Doylestown Info (York, Newtown, Lawrenceville: crime rate, lawyers, home search)

[Livindoll]

Hi everyone! My hubby and I are thinking of moving to the Doylestown area. Question...Is there any easy way to get to NYC from there? I've read that Newtown is a do-able commute to NYC. He only would have to commute once in a while..not everyday.

How is Doylestown? Schools are of utmost importance...

Newtown? Any info on that area?

Thanks!

[rdbdirect]

I'm a native New Yorker now living in Doylestown and I LOVE it here. The schools are great and housing is very reasonable if not downright cheap as compared to NY metro area. As far as getting to New York, Newtown is a great town as well with equally good schools and is close to I95 for a faster commute to NY than Doylestown. I much prefer Doylestown Borough as an actual "town" but that's just my opinion.

[L.K.]

Hi-can you tell me the difference between Doylestown borough vs township?Is housing more expensive in one area over another?When you say cheap,that's compared to NY,others are saying it's so expensive!What all do you love about it,besides the schools?We are thinking of moving there,I know the schools are great,but we need to know if the cost of living will be too high.Thanks!

[Livindoll]

I read on another post LK that you thought Doylestown has a high crime rate?! Is that true?

We are native NY'ers looking to get away from the rat race.. Of course, we'll still have to spend 500k on a house, but we going to get so much more for our money...schools and friendly neighborhoods are our number one priority.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by rdbdirect

I'm a native New Yorker now living in Doylestown and I LOVE it here. The schools are great and housing is very reasonable if not downright cheap as compared to NY metro area. As far as getting to New York, Newtown is a great town as well with equally good schools and is close to I95 for a faster commute to NY than Doylestown. I much prefer Doylestown Borough as an actual "town" but that's just my opinion.

I find it fascinating that people commute from NYC to live in Doylestown. There has to be dozens of towns in NJ that are comparable to Doylestown with less than half the commute time to NYC.

Arent there communities in New Brunswick or the outskirts of Princeton and Lawrenceville that are just as cheap as Doylestown. What am I missing here?

[L.K.]

there was one site that I saw that had Doylestown a "6" for crime rate [out of 10] I have since looked other places online that have it low[?] Not sure even where the first one was,or why the differences.Also,Rainrock has a point.We live in Wi ,and after very quick research,I assumed NJ was too expensive.If we can find an area with the same cost of living as Doylestown with equally great schools,we might as well have a shorter commute to Newark.I have not even set foot in Doylestown[or all of Bucks Co. for that matter]so I'm trying to get a handle on things before coming out there to narrow down some real prospects for home searches.As I asked in another post,what is it that makes Doylestown soooo expensive?Is it just home prices and property tax?

[Livindoll]

Originally Posted by rainrock

I find it fascinating that people commute from NYC to live in Doylestown. There has to be dozens of towns in NJ that are comparable to Doylestown with less than half the commute time to NYC.

Arent there communities in New Brunswick or the outskirts of Princeton and Lawrenceville that are just as cheap as Doylestown. What am I missing here?

I guess it's the wonderful, welcoming folks like yourself that we just can't resist!

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by L.K.

Hi-can you tell me the difference between Doylestown borough vs township?Is housing more expensive in one area over another?When you say cheap,that's compared to NY,others are saying it's so expensive!What all do you love about it,besides the schools?We are thinking of moving there,I know the schools are great,but we need to know if the cost of living will be too high.Thanks!

In Pa., not 100% of the time but in many cases there are a group of boroughs and towns that combine to make up a township. In this case the small borough of Doylestown just happens to be a small part of a township that shares the same name.

The township of Doylestown may be, say 15 sq. miles but Doylestown borough may only be 1 or 2 sq. miles. Doylestown borough is a small town with a main street, post office, schools etc whereas Doylestown Township is an accumulation of towns and acres of farmland,forest etc..

Towns, villages+ boroughs combine to makeup townships. Townships, cities, seperate singular boroughs/towns make up counties.

Doylestown borough and township is fairly diverse in regards to cost of living. If you want a $5 million dollar mansion you'll find it. If you are looking for a 3 bedroom single home in the $200's-300's you can find that as well.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by Livindoll

I guess it's the wonderful, welcoming folks like yourself that we just can't resist!

Welcome, there's plenty of room in Pa for NY commuters. My intention wasn't to be unhospitable, I was merely interested in why the western towns of NJ seem to get bypassed quite often by metro Nyers looking to relocate to Pa.

Don't get me wrong Bucks County is a great place to raise a family but so is Lawrenceville, Lambertville and Princeton and it would cut your commute in half.

Good luck and I wish I could be of more help but I live in the western suburbs of Philly and i don't know much aobout Doylestown. I do know that crime shouldn't be an issue whatsoever from what I have heard and looking at the economc data of the area.

[rdbdirect]

Originally Posted by L.K.

Hi-can you tell me the difference between Doylestown borough vs township?Is housing more expensive in one area over another?When you say cheap,that's compared to NY,others are saying it's so expensive!What all do you love about it,besides the schools?We are thinking of moving there,I know the schools are great,but we need to know if the cost of living will be too high.Thanks!

Doylestown is the county seat of Bucks County. The borough, like noted elsewhere, is small and basically the "downtown" area. Many restaurants, a few beautiful museums, single homes of all sizes primarily with small lots...a vital ...nice town. Doylestown Township surrounds the borough and consists primarily of 4 bedroom colonials with an acre of land if built 20+ years ago in the 450-500k range plus a variety of new McMansion estate homes being built on former farmland for 650k+. Doylestown has a wonderful athletic association for the kids, great parks and being the county seat...too many lawyers. There are 2 malls within 20 minutes...many supermarkets and a new Wegman's 5 miles away.

Taxes as compared to NJ are low and that's the reason I don't recommend NJ. My sister pays double what I do Medford, NJ which is similar to Doylestown for smaller property and more congestion...Good luck with your search.