What are the safe suburbs of Philadelphia that offer public transportation to the city? (Chester: middle-class)

[Zanac]

What are the safe suburbs of Philadelphia that offer public transportation to the city? What is the rent like for apartments in these towns?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Zanac

What are the safe suburbs of Philadelphia that offer public transportation to the city? What is the rent like for apartments in these towns?

This is such a broad question that will surely elicit a lot of opinions.

First, it would be easier to point out which Philly suburbs are less comfortable than those that are.

Second, what is your rental budget and for how many people and BRs/BAs?

Here is a map of the rail system. For purposes of my contribution, I'm going to focus on Regional Rail although you and others can chime in otherwise.

The Thorndale line includes the classic wealthy "Main Line" communities.

The Doylestown, Warminster, and West Trenton lines feature (upper-)middle-class communities broadly.

The Elwyn line becomes suburban at Fernwood/Yeadon: most seem to find Lansdowne onward to be appealing. Media is a jewel in the area.

The Marcus Hook/Newark line is made up of mostly solid working-to-middle-class communities; you will want to avoid Chester.
The Norristown line is fine although some would argue that Norristown itself is not great.

Note that the Chestnut Hill West and East lines are enclosed in the city. One gets a bit of a suburban feel the closer one gets to the endpoint, especially starting in Mt. Airy.

[FindingZen]

I see that the OP has asked similar questions in other forums over the last few months. Hopefully, they will respond to any advice given here.

[newmarlig]

You should also check towns in South Jersey close to the PATCO high speedline. The trains run frequently and you can be in Center City in under a half hour.

www.ridepatco.org

[Mr. Map Man]

For the Norristown/Manayunk line, the housing stock is rather similar. Lots of row homes surrounding the main streets with large apartment complexes sprinkled in. Most stations have some parking, so park and ride commuters tend to live in detached single family homes a bit further away from the main streets. Technically, Conshohocken and Norristown are the only suburbs, but I provided the whole line below.

Average rent for a 2BR row home:

Norristown: $950 - $1,200
Conshohocken: $1,600 - $2,000
Spring Mill: N/A (extension of Conshy more or less)
Miquon: N/A (extension of Manayunk more or less)
Manayunk: $1,400 - $1,800
East Falls: $1,100 - $1,400
Allegheny: $900 - 1,000
N. Broad: $900 - $1,200
Temple University: $1,500

The large apartment complexes can range from $1,800 - $3000 for a 2BR depending on the amenities, quality, and location.