The Philadelphia Region: Guide to Walkable Towns & Suburbs (Chester: neighborhood, living)

[RightonWalnut]

Below is the unofficial, yet ultimate and comprehensive list of the Philadelphia Region's walkable towns and suburbs. These places offer walkable residential options, commercial corridors and Main Streets, and most even offer public transportation options. Let me know if I missed a town or suburb, and I will add it to the list.

**The Requirements**
-Must have a commercial district at least 2 blocks in continuous length, with development on both sides of the street.
-If commercial development is not present on both sides of the street, the commercial corridor must be at least 4 blocks in length.
-Must have surrounding residential options accessible to the commercial corridor. The idea is somebody could essentially live, work, dine, shop and play all within this town or suburb - similar to that of a city neighborhood.
-Public transit is a positive, but not a necessity.


Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Profile

Below are the counties and their walkable towns and suburbs with direct connections to the city of Philadelphia, and are a part of Philadelphia's Metropolitan Area (MSA).


Montgomery County, PA
Ardmore
Bryn Mawr
Conshohocken
Norristown
Jenkintown
Pottstown
Ambler
Hatboro
Narberth
Glenside
Lansdale
King of Prussia (Work in Progress)

Delaware County, PA
Media
Upper Darby & Drexel Hill
Wayne
Lansdowne
Prospect Park & Norwood

Chester County, PA
West Chester
Kennett Square
Phoenixville
Coatesville
Oxford

Bucks County, PA
Bristol
Doylestown
New Hope
Newtown
Quakertown

Camden County, NJ
Camden
Collingswood
Haddonfield
Haddon Heights

Burlington County, NJ
Burlington
Mt. Holly
Bordentown
Moorestown

Gloucester County, NJ
Glassboro
Pitman
Woodbury

Salem County, NJ
Salem

To find out more about walkable towns and cities in Delaware or other South Jersey Counties, please visit these links below: //www.city-data.com/forum/delaware/ and //www.city-data.com/forum/new-jersey/

[timeEd32]

Not sure I'd classify Bala as walkable.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by timeEd32

Not sure I'd classify Bala as walkable.

It's right on the edge... and with so many urban projects coming down the pipeline for Bala Cynwyd, I decided to include it.

[Leps12]

Montgomery County remove King of Prussia.

Delaware County add Chester, Haverford, and Rosemont.

Chester County add Berwyn and Paoli..

Would add Yardley and Morrisville for Bucks County.

I would take Voorhees and Cherry Hill off for Camden County. They have trains but are not walkable. I would add in their place Haddon Township, Gloucester City, Merchantville, and Woodlynne. Maybe you throw in Oaklyn, Audubon, and Pennsauken to an extent.

Burlington County remove Springfield, possibly add Palmyra and to a lesser extent Riverton.

Gloucester County possibly add Swedesboro.

Atlantic County possibly add Absecon.

[kyb01]

Add, Haverford, to MontCo.
And, maybe, Cobbs Creek, to W. Philly.

[Snwmn5]

-Castor Gardens (especially along Castor Ave)
-Frankford (literally fits the definition, especially with transportation, but doesn't have a whole lot to offer)

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by Leps12

Would add Yardley and Morrisville for Bucks County.

I would take Voorhees and Cherry Hill off for Camden County. They have trains but are not walkable. I would add in their place Haddon Township, Gloucester City, Merchantville, and Woodlynne. Maybe you throw in Oaklyn, Audubon, and Pennsauken to an extent.

Burlington County possibly add Palmyra and to a lesser extent Riverton.

Gloucester County possibly add Swedesboro.

Atlantic County possibly add Absecon.

I thought about Yardley and Morrsiville but did not include them. Yardley does not offer a big enough "walkable" commercial district or residential district. The buildings do not meet the street, and there are too many surface parking lots. Same for Morrisville, it does not have a main commercial strip really.

For Voorhees and Cherry Hill, I include them because of the Town Centers being built there currently - much like King of Prussia. These new sections offer commercial corridors, walkable living options, and are close to or next to train stations.

Voorhees:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vo...961517!6m1!1e1

Cherry Hill:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9251...8i6656!6m1!1e1

As for the others in Camden County, I will definitely add Gloucester City and Merchantville. Haddon Township is not built up enough yet. Woodlynne does not have a main commercial corridor, which is why I excluded it.

I'll also include Audubon. I feel as if Oaklyn and Pennsauken do not really have commercial corridors though. I will include Palmyra and Riverton but combine them as "one" area.

Swedesboro doesn't really have an intact commercial corridor. There are too many surface parking lots. Absecon too, does not really have enough of an urban, walkable commercial corridor.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Add, Haverford, to MontCo.
And, maybe, Cobbs Creek, to W. Philly.

Haverford has dense housing, and transit options, but no walkable commercial main street. I added Cobbs Creek due to it's urban housing options, public transit options, and commercial strips along 52nd Street and Market Street.

Originally Posted by Snwmn5

-Castor Gardens (especially along Castor Ave)
-Frankford (literally fits the definition, especially with transportation, but doesn't have a whole lot to offer)

I just added Castor Gardens. I thought about Frankford, but I feel as if it is just too rundown and abandoned to include.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by timeEd32

Not sure I'd classify Bala as walkable.

Bala has a walkable village center along Bala Avenue, but there isn't much to walk to anymore unless you're Orthodox Jewish.

The businesses and office parks toward City Avenue are also sidewalked.

[timeEd32]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

Bala has a walkable village center along Bala Avenue, but there isn't much to walk to anymore unless you're Orthodox Jewish.

The businesses and office parks toward City Avenue are also sidewalked.

I'm thinking of it this way - no one is going to spend a Saturday afternoon walking around Bala/City Avenues nor is it what people are looking for when they say they want a walkable town. That's Ardmore, Media, West Chester, Doylestown, etc.