Doylestown vs Newtown w/ kids ?? (Washington, Northampton: fit in, sales, new home)

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by WiltonKnight

Sorry I meant upscale suburb, and top schools. Hope that clears it up?

okay. i think you'll find plenty of upscale suburban neighborhoods in either place. both CB and CR school districts are very good. Doylestown is a great town, but you pay for it through a lack of convenience. there's a reason everyone doesn't live there.

[WiltonKnight]

Nova, are you originally from Northern Virginia? I ask because that's where I live now.

[FindingZen]

Where in NOVA are you from? Are you looking for something comparable (or different) from where you currently live? I'm one of a few regular posters here who live(d) in the DC area.

[WiltonKnight]

I currently live in Clifton, Virginia. Small suburb neighboring Fairfax.

Comprable would be wonderful.

I think in many ways Newtown is similar, but diversity is different. Here in the Fairfax area it's like the United Nations. And the funny part is, we have only a FEW Asian friends. But it's nice not to feel 'out of place' here whereas the diversity is much less than Newtown.

That's really my only X- factor. Will be we accepted in Newtown. As discussed in previous threads, we are 100% Americanized and love it, only skin color is different. I just want to make sure that my Wife will eventually get invited to lunch with other moms, and that my daughter won't be excluded from some activities with other kids.

[Marius Pontmercy]

I don't think you'll have any problems in Newtown with that. It's maybe not as diverse but the people are hardly insular.

[Hobokenkitchen]

We have an offer in on a house in New Hope/ Solebury township (great schools!) - 15 mins (non rush hour) to Doylestown and my DH also commutes to the Ewing/ Trenton area (approx 30 mins).

Not sure how great this area is for fast access to big box stores and malls though - there is all that very close to where you will be working though.

[kimrocktherealtor]

For commuting purposes I vote Newtown.
Both towns however have awesome downtowns/culture/etc. Doylestown has a little bit more in terms of fun things to do with your kids (ie - kid castle).
Both schools are amazing and top notch. Can't go wrong there.
Personally though, the commute would be my deciding factor.

[Marius Pontmercy]

Doylestown is much bigger than Newtown and has more going on. It's got a nice little downtown and a train station as well. Personally I prefer Doylestown, just because Newtown feels too small to me, and Doylestown has this really great character to it.

[casadegirlie]

check it out-
start in doylestown. 413 to pineville road, right on woodhill. cross into nj over the washington's crossing bridge, and follow washington's crossing pennington road almost straight into lawrenceville. google maps grossly overestimates the time this back route would take, it says 54 minutes but i'm going to go with 30-35. none of the roads besides 413 are heavily prone to rush hour traffic and all have speed limits above 35, and the drive would be super cute through central bucks's most rural areas.

the reason i'm so pro-doylestown is undoubtedly a biased one, but i think it is relevant considering you are looking for good schools. i grew up in langhorne and attended the neshaminy district, whose schools are not nearly as high-performing as council rock (newtown) or central bucks (doylestown). we also were not nearly as low-performing as bensalem or bristol township, putting us smack in the middle in terms of quality. i had good friends that attended both council rock and central bucks.

now comes the time when i generalize. in no way am i saying everyone behaves these ways in both schools, but it was an observation i could not help but make after years of having these friends and knowing their families. i don't know if parents in doylestown are from old money, more "truly" wealthy, or just have better values, but most people and kids there seemed genuine. they knew right from wrong, were not extremely concerned with appearances, and the parents were aware of society and all of its members. the kids and parents in council rock, however, seemed much more... pretentious. material culture (tanning, coffee at starbucks, juicy couture, bmws) seemed much more of a priority for most of these people, and the parents behaviors truly showed in the kids. doylestown has mcmansions, but its big draw is its history and natural landscapes. newtown has those two also, but the former is in much more abundance, and there is little draw to newtown besides its proximity to the city, and the fact that it is somewhat more affordable than doylestown.

of course, if you are a good, hardworking parent you can raise your child to be an awesome member of society regardless of and despite their surroundings, as i'm sure you are. i just think it'd be a little easier in a town like doylestown.

as for my personal opinion that disregards your desire to choose between the two, i think you should look into yardley. slightly bigger than newtown, slightly smaller than doylestown, SUPER close to lawrenceville, nj, and pennsbury is a great school district where your children will experience a wider variety of kids in terms of socioeconomic levels.

[WiltonKnight]

Casadegirlie....

Thank you very much for taking the time to report your personal observations and opinions.

So bottom line, there's good in bad in all areas......BUT, overall you feel that the "snob factor" is less in Doylestown, and that while the people have money...they are friendlier.

"413"...I assume you accounted for traffic, when you guessed 35 mins to Lawrenceville? Also, does 413 traffic screw things up, i.e. taking kids to pre-school in the morning?

Based on stats Doylestown isn't too diverse. While we are 100% Americanized, we of course "look" foreign due to skin color. Do you think we'd be somewhat welcomed? (No offense taken no matter what you write)

Thanks again...