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My wife and I have been planning to move to PA from NJ in the summer of 2022. I've been reading as much as I can in these forums and they have been very useful (thank you!). As our main driver are good schools there are way too many options that suit us.
We used to live in Pittsburgh, in a neighborhood called Squirrel Hill, and we loved it because there was a big feeling of community and we could walk a lot. Now we live in an apartment community in Hillsborough, NJ, and we also like it very much because my girls have many friends and they can just go and play outside all day. We would like that community feel in a more spacious home. We also would like a place that has good schools but also diverse enough. We don't want our daughters to grow in a bubble surrounded by snobby kids. We are looking to buy a house or a 3br townhouse up to $550k. We would like to find a house as new as possible. The areas that we have considered, clustered by what I think it's similar are:
- Doylestown (if we can afford it), Furlong, Jamison, Warrington
- Yardley
- Horsham
- Newtown, Holland, Richboro (we read about discrimination and racism in the high school so we are hesitant of Council Rock)
- Langhorne
- Willow Grove, Abington, Jenkintown, Ambler
There seem to be way too many good options. Could someone help us understand the difference between the areas, and perhaps recommend what you think would be the best fit for us?
thanks a lot!
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When are you moving? Summer 2022
Where are you coming from? Hillsborough, NJ
Why are you moving? Taxes, more house for your buck, public colleges, hoping to find a friendlier community
Where will you be working? Wife, Newtown - Me, I could do Horsham or Titusville, NJ. Mostly work from home.
Have you been here yet? Yes. We have been driving around some weekends. We are not new to PA, we used to live in Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill) and we loved it.
Will you buy or rent? buy, house or town up to 550k, preferred in community. 3br + full basement or bonus.
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? house or townhouse, 500k
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? N/A
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? N/A
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, two kids 7, 11
Do you prefer public or private schools? good public, our girls are good students and I hope they get into good colleges with merit scholarships in the future.
Do you have pets? small dog
Do you want or need a yard? Small, low maintenance. Enough for grill and fire pit.
Are you keeping a car? 2 cars
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? I would like to be close to activity. I also like communities.
What do you want to be closest to? basic services, like small shopping, groceries.
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
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? We are from South America. We would appreciate some diversity.
All these areas are relatively similar to one another and sometimes you will see it written as the bux-mont area, standing for Bucks-Montgomery county. All of them have fairly large good school districts. Council Rock and Central Bucks have multiple high schools so I wouldn't read too much in to any particular specific 'review' you might come across. However with that said, the montgomery county towns you mentioned (Willow Grove, Abington, Jenkintown, Ambler) are more diverse than the towns further north.
Some of the areas you have listed, while very nice, consist primarily of newer suburban housing developments with very little diversity. These areas would include Jamison, Warrington, and Horsham. So, would not be similar to Squirrel Hill, if that's what you're looking for. Jamison/Warrington (Central Bucks SD) has better public schools than Horsham, though they are all fine in that regard.
On the other hand, Doylestown, Newtown, Jenkintown, and Ambler are actual towns where you could walk places (if you lived in the town itself, not just the postal address). Outside of the actual town, they too will be classic suburban housing developments. Willow Grove / Abington are inner-ring suburbs with a more concentrated feel to them and older housing stock, but not really a downtown. There is also a big variation in proximity to the City among this group, if that matters to you (as you mentioned train/subway). Doylestown and Newtown are not particularly convenient to Philly while the others are much more accessible.
The ones in Eastern/Southern Bucks County (Yardley, Langhorne) I'm not as familiar with. Another area that sounds like it would fit what you are looking for would be Lower Merion township (older inner-ring suburb with very good schools and more diversity), though you might be priced out of there.
If I can piggy back here, are these counties pretty diverse? We're an Asian family that may need to relocate to the NE and are debating between Philly and the NYC area. Philly costs are so much lower and we only need to access NYC twice a month.
If I can piggy back here, are these counties pretty diverse? We're an Asian family that may need to relocate to the NE and are debating between Philly and the NYC area. Philly costs are so much lower and we only need to access NYC twice a month.
If you are Asian you have nothing to worry about in any of these areas. These are all middle to upper middle class areas of a major metro area where people in general are going to be very tolerant. However, as a general rule of thumb, the closer you get to the city, the more diverse it will become. So, the Central Bucks school district is not particularly diverse, but inner ring districts such as Lower Merion, Upper Dublin, and Abington will have a bit more diversity. But I don’t expect that you would feel uncomfortable as an Asian in any of these areas and I don’t know if that should be a consideration when selecting among them.
That being said, you can go on Niche and see the demographic profile of any public school or district. Some will be higher and some will be lower, but it would not be at all uncommon to have 10% Asian. North Penn, for example, which is a very good district is about 20% Asian (mostly Indian and Korean). But this isn’t CA so it isn’t going to be like what you may have experienced there.
If you are Asian you have nothing to worry about in any of these areas. These are all middle to upper middle class areas of a major metro area where people in general are going to be very tolerant. However, as a general rule of thumb, the closer you get to the city, the more diverse it will become. So, the Central Bucks school district is not particularly diverse, but inner ring districts such as Lower Merion, Upper Dublin, and Abington will have a bit more diversity. But I don’t expect that you would feel uncomfortable as an Asian in any of these areas and I don’t know if that should be a consideration when selecting among them.
That being said, you can go on Niche and see the demographic profile of any public school or district. Some will be higher and some will be lower, but it would not be at all uncommon to have 10% Asian. North Penn, for example, which is a very good district is about 20% Asian (mostly Indian and Korean). But this isn’t CA so it isn’t going to be like what you may have experienced there.
Thanks Angus. Also looking at KoP, but that looks a bit pricier, still within my range but why pay California prices and not live in California. Am also considering the NYC area. Thanks again!
OP, I just moved from a Morris county townhouse on .21 acre to a beautiful 1.1 acre home in Doylestown. We pretty much limited our search to Central Buck school district and we wanted to be somewhere convenient to shopping. It does take a few minutes longer to get to the same stores we like (Aldi for example) but we’re getting used to it as it’s just so damn peaceful here.
Taxes are half of what we were paying in NJ, but we went over budget on the house. We considered other areas (Pennridge, New Hope/Solesbury, Council Rock) but something kept drawing us to Doylestown. We didn’t look at anything south of Warminster or north of Doylestown. Langhorne is too close to Bensalem/Levittown. We quickly looked at the eastern areas of Montgomery county too but not too deeply as there wasn’t many homes worth seeing.
There are about 50 homes in my subdivision. The neighborhood is amazing. Kids out riding bikes everyday. Themed block parties, organized Trick or Treating, guys “garage night”. It’s a totally different way of life in a way. Our only utility is electric and cable. We’re on well water, septic, and oil heat. Time will tell how we feel about that. So far, it’s no different. We also have a whole home generator on the well which is a nice plus. That seems to be more common around here.
The lack of street lights takes some getting used to. It can be pretty dark here. There’s tons of deer, foxes, rabbits, toads, and ducks around to watch out for. If you have any questions just ask, as I just went through the process you are beginning.
OP, I just moved from a Morris county townhouse on .21 acre to a beautiful 1.1 acre home in Doylestown. We pretty much limited our search to Central Buck school district and we wanted to be somewhere convenient to shopping. It does take a few minutes longer to get to the same stores we like (Aldi for example) but we’re getting used to it as it’s just so damn peaceful here.
Taxes are half of what we were paying in NJ, but we went over budget on the house. We considered other areas (Pennridge, New Hope/Solesbury, Council Rock) but something kept drawing us to Doylestown. We didn’t look at anything south of Warminster or north of Doylestown. Langhorne is too close to Bensalem/Levittown. We quickly looked at the eastern areas of Montgomery county too but not too deeply as there wasn’t many homes worth seeing.
There are about 50 homes in my subdivision. The neighborhood is amazing. Kids out riding bikes everyday. Themed block parties, organized Trick or Treating, guys “garage night”. It’s a totally different way of life in a way. Our only utility is electric and cable. We’re on well water, septic, and oil heat. Time will tell how we feel about that. So far, it’s no different. We also have a whole home generator on the well which is a nice plus. That seems to be more common around here.
The lack of street lights takes some getting used to. It can be pretty dark here. There’s tons of deer, foxes, rabbits, toads, and ducks around to watch out for. If you have any questions just ask, as I just went through the process you are beginning.
OP, I just moved from a Morris county townhouse on .21 acre to a beautiful 1.1 acre home in Doylestown. We pretty much limited our search to Central Buck school district and we wanted to be somewhere convenient to shopping. It does take a few minutes longer to get to the same stores we like (Aldi for example) but we’re getting used to it as it’s just so damn peaceful here.
Taxes are half of what we were paying in NJ, but we went over budget on the house. We considered other areas (Pennridge, New Hope/Solesbury, Council Rock) but something kept drawing us to Doylestown. We didn’t look at anything south of Warminster or north of Doylestown. Langhorne is too close to Bensalem/Levittown. We quickly looked at the eastern areas of Montgomery county too but not too deeply as there wasn’t many homes worth seeing.
There are about 50 homes in my subdivision. The neighborhood is amazing. Kids out riding bikes everyday. Themed block parties, organized Trick or Treating, guys “garage night”. It’s a totally different way of life in a way. Our only utility is electric and cable. We’re on well water, septic, and oil heat. Time will tell how we feel about that. So far, it’s no different. We also have a whole home generator on the well which is a nice plus. That seems to be more common around here.
The lack of street lights takes some getting used to. It can be pretty dark here. There’s tons of deer, foxes, rabbits, toads, and ducks around to watch out for. If you have any questions just ask, as I just went through the process you are beginning.
Wow, it sounds amazing. My cousins live in a 60's Colonial in Warrington that's on a beautiful street with trees and large lots. Their backyard is beautiful, with the occasional deer roaming through. They had septic (and because of some problem with it, we could never use the downstairs powder room, which was a pain) but within the past few years, they were tied into the sewer system. So check that out if you're moving into a similar neighborhood because I think it cost them a pretty penny.
I had oil heat in my last house in PA and, while it could be expensive with the fluctuating price of oil, it sure was warm and cozy. But ideally I'd prefer gas heat. And I never would buy another house with an electric heat pump (it NEVER got warm enough in cold temps) but some people are fine with them.
Last year I did an exhaustive search in the areas you are targeting. I also was looking for a townhome. You can find single family homes everywhere but townhomes tend to be clustered. And there are plenty of good options in your price range.
I wanted the Abingdon/Willow Grove area at first but it has very few townhomes. Newtown has a high concentration in the price range you are targeting. It is worth a close look, schools are great and it has a community feel.
The 309 corridor north of the Turnpike also has a large number of townhomes, from Ambler up to Colmar. The area has a lot of amenities but commuting to Newtown can be 40 minutes or more.
Yardley has a number of townhomes and also many of twins (duplexes). It has a lot of what you are looking for and a reasonable commute for both of you.
Best of luck with your search.
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