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Old 10-24-2015, 01:33 PM
 
62 posts, read 96,043 times
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I am looking for small-town and rural areas that are kind of out of the suburban sprawl, yet commutable to the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia suburbs. I like the Upper Perk area (East Greenville, Pennsburg, Red Hill...) and would like to know if it is a nice small-town area to live. I wouldn't want to live right in town, just on the outskirts (a bit east or west of Route 29). I have researched the school district and it seems to have good schools for a small-town area. I also like recreational activities, and it seems like the Green Lane Reservoir has a lot of that. Can anyone tell me about the area and if it is a good place to live and raise a family? How are the school districts? Are crime and drugs bad? How are the people in the community?
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Old 10-25-2015, 08:13 AM
 
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Unfortunately, you are asking about an area that is just outside the boundaries of both the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia suburbs so I'm not sure what kind of response you'll get from this forum. I know that area just a little bit and have been there a few times and we did consider the school district many years ago before we moved to where we are in Lehigh county.

Pennsburg/East Greenville is a very nice area with good schools and a brand new YMCA that looks awesome. Many of my husbands co-workers live there and seem happy enough. School Performance Profile: Upper Perkiomen HS

New YMCA opens in Pennsburg | News - Home
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Old 10-25-2015, 10:27 AM
 
62 posts, read 96,043 times
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Thank you for the response! I'm glad to hear that they have a good school district. From what I have researched I would much rather be in that school district as opposed to Boyertown. It seems like Boyertown has a bad racism problem. I want to live in a small-town/rural area, but I don't want to raise a family in an area with a lot of racism and discrimination. It seems like Upper Perk is the better option.
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Old 10-25-2015, 04:06 PM
 
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Not much help but my mom grew up there and a lot of her family is still there. I think it is a nice, quaint area although coming from closer to Philadelphia I always felt like there was nothing to do out there. But, they have gotten more stuff recently. I know they have a nice old movie theater. I can't imagine commuting from there to the city but i'm sure people do it. You definitely get more for your money out there and the school district is top notch. I would imagine there is little to no crime there. Drugs you'll find anywhere but I wouldn't think more or less than other similar areas.
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Old 10-25-2015, 10:10 PM
 
62 posts, read 96,043 times
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Thank you, mls128! So far the consensus seems to be that Upper Perk is a nice area to raise a family. Every time I drive around the reservoir it looks so beautiful with all of the nature, and the houses seem to have larger amounts of land when compared to houses in the Philly suburbs, and I like that. Also with it being between the Philly suburbs and Lehigh Valley, it allows for more job opportunity because I could commute in either direction. And Quakertown is just a few miles away and that has tons of shopping and restaurants. I just hope that the area doesn't grow too much, I don't want to end up living in suburban sprawl like what is happening in the middle and lower parts of the county. Not to be cliche but I don't want people to "pave paradise and put up a parking lot".
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Old 10-30-2015, 07:51 AM
 
Location: East Coast
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Don't even consider living in Upper Perk and commuting into Philadelphia. It is a horrible, horrible commute, with no public transit options. It's much easier to commute into Allentown from that area, even if the physical distance isn't that different.

The Perkiomen Valley School District is just slightly south of where you are talking about (still close to Green Lane) and has some of the best schools in the state. But I can't guarantee the sprawl issue won't get you, even in the northern part of that district. Collegeville, Limerick, Royersford (Spring Ford SD, but part of the same area), are almost the prototypical poster children of suburban sprawl communities. Schwenksville and Skippack have some of that more rural feel, but that sprawl issue is very nearby. Take a look at them and see what you think.
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Old 10-30-2015, 08:07 AM
 
13,248 posts, read 33,360,955 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz View Post
Don't even consider living in Upper Perk and commuting into Philadelphia. It is a horrible, horrible commute, with no public transit options. It's much easier to commute into Allentown from that area, even if the physical distance isn't that different.

The Perkiomen Valley School District is just slightly south of where you are talking about (still close to Green Lane) and has some of the best schools in the state. But I can't guarantee the sprawl issue won't get you, even in the northern part of that district. Collegeville, Limerick, Royersford (Spring Ford SD, but part of the same area), are almost the prototypical poster children of suburban sprawl communities. Schwenksville and Skippack have some of that more rural feel, but that sprawl issue is very nearby. Take a look at them and see what you think.
According to this post //www.city-data.com/forum/lehig...l#post41577065 I think the OP would not be working in CC Philadelphia.
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Old 11-01-2015, 12:08 AM
 
62 posts, read 96,043 times
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Thank you for the response, chicagoliz. I would not be looking to commute to the city of Philadelphia, just the northern suburbs. The reason why Upper Perk sparks my interest so much is because it seems to be out of the suburbs and have a small-town/rural feel, yet is still commutable to the Philly suburbs where a lot of the jobs are (Collegeville, KOP, Audubon, etc...), and also to Allentown in the northern direction. Also I travel by my own personal vehicle and never rely on public transportation, so not having access to public transportation would not be of any issue for me. I currently drive through the Collegeville and Limerick areas every day and I have no interest living there. Not that they are bad places but it's too congested and populated for my liking.
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Old 11-01-2015, 07:21 AM
 
Location: East Coast
4,235 posts, read 3,675,929 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelGuitar22 View Post
I currently drive through the Collegeville and Limerick areas every day and I have no interest living there. Not that they are bad places but it's too congested and populated for my liking.
That's why I suggested some parts of Schwenksville or Skippack. They're not quite as 'suburbified' as Collegeville, but they are definitely closer to it than those towns further up 29 and 73.
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