neighbors are not friendly. In fact, we haven't shared more than 10 words with one set of next door neighbors in the last year. They're "locals" and have put us down to our face for "moving in" from the city. I've met many people who are surprisingly conservative and narrow-minded IMO.
4) The schools are ok but for the amount of taxes we're paying, we are not happy with them. The class sizes (~20) are very manageable, so I expect some differentiation for various academic levels in the class. It has taken us 4 years to luck out and have a teacher who is willing to do that.
We've also been looking at Haddonfield because of the schools but the housing prices and taxes are through the roof. Plus, there is even less diversity there. We've avoided subdivisions our entire adult life but found a couple in east Cherry Hill that fit the bill for us. There is not a town center but each neighborhood has a swim club and the elementary schools are within neighborhoods so the community/town center is really the school/swim club. The schools are much better than HT and you can buy more house for the $. There are 2 patco stations that are a short drive away depending on where you are in CH.
Hope that helps and that we don't sound like total snobs. We really really wanted it to be our forever home and we've tried to make it work but you only live once and we want to be comfortable and happy!
elsasmom - thanks for the response! It's a shame that you moved to what you thought would be your forever home and was disappointed in the outcome! I can definitely see how some of HT and even some of Collingswood has that "snottiness" about them. A lot of people definitely keep to themselves and aren't as friendly as I thought they would be either. Like you said, I feel like it's because there is a lot of old families living here. And they aren't as eager to meet and mingle as new families would be. Thanks for the info on the schools too....we are a long time away before our daughter goes to school, but it definitely gets me thinking what type of school would be best for her. I didn't grow up in a very diverse school either....but would want some diversity for our children. Even though CH doesn't have a town center, I wouldnt nix it from our list, simply because of their good schools...and like you said their community pool would probably act as that meet and mingle. And then I have to ask myself, how often do we even take advantage of the Collingswood town center? And when would it get "old" (if ever)? But we will see how the next few years go. Good luck with whatever you choose to do! Would love to hear whatever you end up doing!
p.s. I work with a woman who lives in Haddonfield, and the more I talk to her the more I'd rather not live there. She said they always feel like they need to keep up with the jones and that none of the mothers (even some of the fathers) work. So they definitely feel out of place in that way. I feel like you definitely have to have a certain lifestyle to fit in Haddonfield.
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Whats wrong with Haddon Township?
