Chester Co: suggestions, please, for a safe, fun place for a young family to move and grow (Philadelphia: sales)

[courtenia]

We are a young family (well, children are young; parents are late 30s early 40s) looking to move to Chester County, PA. Pre-children, as young adults, my husband and I lived in NYC for many years and felt very at home there. But having children in that environment was not ideal, nor financially feasible for us. So we moved to the NYC suburbs, only to find our commutes are horrendous (lengthy, congested, stressful) and we could never afford a decent home here. I (the matriarch) also want to be closer to my own parents in Virginia as my brood grows. We are looking for suggestions for a place for us to set up roots...Kindergarten is about 1.5 years away, so we'd like to establish ourselves in a good public school district. We welcome diversity, having become quite comfortable with it in NYC. Our interests are varied and evolving: Music, dance, outdoors, libraries are all high on the list. While we have some extended family who were so proud to show us P'ville, and I enjoyed the visit, it was hard for me to get a good feeling for actually *living* there, in the rushed weekend we had. Would love honest opinions of anyone who lives/lived in the area (pros and cons are all welcome). Very curious about schools districts, commutes, home affordability, sense of community/(welcoming to newcomers?), but also environmental safety---is there fracking in the area? What is the location of the nuclear power plant and what is it's reputation for safety? Is the water in homes/schools safe? Thanks so much!!

When are you moving? In the next 4-6 months, most likely

Where are you coming from? Danbury, CT, by way of NYC (Brooklyn)

Why are you moving? To split the geographical distance b/w my husband's parents (MA) and my own (VA), plus the reasons mentioned above


Where will you be working? Don't know yet--open to suggestions of great employers! I am a pedi RN (*LOVE* peds GI, ideally in an outpt setting) and my husband is a peds/adolescent psychotherapist (LCSW)


Have you been here yet? twice to visit husband's extended relatives

Will you buy or rent? will have to rent to start...hoping to buy in the next 3ish years

If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? when we eventually buy, we'd prefer a house; 300-350K we hope.

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Prefer to rent a single family house, or a townhouse. Want to spend <2K/mo for 2(+) bed, 1.5(+) bath, preferably >1700sq ft.

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? doesn't really matter

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? PA for certain (i'm allergic to NJ )
(If you answered NJ - post your answers here: //www.city-data.com/forum/new-j...-philadelphia/)

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married; two children aged 3.5yrs and 7 mo.


Do you prefer public or private schools? public

Do you have pets? nope

Do you want or need a yard? Would really like one, but not absolutely necessary as long as there's some green space, close by, to run around in.

Are you keeping a car? 2 cars, actually


Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? both? either? NYC tendencies run deep, but suburban life/fresh air/outdoor play for children is essential

What do you want to be closest to?
Work Most Def
Shopping Meh
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) YES
Nightlife Meh
Train or subway stations Perhaps

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Diverse


Coke or Pepsi? um, neither? Me: coffee Him: homemade seltzer

[cpomp]

Explore - Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia


I would focus in on Media (Delaware County) and West Chester (Chester County). There are several other walkable and charming suburbs, but these two seem to offer the most. There are some great communities in Bucks County, but they are further out. I was also going to suggest Swarthmore or Wayne (both Delaware County), but they are on the pricey side, a small cape or townhome will run you easily 300-400k, and Swarthmore housing stock tends to be only larger colonials and a few townhomes near the town center, plus Swarthmore is essentially a dry town, but superb schools and close to Media. Wayne is a beautiful area, but not overly exciting, however very close to Philadelphia and in the heart of the Main Line.


Anyways... just a quick run down, then you can ask more questions... Media has a walkable downtown, lots of restaurants and Trader Joes, very much booming, excellent schools, tons of recreation, tons of housing options (the selection in the actual borough tends to be limited though, the surrounding 19063 zipcode which includes Middletwon, Edgemont, Upper Providence, and parts of Aston have many housing options from 200k to over 2 million). Media is also a quick train ride or drive to Philadelphia, tons of big box shopping and retail outside of the borough too.


West Chester: The largest walkable suburban community in the area, probably the liveliest because of West Chester University. Lots of dining, bars, livelier nightlife, but mostly college kids. The surrounding communities are also very beautiful, excellent schools, tons of recreation, great shopping, slightly more affordable than the Media area. No trains to Philadelphia and a longer drive into the city, but still doable.


Sidenote... traffic is pretty much horrendous in most suburbs of Philly, but that's to be expected with any major metro area.


Some other secondary suggestions are Ardmore, Kennett Square, Ambler, and Phoenixville. Kennett and Phoeniville are very much up and coming, not as polished as Media, West Chester, and Wayne. Ardmore and Ambler fall right in between. And every town has excellent schools.

[TLC1957]

Recently moved to West Chester Borough, we love it. People are very friendly, the town has a community spirit, downtown is alive with always something going on, tons of places to explore and many restaurants. The Halloween and Christmas parades are amazing and not to be missed. It seems they always have something going on downtown where they shut down the streets and have a great time.

Delaware the place with no sales taxes( think stoves, tv, washer/dryer, etc.) is 20 mins away. Train service to Philly is 15mins away in Exton. You can be in the country in 10 mins. Schools are rated very high. Tons of shopping nearby, King of Prussia mall is 20 mins away, largest mall in the east. Many others malls in the area. Traffic is not bad compared to say Long Island or NYC.

Downside West Chester is a university town, if that bothers you may not like it. You have to be careful not to live near student housing, this website from the borough lists all student housing http://www.west-chester.com/DocumentCenter/View/34 With that said we have had no problems living near the university. We take advantage of the many free concerts, lectures, etc the university has to offer. The local police and campus security keep close tabs on the students and pretty much do not put up with a lot of stuff. Our encounter with students have been great, we were moving in a couch and struggling when all of the sudden it got lighter, a few big guys saw us and stopped and helped and would not take anything for their time.

Some streets parking can be a problem so look for homes with off street parking or where parking is not restricted. They love to give out $25 parking tickets! Here is a map http://www.west-chester.com/DocumentCenter/View/764 of where parking is controlled.