Family friendly suburb with a job in downtown Philly (Springfield: house, school district)

[Boleyna73]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Putting a plug in here for Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem PA, about an hour North of Philly. Christmas City — Bethlehem, PA Bethlehem calls itself Christmas City and is a wonderful place to go around the Christmas Holiday. They have a huge celebration of all things Christmas with crafts, food, and many, many items from Germany. The city will be decorated and there are horse drawn carriages.

I have actually been to Bethlehem PA many, many moons ago (in 2003) when we lived in NJ, because I missed "my" Christmas Markets so much. It was really a neat place to visit and get into the spirit of the season!
The only thing that I missed was mulled wine, but that might have changed since then. Thank you for recommending that again, toobusytoday!

[Boleyna73]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

I live in the Oakmont section of Havertown, which is the name of an unincorporated town in Haverford Township (not to totally confuse you...lol). I love Havertown. It's a little less walkable than, say, Ardmore or Media, but it's not the suburban sprawl of Plymouth Meeting either. I live right off the main thoroughfare of my neighborhood (Darby Road) and can walk to several restaurants, a convenience store, the place I go for yoga, and the weekly farmer's market, among others. I know I'm biased, but I truly think it's a great mix of family-friendly and walkable.


In searches, look for Havertown, PA.

Hi Flyergirl - this sounds really good to me! I like that mixture : )
My husband always laughs when I put "must have sidewalks" on my neighborhood checklist. Are there any parks nearby? Do you know about school sports activities or things for Preteens to do? E.g. movie theater?

We want to rent first but want to at least get the school district right so the kids don't have to switch schools again.

[Boleyna73]

Alright - talked with the hubby and it looks like we are down to these two school districts:
Abington and Haverford (Havertown) Township.

We have chosen these in regards to school ratings, average housing costs, shops/restaurants and easy access to Philadelphia by train as well as "walkability". Can anyone tell me where it would be "more fun" for our boys (10 & 12) in regards to parks, playground, movie theaters, things to do... ? Looking at online ratings both neighborhood seem very popular with families so it's hard to choose. We prefer suburb to urban surroundings and I like to be able to walk/ride my bike to get a litre of milk instead of driving 10 min to Walmart. Not sure if that's do-able, lol. Also access to medical center is important.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Boleyna73

Alright - talked with the hubby and it looks like we are down to these two school districts:
Abington and Haverford (Havertown) Township.

We have chosen these in regards to school ratings, average housing costs, shops/restaurants and easy access to Philadelphia by train as well as "walkability". Can anyone tell me where it would be "more fun" for our boys (10 & 12) in regards to parks, playground, movie theaters, things to do... ? Looking at online ratings both neighborhood seem very popular with families so it's hard to choose. We prefer suburb to urban surroundings and I like to be able to walk/ride my bike to get a litre of milk instead of driving 10 min to Walmart. Not sure if that's do-able, lol. Also access to medical center is important.

Fyi, there are multiple communities within Haverford Twp; it's not just Havertown. Also there is no direct train access to downtown Philadelphia from Havertown. The pub transit options are 103 bus or Norristown High Speed Line(NHSL) which both take you to the 69th St Transportation Ctr. From there you would take the Market Frankford Line(MFL) to Center City.

Some of the other places suggested, like Media or Jenkintown, have direct transit to Center City.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Fyi, there are multiple communities within Haverford Twp; it's not just Havertown. Also there is no direct train access to downtown Philadelphia from Havertown. The pub transit options are 103 bus or Norristown High Speed Line(NHSL) which both take you to the 69th St Transportation Ctr. From there you would take the Market Frankford Line(MFL) to Center City.

Some of the other places suggested, like Media or Jenkintown, have direct transit to Center City.

The Ardmore or Wynnewood stations on the former R5 line are only a 5-10 min drive from Havertown. That adds a little inconvenience to the trip, but I would do that to get to Center City instead of taking the Norristown HS line and Market L.

[Flyers Girl]

Originally Posted by Boleyna73

Alright - talked with the hubby and it looks like we are down to these two school districts:
Abington and Haverford (Havertown) Township.

We have chosen these in regards to school ratings, average housing costs, shops/restaurants and easy access to Philadelphia by train as well as "walkability". Can anyone tell me where it would be "more fun" for our boys (10 & 12) in regards to parks, playground, movie theaters, things to do... ? Looking at online ratings both neighborhood seem very popular with families so it's hard to choose. We prefer suburb to urban surroundings and I like to be able to walk/ride my bike to get a litre of milk instead of driving 10 min to Walmart. Not sure if that's do-able, lol. Also access to medical center is important.

No movie theaters in walking distance in Havertown (there used to be many moons ago, on Brookline Boulevard; it's now a gym but still has the marquee). There are a number of parks in Haverford Township. Here's a good link that lists them all and states what amenities each have (playground, etc.). Listed at the same link are trails for walking/jogging/biking. The most walkable areas of Havertown are surrounding the Eagle Road/Darby Road intersection and Brookline Boulevard, so perhaps the Oakmont and Brookline sections would work for you. Haverford Township Day is coming up on Saturday, October 7. Craft vendors, food, music, zip line, rides for young kids, free skate inside the Skatium, and more. I use this day to kick off my Christmas shopping! The Township of Haverford, Pennsylvania / Haverford Township Day

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

The Ardmore or Wynnewood stations on the former R5 line are only a 5-10 min drive from Havertown. That adds a little inconvenience to the trip, but I would do that to get to Center City instead of taking the Norristown HS line and Market L.

This is what I used to do when I would reverse commute to my job in Malvern. I drove from Havertown over to the Ardmore R5 station and parked in the lot on the Suburban Square side of the tracks for $1 a day.

[Flyers Girl]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Fyi, there are multiple communities within Haverford Twp; it's not just Havertown. Also there is no direct train access to downtown Philadelphia from Havertown. The pub transit options are 103 bus or Norristown High Speed Line(NHSL) which both take you to the 69th St Transportation Ctr. From there you would take the Market Frankford Line(MFL) to Center City.

Some of the other places suggested, like Media or Jenkintown, have direct transit to Center City.

Correct. Take a look at this map for the township and you'll see that it encompasses Havertown, South Ardmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr. Haverford is more expensive housing-wise than the other three, but as long as you live within those boundaries, your children would go to Haverford Township schools.

[Boleyna73]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

Correct. Take a look at this map for the township and you'll see that it encompasses Havertown, South Ardmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr. Haverford is more expensive housing-wise than the other three, but as long as you live within those boundaries, your children would go to Haverford Township schools.

Thank you for all those wonderful infos, flyergirl! Your support means a lot to me.

Looking at the different Haverford sections I truly got confused with Haverford Township and Havertown. In another thread on the forum I read something about "other side of the track" in Havertown. Do you know what that means?
I will check out the link with the parks (thank you again!) and it's fine that not everything is within walking distance - it's not like we have one within walking distance here. What I wanted to know was just what's there to do for the kiddos/ budding Preteens.

In regards to taking the train we where thinking about the Ardmore station. Most areas one would have to drive to the train station anyways. I'm truly biased now towards Haverford, lol.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by Boleyna73

Thank you for all those wonderful infos, flyergirl! Your support means a lot to me.

Looking at the different Haverford sections I truly got confused with Haverford Township and Havertown. In another thread on the forum I read something about "other side of the track" in Havertown. Do you know what that means?
I will check out the link with the parks (thank you again!) and it's fine that not everything is within walking distance - it's not like we have one within walking distance here. What I wanted to know was just what's there to do for the kiddos/ budding Preteens.

In regards to taking the train we where thinking about the Ardmore station. Most areas one would have to drive to the train station anyways. I'm truly biased now towards Haverford, lol.

The "other side of the tracks" reference may be to the high speed line tracks, which run along Haverford Ave. On the side towards Lower Merion is super wealthy Main Line, and on the Havertown side is more middle class Main Line. Any such reference would have to be taken tongue-in-cheek. There is no "bad side" of Haverford. LOL.

[Boleyna73]

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

The "other side of the tracks" reference may be to the high speed line tracks, which run along Haverford Ave. On the side towards Lower Merion is super wealthy Main Line, and on the Havertown side is more middle class Main Line. Any such reference would have to be taken tongue-in-cheek. There is no "bad side" of Haverford. LOL.

That's good to know - thank you!

I wonder if anyone can tell me the neighborhoods to look for in the Abington School district?
The Glenside downtown area seems really neat (thank you, google maps), so to be somewhat close to it would be nice. Any area to look for specifically?