Upper Chichester--stay away or up and coming? (West Chester, Swarthmore: real estate, new house)

[Quebecoise30]

We're looking for a house from across the country, and are interested in a few homes in new developments of Upper Chichester. It would be close to work and the houses seem to be nice enough.

Our real estate agent is telling us to stay away from the area. We understand that the schools are not top notch, but we're not too concerned about that...

What are your thoughts on the area?

[Quebecoise30]

We'll be flying to Philly next week to look at potential houses, so we hope to have a substantial list of "good area and good priced" homes by then. Thanks for your incredibly valuable input!

(Also looking at Aston, Boothwyn, West Chester, Wilmington, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square but we are told that the smell of mushrooms can be awful depending on the area--we're looking at something close to Ridge avenue)

[Road_Warrior]

I'm personally ok with Upper Chi. Gritty area but I wouldn't say it's bad or horrible.

[Leon2014]

There's always good reason why houses cost half as much as other suburbs.

You have Wilmington and Chester next door, some of the most dangerous communities in the country. Other features include heavy industry by the river, chemical processing, an airport, a highway, a casino.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by Quebecoise30

We'll be flying to Philly next week to look at potential houses, so we hope to have a substantial list of "good area and good priced" homes by then. Thanks for your incredibly valuable input!

(Also looking at Aston, Boothwyn, West Chester, Wilmington, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square but we are told that the smell of mushrooms can be awful depending on the area--we're looking at something close to Ridge avenue)

Upper Chichester is average.. There are some very nice neighborhoods, but also some not nice ones. Overall I would suggest looking into a neighboring town, Aston would be a good fit, it is nicer than Upper Chichester and is located in a different school district and further from some of the rough towns by the river.

I would also avoid Boothwyn, while that is actually a nice township, it is located in the same school district as Upper Chichester, which is not the best.

Depending on your budget, I would definitely check out Chadds Ford, Garnet Valley, and Glen Mills, all very beautiful areas.

[Quebecoise30]

Dang it... there were some nice ones in this new development, on Buck Ln. It looks like all brand new houses at good prices. But I'm wondering if we'd be able to resale it in a few years...
Dang.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by Quebecoise30

Dang it... there were some nice ones in this new development, on Buck Ln. It looks like all brand new houses at good prices. But I'm wondering if we'd be able to resale it in a few years...
Dang.

I know exactly where that is.. And it is by no means a bad area, not dangerous or anything, Boothwyn is just unfortunately part of the Chichester School District which is not that good because of some older river towns that are part of the same district. If you do not have kids then I guess that does not matter, but yes those homes on Buck Lane are significantly cheaper than their counterparts in the next towns over simply because of the school district.

Again, I would check out Aston, very similar neighborhoods to Buck Lane, but a much better school district, more expensive, but not as outrageous as Garnet Valley and Chadds Ford.

[Pocopsonite]

Originally Posted by Quebecoise30

(Also looking at Aston, Boothwyn, West Chester, Wilmington, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square but we are told that the smell of mushrooms can be awful depending on the area--we're looking at something close to Ridge avenue)

You're looking near Ridge Ave in Kennett Square? That's quite a distance from Upper Chichester -- probably half an hour drive. Where will you be working?

Parts of Kennett Square, Avondale, and West Grove are definitely affected by the smell from mushroom farms, though in most cases it's only a few to several days a year -- unpredictable, unfortunately. But do drive around and see how close a property is to a mushroom farm.

The Unionville/Chadds Ford School District is significantly better than the Kennett Consolidated School District. Oddly, some properties with a Chadds Ford mailing address are in the Kennett SD, so it pays to doublecheck. The applicable school district is pretty much reflected in the price, so I'm not sure it's any harder to sell a house in one or the other.

Good luck with your search next week.

[Quebecoise30]

Originally Posted by Pocopsonite

You're looking near Ridge Ave in Kennett Square? That's quite a distance from Upper Chichester -- probably half an hour drive. Where will you be working?

Parts of Kennett Square, Avondale, and West Grove are definitely affected by the smell from mushroom farms, though in most cases it's only a few to several days a year -- unpredictable, unfortunately. But do drive around and see how close a property is to a mushroom farm.

The Unionville/Chadds Ford School District is significantly better than the Kennett Consolidated School District. Oddly, some properties with a Chadds Ford mailing address are in the Kennett SD, so it pays to doublecheck. The applicable school district is pretty much reflected in the price, so I'm not sure it's any harder to sell a house in one or the other.

Good luck with your search next week.

Thank you for your reply!
We'll be working in Glen Mills. Looking at West Chester, Kennett Square, Chadds Ford, Wallingford and Swarthmore (although people are telling us to stay away from the last two because of terrible traffic to Glen Mills...). All very good schools.

We were out there (from Colorado) last weekend and visited 25 homes in two days--exhausting. We saw a couple we like but we're not completely sold on them yet. We're hoping Labor Day weekend will bring new houses on the market.

Would you say to stay away from Wallingford because of traffic as well?

(trying to stay within 20 minutes of Glen Mills)

[Pocopsonite]

I live just a little east of Kennett Square, so I'm not very familiar with the day-to-day traffic situation in that part of Delaware County, sorry.

I just looked it up, and Glen Mills seems to be quite a large ZIP code. Covers a bunch of townships in both Chester and Delaware Counties, and four different school districts. It's hard to know whether Kennett Square is a reasonable commute because it depends on where in Glen Mills your office will be.

Re-reading this thread, I wonder if there's a chance you were looking at a house on Ridge Road in Chadds Ford? That would be a great location and I think it's probably in the Unionville-Chadds Ford school district, one of the two best in Chester County (plus the teensy smidge of Delaware County that's also in U-CF).

Good luck with the search. I feel for you. We were always in the same situation -- blitzkrieg househunt in an area we didn't know well. We only got one weekend, so it was "choose the one you dislike the least." But you know what? It always worked out just fine. I'm sure you'll be happy here.