Moving to the burbs: Conservative vs. liberal towns on the main line west of Bryn Mawr?

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by pman

for the OP, chester county is a transition area and actually contains swing voters. it's somewhat balanced. the closer to the city, the more liberal, the further away, the less liberal.

That has changed as the western and norther parts of the county are experiencing extremely heavy development and population growth. Chester County is majority Democrat/Liberal-Progressive, and getting more so daily. I would agree it is a bit more "balanced" than closer in suburbs, but the plethora of "Limousine Liberals" is daunting here.

[Patmcpsu]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

That has changed as the western and norther parts of the county are experiencing extremely heavy development and population growth. Chester County is majority Democrat/Liberal-Progressive, and getting more so daily. I would agree it is a bit more "balanced" than closer in suburbs, but the plethora of "Limousine Liberals" is daunting here.

This made me look up the official voter-registration statistics and the above summary is mostly correct (worth noting that ChesCo has slightly more Republicans than Democrats). I took the liberty of converting the raw numbers from the website into the following percentages:

• Philadelphia: 77% Democrat, 11% Republican, 8% No affiliation, 3% 3rd Party
• Delaware: 47% Democrat, 40% Republican, 7% No affiliation, 5% 3rd Party
• Montgomery: 48% Democrat, 36% Republican, 9% No affiliation, 7% 3rd Party
• Bucks: 43% Democrat, 41% Republican, 10% No affiliation, 6% 3rd Party
• Chester: 40% Democrat, 43% Republican, 10% No affiliation, 7% 3rd Party

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Patmcpsu

Wawa is the name of a town (not referring to the convenience stores). Page 14 of this PDF includes a map of the existing line, the project in question, and what would be needed to bring the line all the way to West Chester.

As somebody who lives near WC, I wouldn't see myself using the train all too much if it existed. If I was going to a Phillies game, I could just drive and probably save an hour each way (by the time you park in WC, take the train to Suburban station, and then take the Broad Street Line). If I was going into the city for a nice dinner, I would see myself driving in that situation too. The only time I could see myself taking the train would be if I was working in the city (which I don't intend to do), wandering around the city on a weekend, or if I knew I was going to be drinking a lot. The widening project on 322 will just make driving that much more advantageous.

And I say that as somebody who likes trains. 20+ stops and a transfer just doesn't sound practical.

I forget whether the crossroads or the dairy was the first to bear the name, but I think it was the crossroads. The dairy opened in 1900. It launched the convenience-store chain in 1964 to provide another outlet for its dairy products, as its home-delivery business was fading fast.

The reason the corporate logo is a goose? Wawa is the Lenape term for the bird we know as the Canada goose. It also mimics the sound the bird makes.

And as for taking the train vs. driving from West Chester into the city, you have a point. Take a look on a map: note where West Chester Pike runs west from 69th Street; it's pretty much a continuation of Market Street. From City Hall to West Chester, this road also forms the chord of the arc the PRR West Chester Branch makes between the two points. So the route was roundabout to begin with; Elwyn is roughly the top of the curve.

Should train service ever return to West Chester - and the borough definitely wants it to - some of those stops will disappear. All three of the former stations between Elwyn and Wawa will not reopen when service to Wawa is restored.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by ndsk9

The Lower Merion Township municipal entities, especially the Lower Merion Police Department, are very racist, the most racist I've ever encountered against blacks and people of color. The Lower Merion School District also discriminates against blacks and people color in general and even more so in special education. Though the township claims to be liberal and some areas are fairly decent (e.g. Wynnewood), there are so many people living throughout the area who are just scared if someone is not white and will report them as suspicious to the police simply because the person is color - they believe blacks are criminals and better be safe than sorry. And these people have actually stated as such in community forums. The LMPD makes it practically impossible for a black person to live peacefully in LMT. The vast majority of people in LMT are decent people, but the LMPD and the notable racists, who hide behind their doors as they call the police whenever they see a black person, make the place a really awful place to live.

Re-opening a two year old thread that "died" organically just to troll it. Sigh.

Having more than a century of experience on the Main Line as my family has had,l mostly call bullsh!t wrt this post. I'm a poc.

[Drooper]

Originally Posted by Urban suburban

Hi,

My husband and I (and two kids) currently live in Philadelphia but are planning to move to the suburbs. We've been trying to visit a bunch of possible towns but it's hard to get a real sense of what it would be like to live in them from an afternoon. I'd like to live somewhere that isn't too snobby, so we're thinking of avoiding the main line Bryn Mawr and east. But I'd also like to live somewhere that isn't too conservative. I'd love a healthy mix, but I don't want to feel out of place being a progressive liberal.

From our research (including the forums on this site) we've narrowed down our choices to Media (including Wallingford / Swarthmore etc.), Wayne, Berwyn, Paoli, or Malvern. The consensus on these forums seems to be that the Media / Swarthmore area is pretty liberal, but I'm having a hard time gauging from this website and others whether the Wayne / Berwyn / Paoli / Malvern area is closer in "vibe" to the main line (i.e. liberal but snobby) or to the rest of Pennsylvania (i.e. conservative / religious). Obviously we're looking for something in between.

As an aside, we'd like a decent sized yard and so we can't find anything we can afford in the burbs closer to the city like Narberth. We're looking for something in the $500,000 - $600,000 range.

Any advice? And I apologize in advance for making generalizations about areas of the burbs. I know that none of these towns are homogenous.

Thanks!

Bump: Did your progressive family find an all-white neighborhood to live in on the Main Line? Which one?

[Drooper]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Re-opening a two year old thread that "died" organically just to troll it. Sigh.

Having more than a century of experience on the Main Line as my family has had,l mostly call bullsh!t wrt this post. I'm a poc.

I actually think he is dead on. Notice where all of these self-identifying socially-conscious progressives choose to live. They all seem to move into neighborhoods that are at least 90 percent white. They think we don't notice the hypocrisy.