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What would you say is the most single social life friendly yet "drivable" suburb?
I have a bit of an odd circumstance in my search. I'm a 30 year old work-from-home half-asian single male moving to Philly from DC. I lived around the U Street neighborhood and absolutely loved it, walking every to shops/bars/etc. I'm an urban/downtown guy at heart and would go for one of the trendier downtown neighborhoods in a heartbeat but due to an accident that hurt my leg it makes living in a dense "walkable" city area more difficult at this stage, especially ones that are hilly, cobblestoned, etc. For day to day living I now prefer a more suburban location where every store/house has easy parking but I still long for city life, restaurants (love Philly's Chinatown), shows, meetups, social activities, nightlife, date spots, etc. I know suburban sprawl and dense young urban life are kind of at odds with each other but I'm just looking for the best compromise or to be as close to it without living inside it (and with flat terrain, which rules out some neighbohoods).
I'm staying at my parent's place up in Montgomeryville/Lansdale and while it's beautiful and livable there just doesn't seem as much to do as I'd like. All the meetup.com groups seemed to be mostly 40-70+ family types (other than the running group which I obviously can't join).
Budget is anything up to 2k/month and I prefer to rent right now. I like being near good grocery and food places like trader joes and large asian population and asian grocery are also good.
Here are my thoughts so far:
Jenkintown/Willow Grove are closer to the city but still outside the rowhome denseness in cheltenham and below (also closer to my parents which is a plus since they're older)
Ardmore - Seems to be a large shopping cluster, this area looks quite a bit denser than Abington, though
King of Prussia - seems like a restaurant/activity dense suburb and fairly fast to Philly being a straight shot down 76
Mt Laurel - visited a friend here and liked the area, closer to the shore is a nice bonus in summer
Do any of these or other suburbs stand out in terms of social life?
When are you moving? This summer
Where are you coming from? DC
Why are you moving? Moving closer to parents
Where will you be working? In my home
Have you been here yet? Yes
Will you buy or rent? Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? 2k/month
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Either
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? Slight PA preference but flexible
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single, not in the near term
Do you prefer public or private schools? n/a
Do you have pets? no
Do you want or need a yard? Don't need
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Medium
What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) x
Nightlife x
Train or subway stations x
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Any nice neighborhood with some asian population is preferable
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Last edited by truth1ness; 06-15-2015 at 08:01 PM..
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by truth1ness
What would you say is the most single social life friendly yet "drivable" suburb?
I have a bit of an odd circumstance in my search. I'm a 30 year old work-from-home half-asian single male moving to Philly from DC. I lived around the U Street neighborhood and absolutely loved it, walking every to shops/bars/etc. I'm an urban/downtown guy at heart and would go for one of the trendier downtown neighborhoods in a heartbeat but due to an accident that hurt my leg it makes living in a dense "walkable" city area more difficult at this stage, especially ones that are hilly, cobblestoned, etc. For day to day living I now prefer a more suburban location where every store/house has easy parking but I still long for city life, restaurants (love Philly's Chinatown), shows, meetups, social activities, nightlife, date spots, etc. I know suburban sprawl and dense young urban life are kind of at odds with each other but I'm just looking for the best compromise or to be as close to it without living inside it (and with flat terrain, which rules out some neighborhoods).
I'm staying at my parent's place up in Montgomeryville/Lansdale and while it's beautiful and livable there just doesn't seem as much to do as I'd like. All the meetup.com groups seemed to be mostly 40-70+ family types (other than the running group which I obviously can't join).
Budget is anything up to 2k/month and I prefer to rent right now. I like being near good grocery and food places like trader joes and large asian population and asian grocery are also good.
Here are my thoughts so far:
Jenkintown/Willow Grove are closer to the city but still outside the rowhome denseness in cheltenham and below (also closer to my parents which is a plus since they're older)
Ardmore - Seems to be a large shopping cluster, this area looks quite a bit denser than Abington, though
King of Prussia - seems like a restaurant/activity dense suburb and fairly fast to Philly being a straight shot down 76
Mt Laurel - visited a friend here and liked the area, closer to the shore is a nice bonus in summer
Do any of these or other suburbs stand out in terms of social life?
When are you moving? This summer
Where are you coming from? DC
Why are you moving? Moving closer to parents
Where will you be working? In my home
Have you been here yet? Yes
Will you buy or rent? Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? 2k/month
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Either
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? Slight PA preference but flexible
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single, not in the near term
Do you prefer public or private schools? n/a
Do you have pets? no
Do you want or need a yard? Don't need
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Medium
What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) x
Nightlife x
Train or subway stations x
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Any nice neighborhood with some asian population is preferable
Ardmore is pretty chill. It's got that "Suburban Square" which is a big kind of upscale shopping area and some restaurants and nightlife, close to philly as well. Ardmore is also along "the mainline" which is known for it's upscale living. A lot of stuff to drive to from Wayne, PA, Ardmore, not far from Mannayunk (sp?)..
aslo, West Chester PA is pretty cool. Lots of young people, restaurants, nice vibe, walkable, yet driveable. Media too.
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
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I would say Glenside area (one train station away from Jenkintown).
There are shops, bars and whatnot there (and even a theatre! - Keswick). There is also a small grocery store.
Train going to Center city runs every 20 minutes or even less during the weekdays, and run two times in an hour during weekends.
You can stay somewhere around Easton Road close to the train station.
With train it takes you 20 minutes-ish to go to Center City. (I am talking about Jefferson / Suburban / 30th St station).
You can get down in Suburban Station to go to Chestnut / Walnut Street shopping.
Also from Glenside you can take the train to Willow Grove area, where there is also a mall (Willow Grove Mall (Banana Republic, Nordstrom Rack, Bloomingdales, Abercrombie, etc) and a cluster of shops surrounding it such as Barnes and Nobles, Marshalls, Old Navy, Dick's and what not. There is also a super WAWA there and a GIANT.
With train it takes around 10 - 15 minutes to Willow Grove.
If you want to go grocery shopping in a bigger store but closer, you can again take the train two stops away for a big GIANT right there outside the train station (either Ardsley or Roslyn station). Around 6 minutes train ride.
Note: These shops in Willow Grove areas as well as the GIANT in Ardsley Rosym St. is accessible also by bus that runs every 20 minutes, which ride thru Easton Road. You will find more shops on Easton as you ride the bus!. The bus ride (22) from Glenside station to Willow Grove Mall is around 15 minutes.
And finally, you can take train from there to Lansdale to visit your folks!
I live in the city and am looking for a house in the burb. Based on my research, Glenside is ideal. Since I do not want to be too far from Center City and I take train everywhere.
Last edited by asiandudeyo; 06-16-2015 at 03:38 PM..
Thanks for the replies so far. Today I drove a big loop around Philly to see the various neighborhoods. I went through Ambler, Conshohocken, Ardmore, Wynnewood, Bala Cynwood, Manayunk, Collingswood, Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, swung by Chinatown, and then finished in Bensalem. I didn't get to Glenside/Abington or Media and may hit those tomorrow.
So far I think Cherry Hill and Haddonfield are my favorites. I loved how easy the 20 minute drive into the city was, I've always hated accessing Philadelphia from the North and West (95, 309, or 76) but this actually felt like a pleasure. It's further from my mom's place but maybe she would consider moving since she's widowed and would enjoy better access to the city.
I really disliked the main line neighborhoods. Overall I just felt kind of claustrophobic with the old heavy stone buildings, huge trees, relatively narrow roads, and overall density. Beautiful buildings but I didn't feel at home in this area at all.
Bensalem was nice, too. Most everything was in strip mall form which makes stuff very accessible by car, and it's only 35 minutes from downtown since it's right on 95.
I loved the look and feel of Manayunk, felt a little like my area around U street in DC. It'd definitely be a contender if it wasn't sitting on a hill.
I'll check out Glenside and surrounding areas tomorrow. The 20 minute train ride to downtown doesn't sound bad at all and it's a 35 minute drive which is definitely better than the 50+ from Montgomeryville.
Last edited by truth1ness; 06-16-2015 at 06:29 PM..
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by truth1ness
Thanks for the replies so far. Today I drove a big loop around Philly to see the various neighborhoods. I went through Ambler, Conshohocken, Ardmore, Wynnewood, Bala Cynwood, Manayunk, Collingswood, Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, swung by Chinatown, and then finished in Bensalem. I didn't get to Glenside/Abington or Media and may hit those tomorrow.
So far I think Cherry Hill and Haddonfield are my favorites. I loved how easy the 20 minute drive into the city was, I've always hated accessing Philadelphia from the North and West (95, 309, or 76) but this actually felt like a pleasure. It's further from my mom's place but maybe she would consider moving since she's widowed and would enjoy better access to the city.
I really disliked the main line neighborhoods. Overall I just felt kind of claustrophobic with the old heavy stone buildings, huge trees, relatively narrow roads, and overall density. Beautiful buildings but I didn't feel at home in this area at all.
Bensalem was nice, too. Most everything was in strip mall form which makes stuff very accessible by car, and it's only 35 minutes from downtown since it's right on 95.
I loved the look and feel of Manayunk, felt a little like my area around U street in DC. It'd definitely be a contender if it wasn't sitting on a hill.
I'll check out Glenside and surrounding areas tomorrow. The 20 minute train ride to downtown doesn't sound bad at all and it's a 35 minute drive which is definitely better than the 50+ from Montgomeryville.
Cherry Hill has 2 Asian supermarkets on rte 70, east of Ellisburg.
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