NJ suburb to Philly

[ecila68]

Hi,
I moved to Sicklerville in 2001, after growing up in phila and living 15 of my married years there(with my 3 kids) We moved for the same reasons many do..better public schools, safer neighborhoods etc.
Well S'ville has been a disappointment. We are on the gloucester township side, and althought I'm very happy with the schools, we don't have the cohesive community feeling that I wish I had. our township facilities are very far away, our parks and rec center are about 8 miles from home. There are public facilities, but they are way too far to take advantage of.
After living in the city, I feel like I drive everywhere. My commute to cc is horrendous!! Route 42 is a joke, you will have to allow yourself at least 1 hr to get to cc. The summer is the worst!! 42 is backed up every friday saturday and Sunday, so say goodbye to your friends for the summer, because visiting friends and family in Phila and the western burbs , on the weekend in the summer is the pitts.
My husband's family is from Abington township, and we couldnt really afford those homes in 2004. But, after paying outrageous taxes we realize we could have afforded a house with a smaller yard, had a good school disctrict, and a great community if we moved to mont county instead of NJ. We would like to move back to PA but it's really hard to get ahead here, everytime you save a few bucks, your taxes go up, gas prices go up and you are stuck here.
My taxes have gone up 3,000 in 3 years from $4,000 at settlement, to $7200 in 2007. There is no way I can afford to live here and pay 10K in a few years...Especially when my kids finish high school, what's the value of staying? That's what a lot of residents here say, so you don't get get the feeling that anyone is going to live here after their kids get done school, and there are no senior citizens in our neighborhood, only working couples with kids, who can afford to stay. I have been here 3 years and I don't know all my neighbors, they don't wave or stop to talk..maybe thats the suburban way, but it seems so snobby!
Good luck with your search, be careful.. Yes, my house is only 20 years old, I have great closet space and a big yard...But you have to think about what you want out of your move, you are buying this whole township, not just a home...

[PJ1971]

How close do you want to be to the Philly border? If you are willing to commute 30 minutes, Hammonton is a great option for you. Great town, close to everything, good school system, extremely low crime and affordable.

[colby1911]

I agree with ecila68. I have friends and family that bought in sicklerville (the winslow township area) and both of my friends moved out and into mullica hill and my inlaws just put a sale sign on their lawn yesterday. Same reasons, taxes keep climbing because the area continues to develop and schools are not very good at all.

I would say look into haddonfield if you want excellent schools and if your handy. You can get a nice fixer upper for mayber 400K. I live one town over in haddon heights where the prices are more reasonable and have many neighbors that commute daily into center city phila. Good luck.

[NPFORLIFE]

National Park Is A Good Place To Live Its Five Minutes From Philly, One Hour From Casinos And Shore , One Hour And A Half From Ny You Got Everything In A Pretty Quick Drive Ive Lived Here My Whole Life Wouldnt Change It For Nothing Im A Parker Through And Through All My Friends Still Live There

[brightdoglover]

I grew up in Cherry Hill when it was an exploding subdivision post-war place, eating up the rural areas and becoming sprawl.
That said, the eastern area is more affluent. The further from Camden, the better the area. There is no downtown- never was- just endless strip malls and subdivisions. Over the years, the area has become much more sophisticated in terms of arts, shopping, gourmet food, restaurants... The subdivisions are good housing at good prices. Just duller than dishwater, but good solid post-war tract houses. Wait, for $300K-$400K, you could get a lot more house in a nice subdivision.
C.H. has become much more ethnically diverse over the years, although not economically so. The National Merit scholars were all Asian/South Asian one year.
You can get the Hi-speed train into Center City at Woodcrest and Haddonfield and Ashland. Gotta drive to most stations, but it's a very easy ride. If you're working in suburban Philly, that's a whole 'nother story.
Learn to tell people you live on "Exit 4!"

[invertigo]

Originally Posted by iwishesforfishes

Just to warn you about Cherry Hill: The school districts may be excellent and everything, but Cherry Hill isn't really... uh... a town. It's more of a sprawling mass of suburban developments- a true bedroom community. Your kids might get a good education there, but they probably won't thank you for bringing them up there. In other words, Cherry Hill is BORING.

I've heard good things about Haddonfield (right next to Cherry Hill). Why not try there?

Call me crazy, but I'd rather LIVE in a "sprawling suburban bedroom community", but USE the services of next door Haddonfield and Philly. I never understood the whole city vs. suburbs debate. Cherry Hill is exactly what I like....an excellent quiet suburb NEAR a very large city. I could really care less about the lack of a downtown area. I can hop on a train and be in Center City in 15 minutes. If I need a "downtown", I drive 5 minutes into Haddonfield and walk around there. My neighborhood is so very peaceful and that's what I like to call home. Haddonfield is much more expensive, has older homes (fixer-uppers), and has the same train stop that I have in Cherry Hill. Am I missing something?? It doesn't bother me that the downtown area is not in my town. Who cares about a silly town boundary anyway. It is super convenient to me..