Heading to Bucks County- Advice on Community (Philadelphia, Washington: apartment, renting)

[Cccespo]

Hello- need advice on finding a great community in Bucks county. We would like great schools and neighbors:

When are you moving? In the next few months
Where are you coming from? Mercer County, NJ
Why are you moving? To leave NJ and fins a more suitable state for us
Where will you be working? NJ- Mercer County
Have you been here yet? yes

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House. Would like to spend up to 500k but not more.
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? N/A

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? PA
(If you answered NJ - post your answers here: //www.city-data.com/forum/new-j...-philadelphia/)

Are you married or single? Do you have children? married with two kids 4 and 8
Do you prefer public or private schools? Public
Do you have pets? Cats
Do you want or need a yard? Yes- want to be able to have nice outdoor space to garden and kids to play
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Calm

What do you want to be closest to?
Work y
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) y
Nightlife
Train or subway stations

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
Would like area with lots of kids and great schools. We are more conservative politically and having some people like us would be great. Always open to different opinions though
Favorite Beverage - Craft Beer, wine, water? Wine!!!

[Wells5]

What's wrong with the Hopewell Township/Pennington area? You'd be hard pressed to find a better or more beautiful area in Bucks County. Great schools, too.

[MarketStEl]

Most of the school districts in Central Bucks Couty, which is close enough to Trenton, are outstanding, and you have your pick of communities where the homes have sizable yards and a decent number of kids.

In particular, I'd recommend you look at communities in the Central Bucks, New Hope-Solebury, Council Rock and Pennsbury school districts. The last of these four is closest to Trenton and covers Lower Makefield Township, which I think would check off all of your boxes.

Next-door Upper Makefield, which includes Washington Crossing, is in the Council Rock district.

Given your desire for quiet, you'd probably not want to live in New Hope Borough itself, but there are plenty of areas in surrounding Solebury Township that would suit you. However: most of the territory in this school district has a more rural feel, and it sounds to me like you'd rather live in a subdivision.

Central Bucks is the furthest district away from your work, but it includes the county seat of Doylestown, one of the most charming of the communities surrounding Philadelphia. There's a fair bit of development taking place in surrounding Doylestown Township.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Wells5

What's wrong with the Hopewell Township/Pennington area? You'd be hard pressed to find a better or more beautiful area in Bucks County. Great schools, too.

One of my guesses for their desire to move to Bucks: Lower taxes overall.

Property taxes run higher in New Jersey than they do in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania's flat state income tax is lower than New Jersey's graduated one.

And I think there's a tax treaty between the two states that has workers who live in one state and work in the other pay state income taxes to the state in which they live.