Places to live in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: apartment, to rent, low crime)

[BillyBurrito]

Bucks County is the best place to live in PA. Check out Quakertown, PA. Quakertown has a wonderful smalltown feel but is modern and convenient to everything. Great schools, some amazing communities. 5 minutes to the PA Turnpike and several other major roadways. Close to Philly and there are plenty of tech jobs all around the suburbs (I travel 20 minutes to Allentown for my programming job) Lots to do - State parks, Poconos, Jersey Shore, tons of organized sports for all ages. Great shopping close by. Great place for kids and families.

The best part is home prices are much more affordable than places like Doylestown and Southhampton and the other hoity hoods - but you're just down the street and you can enjoy all they have to offer without the overhead. Town is still growing and we love it here, can't think of any other place I'd rather be!

[MelissaMandy]

Bucks County = Short commute to Philadelphia, Allentown, Delaware, NE Philadelphia, and the Main Line. These are all hot IT areas, in fact, there are probably more IT jobs in this region than in any other part of the country! I used to work in King of Prussia and then in Willow Grove - easy commutes.

We're in Quakertown, PA in Bucks County. Quakertown is a charming, historical community but with all the modern conveniences. Schools are outstanding, ask any parent and you'll get amazing feedback. Convenient to everything, just off the turnpike entrance, Target and more in town.

The building boom created many new communities. But they have an "Open Space" program forcing builders to donate acres of land back to the community. There are gorgeous nature trails, parks, bicycle paths, open areas wound all through the communities. In general, home lots are larger than the surrounding areas. Alot for your money.

Most importantly, it seems that Quakertown is made for families. Giant parks for every interest you can imagine - including a giant wooded castle for kids and a skate park. Great sports clubs. YMCA. Pools. Lake Nockamixon right outside of town.

I think we're about 2.5 hours to NYC.

[braylee]

SWB, I agree, the home prices are pretty high in Bucks. If you have the $ worth looking into.

[baxleyb]

Hi,

What about the Matamoras area? How are the schools in that area?

[CHIP72]

I'm a big public transit advocate, and I'll note Amtrak has fairly frequent service between Harrisburg and New York that takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours one-way. Lancaster, another possibility for relocation that is relatively close to NYC, is also served by this route (as is Philadelphia of course). In addition to Amtrak, there also is daily, intercity bus service (Capitol Trailways/Bieber Tourways) between Harrisburg and New York that is cheap and takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

The Lehigh Valley (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area), Reading, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas have very frequent bus service to/from NYC as well, on Trans-Bridge Bus Lines in the Lehigh Valley, Bieber Tourways in Reading, and Martz Trailways in northeast PA. Those trips are definitely less than 3 hours.

In general, most of the intermediate-sized metro areas south and east of the Appalachian Mountains within 3 hours of New York (ABE area, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg) are generally fairly nice (with some bad locations), have a fairly low cost of living, are doing pretty well economically, and have a decent amount of amenities, in addition to being close to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and/or Washington. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would also be alright for the most part but generally isn't as well off economically as the places south of the mountains.

[Dawne]

How about Lewisburg in Union County? They have:

1. Good schools
2. Affordable housing
3. Decent IT job sector with a commute of about 1 hour (Harrisburg)
4. Fairly close to NYC (About 3 hours along I-80)

[mrh5103]

Check out the greater Reading area. Much closer to NYC and Philly than Harrisburg. It's only a 2hr 20 minute commute to NYC and about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes to Philly. Wyomissing, Sinking Spring, West Lawn - great places to live, especially to raise kids. School districts there are superb.

[vsizzle]

The wife and I live in Bronx NY and we are most likely going to move down to Bucks County. I hear people saying it is expensive but it is really not. We are looking at the following towns Levittown, Fairless Hills and Morrsville. The houses we have been looking at are around 280k to 325k. Way less then the 495k to 660k within the Jersey, Long Island, Westchester area. So my question is why are people saying it is expensive down their?

Go to google and put in Homes in Buck County PA click on the first link and enjoy.

[BPP1999]

Levittown, Fairless Hills, and Morrisville are not expensive places. Try searching New Hope, Doylestown, Yardley, and Upper Makefield.

Plus, you have to remember that everything is relative. NYC is generally far more expensive than almost anywhere else in the US.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by vsizzle

The wife and I live in Bronx NY and we are most likely going to move down to Bucks County. I hear people saying it is expensive but it is really not. We are looking at the following towns Levittown, Fairless Hills and Morrsville. The houses we have been looking at are around 280k to 325k. Way less then the 495k to 660k within the Jersey, Long Island, Westchester area. So my question is why are people saying it is expensive down their?

Go to google and put in Homes in Buck County PA click on the first link and enjoy.

People usually say that in reference to a comparison of housing prices in other areas of PA. The most expensive Pennsylvania real estate is definitely in the Philly suburbs, which is precisely the area you're looking in. However, in comparison to suburban areas outside of NYC, it's definitely logical that the real estate in this area seems like a deal.