Relocating with small kids to Philly suburb from Bay Area (Philadelphia: coop, house)

[lfsmith]

You all, thank you SO MUCH for your thoughtful replies. I am very grateful!

[Avalon08]

Since the first thing you listed was being within 15 miles of center city, that must be important to you. So I would focus on the Delaware County towns listed, rather than out into Doylestown or Phoenixville areas. I have lived in Norristown, Skippack, Lansdale (Montgomery County) and Newtown Square, Berwyn and Brookhaven (Delaware County). To me, Delaware County cannot be beat for convenient access to the city, to 476, and I-95. I loved living on the Main Line (Berwyn) but it sounds like the schools may be too high-pressure...plus you'll get more house for your money outside of the Main Line. I think Media is a good fit based on access to center city, schools, and great walkable downtown.

[kidphilly]

if looking for something a little more rural with good schools and character maybe check out Bucks county. It may be a little less intense but isn't totally non competitive in the better schools. You do get more house for the money


look at Council Rock, Central Bucks or New Hope Solebury schools if looking in bucks


areas around Doylestown and Buckingham are nice but less convenient. Newtown is a little more accessible to 95


if you can try to make a trip and explore the areas


best of luck on your search

[timeEd32]

Originally Posted by rainrock

The Main Line towns fit your criteria from a physical standpoint. Walkable, unique older homes, very leafy, ivy league-like. But it is indeed a very pompous, keep up with the Jones' enviornment.

I can certainly see why it has this reputation and it may be true in some of the uber-wealthy areas like Gladwyne, Villanova, etc. (but I can't say for sure).

We've only been here (Wynnewood) for 5 months, but the people on our street and in our neighborhood are insanely friendly. We bought in your (the OP) budget - I wouldn't rule out all of the Main Line, particularly since even the more pompous around here may seem quite a bit different to the crazy, new wealth pouring into Silicon Valley.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by timeEd32

I can certainly see why it has this reputation and it may be true in some of the uber-wealthy areas like Gladwyne, Villanova, etc. (but I can't say for sure).

We've only been here (Wynnewood) for 5 months, but the people on our street and in our neighborhood are insanely friendly. We bought in your (the OP) budget - I wouldn't rule out all of the Main Line, particularly since even the more pompous around here may seem quite a bit different to the crazy, new wealth pouring into Silicon Valley.

The pompousness and oneupmanship are what you make of them and not hard to avoid. I also didn't find LMSD schools to be pressure cookers. There are always people who get carried away, but some level of (self-motivated/inward-focused) competition is healthy and good practice for the real world.

[narb06]

+1 on this.

I encourage you to check out Havertown and other areas, but please don't dismiss Lower Merion outright. Especially if you are coming from the Bay Area, I think you'll find there's less money and less pressure here.

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

The pompousness and oneupmanship are what you make of them and not hard to avoid. I also didn't find LMSD schools to be pressure cookers. There are always people who get carried away, but some level of (self-motivated/inward-focused) competition is healthy and good practice for the real world.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by lfsmith

Hello All,

My husband and I are considering moving to the Philadelphia area to get out of the craziness of California's Bay Area. I am a high school teacher; he is an attorney. We've spent some time in Philly, really like it, but don't know the suburbs well. I would value any input. I read on other threads that the more info one gives, the more helpful the responses can be, so here we go -- I realize meeting all criteria may not be possible!:

1) We would like to be relatively close to city center - within around 15 miles. Public transport to city is ideal but not essential.

2) Decent public schools, but NOT crazy amounts of wealth, entitlement, and academic pressure. That's a large reason why we're moving out of the Bay Area -- we don't want our kids feeling like they're worthless if they don't have top SAT scores and or aren't heading to Yale. For this reason, we're wary about the mainline towns -- but happy to be proven wrong!

3) Relatively safe.

4) Charactered downtown (not just stripmalls)

5) Properties with large open spaces/ yards, mature trees.

6) We're looking around $400-600k for at least 3 bedroom. We'd like an older home, again, with character.

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Here are responses to the " Questions For Future and Potential Residents":

When are you moving? Either summer of 2017 or 2018
Where are you coming from? Bay Area, California (Menlo Park)
Why are you moving? Affordability, looking for a slower pace and less academic pressure on our kids. Get away from Silicon Valley
Where will you be working? Don't know yet -- I'm a high school teacher, husband is an attorney. We're flexible.
Have you been here yet? Yes -- to the city itself and really liked it

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House -- around 500-600k
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? not really
(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 with two kids (ages 7 & 4)
Do you prefer public or private schools? public
Do you have pets? no but would like one!
Do you want or need a yard? Want AND need yard

Are you keeping a car? yes

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? calm and quiet, but relatively close to bustling activity

What do you want to be closest to? Nature & schools/ public transport
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Diverse
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Thanks in advance for any responses!

Lydia

Haddonfield, in South Jersey.

[lfsmith]

A teaching opportunity has me looking at Wynnewood -- I know it's on the mainline -- any additional feedback on that area would be welcome.

[phillytransplant13]

Wynnewood is very family-centric like the other Mainline towns. There isn't a downtown, but there's a couple larger shopping centers, a train station, a brand new Whole Foods, and it's very close to Ardmore which has a downtown. Most properties have yards - in general, below Montgomery Ave are smaller homes and lots, where above Montgomery you're going to find larger homes on sizeable chunks of land.

I'm in Wynnewood, Merion and Ardmore a lot for work and the collected area has a nice collection of homes, is generally walkable and the people I've met have been nice. If you want a more humble experience, I wouldn't recommend buying a property in the woodsy part above Montgomery Ave. These homes seem more secluded, there are no sidewalks in most of the neighborhoods, and it's got the "keeping up with the Jones'" vibe going on (especially the further north you go into Gladwyne and Villanova). Lower Merion School District is excellent and people from all over seek out this area specifically for the schools. I don't know how pressured the kids feel though.

Something that I have noticed since moving to the Philadelphia area 4 years ago: high school kids don't work and go to school at the same time, at least on the eastern Mainline. I'm sure some do, but the vast majority of employees at places like Chipotle, grocery stores, retail stores, etc. are not suburban kids from the Mainline. It seems odd to me. Why aren't these kids working? Is it because they're so wrapped up in school? It's pretty obvious they don't need to work given where they live, but working is a great way to teach personal responsibility. I'm from a well-off town in the midwest, and everyone I knew in high school had some type of job. Most kids didn't work out of a dire need for cash, but rather some extra spending money and saving for something important to them. My parents encouraged me to work so that I could learn how to manage money, be responsible for extra things like concerts and nights out with friends, and save. I bought my first car on my own with money I had saved from doing odd jobs and working at a grocery store. And while I didn't go to Yale, my studies didn't suffer because of a job and I still did well on the SAT & ACT. It's a stark difference from the kids here that are seemingly handed everything, but maybe I'm only seeing one piece of it. Anyway...

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by phillytransplant13

Something that I have noticed since moving to the Philadelphia area 4 years ago: high school kids don't work and go to school at the same time, at least on the eastern Mainline. I'm sure some do, but the vast majority of employees at places like Chipotle, grocery stores, retail stores, etc. are not suburban kids from the Mainline. It seems odd to me. Why aren't these kids working? Is it because they're so wrapped up in school? It's pretty obvious they don't need to work given where they live, but working is a great way to teach personal responsibility. I'm from a well-off town in the midwest, and everyone I knew in high school had some type of job. Most kids didn't work out of a dire need for cash, but rather some extra spending money and saving for something important to them. My parents encouraged me to work so that I could learn how to manage money, be responsible for extra things like concerts and nights out with friends, and save. I bought my first car on my own with money I had saved from doing odd jobs and working at a grocery store. And while I didn't go to Yale, my studies didn't suffer because of a job and I still did well on the SAT & ACT. It's a stark difference from the kids here that are seemingly handed everything, but maybe I'm only seeing one piece of it. Anyway...

Some younger people can chime in to give some other and/or newer view points about this. I'm a product of the Main Line (Haverford). I never worked as a high school student and no one in my circle of friends and aquaintances did either. I graduated from high school(Haverford High)50 years ago this coming June. So, it may be a cultural happenstance.