Relocating from NYC to suburb Philadelphia (Lansdale, Washington: houses, school districts, restaurants)

[ARIELEVY]

Hi There,


We are planning to relocate from NYC to suburb Philadelphia due to husband new job in Spring House.

We are looking into different towns and school but overwhelmed as we are not familiar with the area. What we are looking for is the following (in the below order of priority):

1. Good public schools (have middle school age kids)

2. Friendly, warm and safe community. High quality but not snobbish.

3. City like town – walkable, cultural, with happening downtown and places for kids/teens to play/meet/hangout

4. Academic Jewish/Israeli community (not necessary orthodox, just traditional)



Our budget is ~1M and would like to find 3-4BD house with a character and green outdoors.

We are looking within 15-20 miles from Spring House and so far came out with the following options

Doylestown (Bucks County)

Bala Cynwyd or Narberth (Main Line)

Blue bell area (Montgomery County)

We are opened to other suggestions and would love to hear any input/advise on the above options from those who are familiar with the area,


Thank You!

[BPP1999]

All of the areas you suggested have good school districts. If your husband works in Spring House you could look into Fort Washington as well. The school district there is Upper Dublin, which is about ~ 10% Jewish or so. The Abington School District might work as well; it also has a sizable Jewish population. So does the Upper Moreland School District. You could also try the Lafayette Hill area, which is in the Colonial School District (where I went). Lafayette Hill (which sits in Whitemarsh Township) itself is probably 20-25% Jewish but the Colonial School District in its entirety is about 10% or so. (The school districts and municipalities are somewhat confusing in this area but it is what it is).

Bala Cynwyd will be a little further of a commute.

Good luck.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by ARIELEVY

Hi There,


We are planning to relocate from NYC to suburb Philadelphia due to husband new job in Spring House.

We are looking into different towns and school but overwhelmed as we are not familiar with the area. What we are looking for is the following (in the below order of priority):

1. Good public schools (have middle school age kids)

2. Friendly, warm and safe community. High quality but not snobbish.

3. City like town – walkable, cultural, with happening downtown and places for kids/teens to play/meet/hangout

4. Academic Jewish/Israeli community (not necessary orthodox, just traditional)



Our budget is ~1M and would like to find 3-4BD house with a character and green outdoors.

We are looking within 15-20 miles from Spring House and so far came out with the following options

Doylestown (Bucks County)

Bala Cynwyd or Narberth (Main Line)

Blue bell area (Montgomery County)

We are opened to other suggestions and would love to hear any input/advise on the above options from those who are familiar with the area,


Thank You!

Those are all excellent communities with great schools. With your budget, you will be able to find a 3-4 BR single family house with at least a nice yard in almost any community in the Philly suburbs (this isn't NYC, LOL).

Of the three places you mentioned, Blue Bell is the most convenient for a work commute to Spring House. Wissahickon school district is one of the best in the state. Blue Bell does not have much in the way of a downtown area itself, but isn't too far from anywhere, including Ambler, Lansdale, Jenkintown, or Chestnut Hill/Philly, and there are plenty of kids activities (sports, etc) in the area.

Doylestown is about 20-25 mins from Spring House, but it probably has the best amenities of the three areas in terms of a walkable/happening downtown area with restaurants & other things to do. Central Bucks is also a great school district, but it is enormous (5000 HS students in their 3 high schools vs 1500 at Wissahickon). I looked at Doylestown when we moved to Bucks, but settled on Newtown instead because we were a little apprehensive about the enormity of the district even if it is a highly rated district (Council Rock is a big district as well, but not as big - ~3000 between 2 high schools). That's just our own quirkiness, though. If the size of the district doesn't bother you, then Central Bucks is an excellent school district.

The Main Line towns are comparable to Doylestown in terms of happening downtowns & entertainment. That area is a little more snooty compared to Doylestown, which is more laid back, but that sort of thing typically is what you make of it. There are plenty of friendly & unpretentious people in the Main Line area, too, you just have to avoid the ones who aren't. The commute from the Main Line is a lot less friendly than Blue Bell or Doylestown, but it's not unmanageable (depending on where you are, a rush hour commute should be about 35-45 mins each way). Main Line schools are excellent, too, whether it's Radnor, Lower Merion, Conestoga, or any of the other schools in the area.

Unfortunately, I really don't know anything about the Jewish population or education in any of these areas, but I would think that any of them should have synagogues and schools convenient. I know there are at least 2 in Newtown, but not being Jewish, I can't really tell you anything about them.

[BR Valentine]

Originally Posted by ARIELEVY

Hi There,


We are planning to relocate from NYC to suburb Philadelphia due to husband new job in Spring House.

We are looking into different towns and school but overwhelmed as we are not familiar with the area. What we are looking for is the following (in the below order of priority):

1. Good public schools (have middle school age kids)

2. Friendly, warm and safe community. High quality but not snobbish.

3. City like town – walkable, cultural, with happening downtown and places for kids/teens to play/meet/hangout

4. Academic Jewish/Israeli community (not necessary orthodox, just traditional)



Our budget is ~1M and would like to find 3-4BD house with a character and green outdoors.

We are looking within 15-20 miles from Spring House and so far came out with the following options

Doylestown (Bucks County)

Bala Cynwyd or Narberth (Main Line)

Blue bell area (Montgomery County)

We are opened to other suggestions and would love to hear any input/advise on the above options from those who are familiar with the area,


Thank You!

Narberth / Bala Cynwyd has the largest Jewish community of the areas you mentioned. It is also by far the longest commute to Springhouse at rush hour. It’s going to be at least 50 minutes. The schools are good and your budget is fine for that area, but the trade-off is going to be a longer commute.

My suggestion would be to look in the Upper Dublin and Wissahickon (Blue Bell) school districts. It will be a very easy commute to Springhouse from either. You shouldn’t feel socially isolated in either. Upper Dublin has the greater concentration of Jews between the two districts. You’ll be close to walkable areas such as Ambler and Chestnut Hill.

Doylestown is a good option as well. One thing to consider is how often you want to go into the city and/or be engaged in activities in the broader Jewish community. Wissahickon and Upper Dublin are a more centrally located within the metro area than Doylestown. They’re both, Upper Dublin especially, closer to the geographic center of the Jewish community in the northern suburbs than Doylestown is.

Edited to Add: Someone else mentioned Upper Moreland. That’s a good option too. Jenkintown (located in Abington Township but has its own school district) is another place to consider. Jenkintown is somewhat walkable and there are many Jewish families in the area. However, the school district is tiny. It has less than 700 students K-12. I’ve known people who love the district’s size because it’s effectively like sending your kids to private school and others who disliked Jenkintown SD for being too small. IMO it’s worth checking out.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by BR Valentine

Narberth / Bala Cynwyd has the largest Jewish community of the areas you mentioned. It is also by far the longest commute to Springhouse at rush hour. It’s going to be at least 50 minutes. The schools are good and your budget is fine for that area, but the trade-off is going to be a longer commute.

My suggestion would be to look in the Upper Dublin and Wissahickon (Blue Bell) school districts. It will be a very easy commute to Springhouse from either. You shouldn’t feel socially isolated in either. Upper Dublin has the greater concentration of Jews between the two districts. You’ll be close to walkable areas such as Ambler and Chestnut Hill.

Doylestown is a good option as well. One thing to consider is how often you want to go into the city and/or be engaged in activities in the broader Jewish community. Wissahickon and Upper Dublin are a more centrally located within the metro area than Doylestown. They’re both, Upper Dublin especially, closer to the geographic center of the Jewish community in the northern suburbs than Doylestown is.

Edited to Add: Someone else mentioned Upper Moreland. That’s a good option too. Jenkintown (located in Abington Township but has its own school district) is another place to consider. Jenkintown is somewhat walkable and there are many Jewish families in the area. However, the school district is tiny. It has less than 700 students K-12. I’ve known people who love the district’s size because it’s effectively like sending your kids to private school and others who disliked Jenkintown SD for being too small. IMO it’s worth checking out.

I have friends in Jenkintown who absolutely love the school district, both the small size/intimacy and the quality of the education.

[ARIELEVY]

HI Everyone - Thank you so much for the helpful input and suggestions. I am happy to hear that we are (more or less) in the right direction and that we can afford a spacious place in a great school district. We are planning to go down to Philly for a week or so and explore the different towns/schools in order to narrow down our choices. then we'll start looking for houses... Its an overwhelming process but we are looking forward to be out of NYC crowdedness.
Best wishes to all,
Ariel