Delaware County (Philadelphia, Chester, Radnor Township: real estate, crime, houses)

[couldntthinkofaclevername]

... I feel it's necessary and important for Delaware County to have its own thread. I'll start with a basic overview/description of the areas within Delco. Feel free to add to these or add other parts of Delco that you may feel I did not represent enough.

Delco Inner-ring- is an extension of the city, with public transit connecting it to both the city and other parts of Delco, as well as connecting the boroughs, townships, and census-designated-places of the inner-ring to each other. At the same time, it is very diverse in a lot of ways and has its own distinct boroughs, townships, and census-designated-places, each having its own characteristics that sets it apart from other parts of the inner-ring. See my posts about it here and here as well as my posts about Upper Darby township here here here here here here here <--with links to official statistics on Upper Darby School District) and here

Central Delco(yes I made this name up.. I think)- It is a middle ground for those who don't want to live in the inner-ring, Main Line, or other parts of Delco outside of this area. It has a combination of the good things of the inner-ring, the main line, and every other part of Delco without the things people choose not to live in the other parts because of. It has the connections/public transit and business(as in busy-ness, not business) of the inner-ring, the nice houses, great neighborhoods, and great schools of the Main Line, and has plenty of other things that make it great. It's the part of Delaware County that most people refer to as "Delco". See my posts about it here <-- includes the boundaries of the area, among other things here and here

Southwestern Delco- The area from Marcus Hook west to Eddystone (and possibly Crum Lynne), including all of Chester township, Parkside, Upland, and everything within those boundaries. Very similar to the inner-ring (and is in fact an extension of the inner-ring) but also unique. It has seen better days, especially Chester city.

Main Line- The area north of Central Delco. It is the most prestigious part of Delaware County. Posh, upscale, Old Money in places, with the best schools in Delaware County, the most expensive real estate, and public transit to other parts of Delaware County as well as to the city of Philadelphia itself. The Easternmost part of the Main Line directly borders Philadelphia. There are parts of the Main Line that are not in Delaware County though, like Lower Merion for example.

Western Delco- Everything that is north of Southwestern Delco, South of the Main Line, and East of Central Delco, going west to Garnet Valley, Chester Heights, Glen Mills, etc, and everything within those boundaries. This area is basically like if you stretched Central Delco out in a way that made the area become a bit less dense. There's a lot of new construction in places but it's still a major part of Delco with great schools.

Far Out Delco- Everything outside of the previously mentioned areas. This is the newest, fastest growing part of Delaware County. It's pioneer-land but it's not completely the stix. There are schools, and I would assume they're good but I really have no idea. This is another area other posters are much more familiar with than I.

Here are some posts of mine about Delaware County that don't fit the above categories here here and here


Feel free to add anything you like about Delaware County, so long as it's helpful and informative. And to anybody reading this thread who is thinking of moving to Delaware County... Welcome

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by couldntthinkofaclevername

Main Line- The area north of Central Delco. It is the most prestigious part of Delaware County. Posh, upscale, Old Money in places, with the best schools in Delaware County, the most expensive real estate, and public transit to other parts of Delaware County as well as to the city of Philadelphia itself. The Easternmost part of the Main Line directly borders Philadelphia. There are parts of the Main Line that are not in Delaware County though, like Lower Merion for example.

All of Radnor Township, along with the portions of Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Ardmore within Haverford Township qualify as part of the Main Line, but the geographic bulk of the area is in Chester County.

EDIT: According to the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, the Main Line consists of Chester County's East Whiteland/Easttown/Malvern/Tredyffrin/Willistown, Delaware County's Haverford/Radnor (note, however, that Havertown, the majority of Haverford Township, is not generally considered "Main Line"), and Montgomery County's Lower Merion/Narberth.

[Avalon08]

Western Delco- Everything that is north of Southwestern Delco, South of the Main Line, and East of Central Delco,

Whoa! I am so confused! LOL....no seriously, as a newcomer to Delco (Brookhaven), I appreciate your post, but I wish you had listed the towns, or townships....anything that would help identify the areas without having to refer to a map. And maybe a little bit deeper into your opinions of those areas, since you are so familiar with the county. For example, my opinion of Brookhaven, having lived here for a year, is that it's a quiet little hidden gem that most people have never even heard of (I constantly have to explain where it is). The homes are mostly 60's ranchers, Capes and split-levels, mostly well-maintained, with great lot sizes. Seems to be a close-knit working-class community with a lot of original or longtime residents and their own families who have stayed and bought homes here. It's weirdly situated between poverty-ridden Chester in one direction and upscale Swarthmore in the other. Because of the proximity to higher-crime areas, it does have a greater risk of crimes like burglaries and break-ins than perhaps other areas of Delco. On the plus side, it's super-convenient to the city, 95 and tax-free shopping in DE. I don't have school-age children but I think the Penn-Delco district is OK and not a detriment to property values.

What do you think, is my assessment correct? And where would Brookhaven fall in your geographic zones?

[couldntthinkofaclevername]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

All of Radnor Township, along with the portions of Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Ardmore within Haverford Township qualify as part of the Main Line, but the geographic bulk of the area is in Chester County.

EDIT: According to the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, the Main Line consists of Chester County's East Whiteland/Easttown/Malvern/Tredyffrin/Willistown, Delaware County's Haverford/Radnor (note, however, that Havertown, the majority of Haverford Township, is not generally considered "Main Line"), and Montgomery County's Lower Merion/Narberth.

That's why I said "for example Lower Merion" and not Ardmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr.

And I also included Havertown in the region known as Central Delco because that's exactly what Havetown is to a T.

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Whoa! I am so confused! LOL....no seriously, as a newcomer to Delco (Brookhaven), I appreciate your post, but I wish you had listed the towns, or townships....anything that would help identify the areas without having to refer to a map. And maybe a little bit deeper into your opinions of those areas, since you are so familiar with the county. For example, my opinion of Brookhaven, having lived here for a year, is that it's a quiet little hidden gem that most people have never even heard of (I constantly have to explain where it is). The homes are mostly 60's ranchers, Capes and split-levels, mostly well-maintained, with great lot sizes. Seems to be a close-knit working-class community with a lot of original or longtime residents and their own families who have stayed and bought homes here. It's weirdly situated between poverty-ridden Chester in one direction and upscale Swarthmore in the other. Because of the proximity to higher-crime areas, it does have a greater risk of crimes like burglaries and break-ins than perhaps other areas of Delco. On the plus side, it's super-convenient to the city, 95 and tax-free shopping in DE. I don't have school-age children but I think the Penn-Delco district is OK and not a detriment to property values.

What do you think, is my assessment correct? And where would Brookhaven fall in your geographic zones?

That sounds about right. To be honest, I don't know too much about Brookhaven or Aston but I know a bit. Where I would say Brookhaven fits in as far as the areas I mentioned is maybe part Central Delco, part Western Delco, and part Southwestern Delco. Certain areas sort of overlap each other and thus certain townships or boroughs or CDPs can have characteristics of multiple regions.

One of the links in the "Central Delco" section of my first post in this thread is to a post where I basically map out the boundaries to Central Delco. There's an arrow pointing to the link.

In case there's any confusion (looking at the layout of the links in that section right now I can see how there would be).. the link with the arrow pointing to it in the "Central Delco" section ends at the word "thing". The "here" after the word "thing" is a separate link.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Media is of interest.

Is it possible to bring a small suitcase on the SEMTA there and ride to 30th St to get on NE Corridor trains, without a hassle? I know some commuter systems frown on bringing luggage on. However, if not a problem this would make Media just a good as Downingtown, etc, from an ease of travel standpoint.

Comments, please.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Media is of interest.

Is it possible to bring a small suitcase on the SEMTA there and ride to 30th St to get on NE Corridor trains, without a hassle? I know some commuter systems frown on bringing luggage on. However, if not a problem this would make Media just a good as Downingtown, etc, from an ease of travel standpoint.

Comments, please.

No one will frown if you bring luggage on a SEPTA train unless maybe it is one of the standing room only rush hour trains. Even then no one will worry about one piece. They even run a train between 30th st and the airport which of course sees a lot of luggage.