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Old 02-24-2012, 10:36 AM
 
6 posts, read 26,332 times
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Am wondering if the Hampden Heights section of Reading is as nice as it seems? We live in NJ but are interested in several homes for sale in that area and wondered if anyone has an opinion. Is it safe, are their family's with young children?
Also, we are interested in the Castlewood subdivision. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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Old 02-25-2012, 04:54 AM
 
429 posts, read 715,108 times
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Question Beautiful, beautiful homes

Both areas have really gorgeous homes. The wealthy of Reading lived in Hampden Heights in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and it shows with one-of-a-kind homes well-made with top of the line materials (for the time - I can't vouch for insulation R-values). When I was planning to build my home decades ago, I drove around Hampden Heights for architectural inspiration. BTW, I understand the area is being considered for a historic district "College Heights Historic District" or something.

Castlewood is newer, built within the last 10 years or so. I haven't been inside any of the homes, but from the outside they are stunning. I hike on Mount Penn a bit and I do appreciate how the homes are tucked into the side of the mountain and blend with the forest.

Depending on where you worked, Hampden Heights probably has better accessibility to the highway; Castlewood is a winding road up/down the mountain and is a ways from the highway (but you've got seclusion).

Ah, but, you have children. That's the hard part. The Reading School District has a Sisyphean task: many poor children with English as a second language in the school system, and too little money. The elementary schools for Hampden Heights (13th & Union, I think) and Castlewood (16th & Haak, I think) are well-regarded, but the middle schools less so, and the high school has problems. With the Citidel Junior High School taking some of the overcrowding pressure off the High School, things have improved. There are some fabulous teachers in the district. There are some wonderful students. On the whole, though, the district struggles. Many parents send their students to private/parochial schools.

The homes are fabulous. The public schools less so. Hard decision. Good luck. Talk to people in the neighborhood when you go look at houses. You'll likely get straight talk.
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Old 02-25-2012, 05:32 PM
 
6 posts, read 26,332 times
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Your reply was very informative. And you are right, the homes are beautiful which is what attracted me to the area. Have a question. You mentioned you hike on Mt. Penn. Does Mt. Penn have bike trails?
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Old 02-25-2012, 11:29 PM
 
429 posts, read 715,108 times
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Well... Mountain biking, I guess. It's really, really steep in spots. In fact every year they have a couple of sports car hillclimbs up the mountain.
Duryea / Pagoda | Pennsyvlania Hillclimb Association

The hiking trails go pretty much straight up from the Bandshell in City Park, or from Pendora Park near Castlewood, but the trails aren't dedicated to bicycles. Except mountain bikes, I guess. People do bicycle on the switchback roads but cars must be minded. Up until a couple years ago, the Reading leg of the TD Bank Triple Crown of Cycling (a bicycle road race that wound through Reading and up Mount Penn) was held here; but then, there's no competition with cars on race day.

Now, if you enjoy trail riding, there is a great rails to trails system called the Thun Trail in Berks County that runs along the bank of the Schuylkill River and basically goes north to Hamburg and South to Philadelphia Museum of Art, with many nice spur trails to take.
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