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Old 02-05-2018, 05:56 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
273 posts, read 312,619 times
Reputation: 749

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I tend to agree with KansastoSouthphilly above. Once when I was newly out of college and needed to find an inexpensive apartment in the western end of the Philadelphia area, I lived in Glenolden—which seems fairly representative of most of the neighboring communities along the Wilmington/Newark rail line (Folcroft, Norwood, Ridley Park).

It was a convenient location as far as rail access is concerned, and as far as I could tell, it was safe, but the area probably wasn’t what most people would call “nice”. The community was reasonably tidy, but my overall impression was one of an area in decline. From my casual observations, it seemed that the demographics of the area skewed older, white, and working class—many Irish and Italian. I’m not sure about schools, but my guess is that they’re a tier below districts like Rose Tree Media and Wallingford-Swarthmore. I also got the sense that many Catholic families sent their children to Catholic schools and so were perhaps not terribly concerned with the public schools.

And unlike Media, which has a very densely packed pedestrian-oriented Main Street with lots of local businesses (Swarthmore has its own much smaller downtown), towns like Glenolden don’t have much of a downtown per se. You’ll see a little florist shop here and a local pizza joint there, but not much of a central business district to stroll through.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that these towns are bad areas—and you might have absolutely terrific neighbors who look out for you and become dear friends. But they might not be the type of community you’re looking for.
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Old 02-06-2018, 04:30 AM
 
Location: NYC & Media PA
831 posts, read 673,649 times
Reputation: 779
Be mindful of school taxes also. The Swarthmore school district is sought after but taxes are high compared to Rose Tree Media schools (which is also very good). I would suggest opening google maps and looking along the Media train line at all the stations from Swartmore station to Elwyn then open Zillow and look at listings and sold prices along the same routes. Just FYI there is also a trolley that leaves the media area that requires a connection at 69th street to a subway that will take you to U city. The subway crowd is comparable to NYC lines in Brooklyn or Queens (much edgier than the regional rail) so when I ride it I wear my headphones.


We live in Media and my wife took the Media line (regional rail) to CC for years and now does the trolley because the monthly pass is cheaper and the trolley line is closer to our home but frankly if your used to Metro North you will be happier on the regional rail and not trolley but I none the less wanted to throw that out there because there are several options to get to CC from our little "borough".
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Old 02-06-2018, 06:44 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,265,451 times
Reputation: 2695
Yea given your commute at UPENN or CHOP in UCITY, 100% put Media AND Swarthmore on your list. Both amazing places, with options in your budget.

Narberth is also very desirable, your commute just will be extended by a small margin. There are buses that loop from 30th St. Station to University City with several stops, but this adds an additional layer to your commute, although the intervals are at a high frequency (every 6 minutes) so I would not find it to really be a major inconvenience.

Here is information on the LUCY loop.

https://www.septa.org/schedules/bus/pdf/LUCY.pdf


I would really stick to Media and Swarthmore. Both are amazing places and you are going to get a bit more for your money than the Main Line.

For a wild card though I would check out Jenkintown. Excellent schools. Solid Commuting options. 3 separate Regional Rail lines all pass through the Jenkintown station, so the frequency of service is going to be higher than Media, with that your time on the train is 10 minutes longer. Jenkintown to 30th St. Station is a 35 minute commute. Although Jenkintown you are going to be able to buy the most house for your money IMO, and why it is worth looking at.
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Old 02-06-2018, 07:37 AM
 
7 posts, read 10,130 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you all so much! This is really helpful and the consensus on Media/Swarthmore is very useful.
Just as a follow-up, if we were to put shorter commute to University City as the #1 priority (i.e. less than the 45-50 min door to door from Media/Swarthmore) are there any towns that would fit the criteria of strong schools and family-friendly? Or are those the first options (from a commute perspective) that would meet the criteria?

Thank you!
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Old 02-06-2018, 07:47 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,265,451 times
Reputation: 2695
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahkc View Post
Thank you all so much! This is really helpful and the consensus on Media/Swarthmore is very useful.
Just as a follow-up, if we were to put shorter commute to University City as the #1 priority (i.e. less than the 45-50 min door to door from Media/Swarthmore) are there any towns that would fit the criteria of strong schools and family-friendly? Or are those the first options (from a commute perspective) that would meet the criteria?

Thank you!
Stick with Media/Swarthmore. They are your best bet. You will love it there. Very vibrant, family friendly towns with excellent schools and very manageable commutes.

Again if you are looking to add 10 minutes to your commute and want to get a little more house for your money, check out as your #3Jenkintown/Abington. Also great area, with great schools. And it is always good IMO to have another area to compare/contrast so you can really build up what you like.

I think the LUCY Loop was not really mentioned, but it makes commuting from 30th St. Station to CHOP rather stress free.

#4 I would check out Narberth, but you will get the least house for your money here as the Main Line is home to the most expensive real estate in the region.
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Old 02-06-2018, 09:08 AM
 
40 posts, read 46,304 times
Reputation: 48
One other thought: Given you have two under 3 and want to prioritize a short commute, what about renting in the city for a few years? If you both work and need the kids in all-day care, public schools won’t be very useful to you for at least 3 years. There are absolutely lovely neighborhoods in the city that might even allow you to walk to work.
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Old 02-06-2018, 09:45 AM
 
7 posts, read 10,130 times
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narb06, we wouldn't be opposed to that, although would really like a yard and ideally a townhouse vs an apartment. Are there neighborhoods to look into that would match that criteria?

Again thanks for all the help to my naive questions!
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Old 02-06-2018, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,265,451 times
Reputation: 2695
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahkc View Post
narb06, we wouldn't be opposed to that, although would really like a yard and ideally a townhouse vs an apartment. Are there neighborhoods to look into that would match that criteria?

Again thanks for all the help to my naive questions!

Desirable city neighborhoods within your budget that really are quite charming:

Chestnut Hill
West Mt. Airy

Both are comprised of beautiful, historic single family, twins and rowhomes. Has a very charming cobblestone lined main street (Germantown Ave) and has regional rail access to Center City. (approx. 30 minute train time).

Both city neighborhoods are very family oriented.

Here is information on Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy:

Chestnut Hill - Towns of the Philadelphia Countryside — visitphilly.com

Mt. Airy - Towns of the Philadelphia Countryside — visitphilly.com


You could also check out the Clark Park/Spruce Hill neighborhoods of West Philadelphia/University City. Both are extremely desirable and family oriented. Offer quite a bit of green space for being in the city. And you could technically walk (25 mins), bike (10 mins), trolley (15 mins). to work every day.

Here is information on Spruce Hill:

Spruce Hill - Philadelphia Neighborhoods — visitphilly.com

There are many family friendly neighborhoods within the City itself. These are just 2 to highlight. With the real advantage for you being Spruce Hill as you could literally walk to work everyday. It is a very pleasant neighborhood. Lots of Penn faculty and families live there.
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Old 02-06-2018, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Morrison, CO
34,106 posts, read 18,343,082 times
Reputation: 25674
If you are looking in Delco, the farther west you go, the better. Yes, the commute lengthens the more distant you are from the city, but with the train it is usually just minutes more. Media, like West Chester, and Phoenixville has done a very nice job with it's "downtown".
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Old 02-06-2018, 07:09 PM
 
2,523 posts, read 2,634,892 times
Reputation: 1836
Quote:
Originally Posted by briantroutman View Post
I tend to agree with KansastoSouthphilly above. Once when I was newly out of college and needed to find an inexpensive apartment in the western end of the Philadelphia area, I lived in Glenolden—which seems fairly representative of most of the neighboring communities along the Wilmington/Newark rail line (Folcroft, Norwood, Ridley Park).

It was a convenient location as far as rail access is concerned, and as far as I could tell, it was safe, but the area probably wasn’t what most people would call “nice”. The community was reasonably tidy, but my overall impression was one of an area in decline. From my casual observations, it seemed that the demographics of the area skewed older, white, and working class—many Irish and Italian. I’m not sure about schools, but my guess is that they’re a tier below districts like Rose Tree Media and Wallingford-Swarthmore. I also got the sense that many Catholic families sent their children to Catholic schools and so were perhaps not terribly concerned with the public schools.

And unlike Media, which has a very densely packed pedestrian-oriented Main Street with lots of local businesses (Swarthmore has its own much smaller downtown), towns like Glenolden don’t have much of a downtown per se. You’ll see a little florist shop here and a local pizza joint there, but not much of a central business district to stroll through.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that these towns are bad areas—and you might have absolutely terrific neighbors who look out for you and become dear friends. But they might not be the type of community you’re looking for.
Briantroutman has described the difference between Media and Glenolden really well, etc.
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