Best Walkable Safe Burbs of Philly (Chester, Ardmore: crime, house, schools)

[macalan]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Ambler might work. You won’t find a big box store such as Whole Foods or Home Depot there (they are nearby in places such as Plymouth Meeting), but it’s a great, walkable small town in an excellent school district, with public transportation, and nature nearby (plus the turnpike is less than 10 minutes away). So many people on this site suggest Main Line towns but there is so much more to suburban Philadelphia than the Main Line.

Thx. Certainly open to non-Main Line towns. Just would like public transit into Philly somewhere nearby (within 30 min drive). Would Doylestown be a fit?

[Tweb66]

Doylestown is great. The problem is from Philadelphia, whether by train or by car, it takes flipping forever to get to. Looks close on the map but it is deceiving.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by macalan

Thx. Certainly open to non-Main Line towns. Just would like public transit into Philly somewhere nearby (within 30 min drive). Would Doylestown be a fit?

There is a train station right in Ambler.

[Flyers Girl]

Originally Posted by macalan

Hi there. Thx for the suggestion. I read somewhere that King of Prussia is PA's mate to VA's Tysons Corner. If that comparison is accurate, that would be too crazy for us. Smaller is better.

Where we live currently a few towns over is a planned community - lots of trails, sidewalks, street trees. No mall, just a downtown area with doctors, dentists, vets, businesses, grocery store, pharmacy, professional offices, fire station, and independent shops and restaurants.

There's also an open air stadium for the annual tennis tournament and summer concerts, and a park on a lake for free concerts.

The are building performance center, and the only chain is a Starbucks. Mixed housing - single families, townhouses, several apartment and condo complexes, all interspersed throughout the 10K population town amongst lots of greenery. There are also lots and lots of "pocket parks". Each of the 12 or so "neighborhoods" has one.

There's a mix of ages from families to singles to elderly. There are several assisted living facilities, a couple of schools, churches, and a great library.

Everything is walkable, as the whole island is connected by trails. There are exercise stations throughout the trails so you can stop and get a good workout.

15 min from the airport, 15 min from downtown Charleston, 15 min to the town with the hospital and big box stores.

That's what we hope to find. Similar at least. It feels like it's own little town, but it's actually part of Charleston (Daniel Island). It was built from scratch 20 years ago, so is all "manufactured" but the way it was built out seems completely organic. And the planning done was impeccable.

If the bold above is truly one of your main criterion, then I will restate that Media is likely your best bet, IMO. As much as I love many, if not all, of our walkable Main Line towns, while they have lots of independent shops, they generally aren't the kinds of stores you'd be buying in all the time (i.e., think gift shops as opposed to a grocery store). Media has both.

[MarketStEl]

Flyers Girl makes a good point about where the stores serving your everyday needs are located.

Media has an Acme supermarket on Baltimore Pike, just one block south of the main drag, State Street; you won't find a full-line supermarket within walking distance of the other suburban downtowns.* State Street itself is lined with a global menu of restaurants and unique(ly local) shops, including a one-of-a-kind variety store in a former Woolworth's five-and-dime.

And a trolley runs down its middle. It's about a 30-minute ride from the end of the line at State and Orange streets to 69th Street Terminal, where you can catch the Market-Frankford rapid transit line for a 15-minute ride to Philadelphia City Hall. Or you can walk down Orange Street to Media Regional Rail station (about four blocks south) and get to Suburban Station, one block from City Hall, in about 35 minutes.

It's also closer to Philadephia International Airport than any of the suburbs on the Main Line, though you'd have to drive there (about 20-25 minutes with no traffic and about 35-40 minutes with it) or else spend about an hour or so on Regional Rail into 30th Street Station then out again to the airport.

"Everybody's Hometown" probably hits your sweet spot better than any of the other communities being discussed here, but all the others would be good choices as well — and all of them have public transit service. Most of them have both Regional Rail and buses. Media is unique among them in having trolley service.

Swarthmore, three stops closer in on the same Regional Rail line that serves Media, is a good bit smaller than the other communities mentioned here but shares the same attributes (to an extent). Its downtown is small and compact but very walkable and right next to the Regional Rail station. The region's oldest co-op grocery store (founded in 1937) is located right in the center of town and carries a full range of foods, though it skews upscale, and you don't have to belong to the co-op to shop there (but you get discounts and other perks if you do). Restaurant choices are meager compared to Media, but there is now a popular gathering place right on the edge of the downtown (and also steps from the train station): the Inn at Swarthmore, built by the college that put the town on the map, which has a restaurant called the Broad Table Tavern (which also has the borough's first liquor license; Swarthmore, like most of the communities in this region founded by Quakers, had been dry up until then). And Swarthmore College's Scott Arboretum (roughly coterminous with the college campus) makes for a great place to take a walk. If you prefer newer housing stock, however, you will find slim pickings here; the town was pretty much completely built out by World War II, and few houses have been demolished and replaced since then. It's equally convenient to PHL, as Exit 3 on the Blue Route (I-476) serves both Swarthmore in one direction and Media in the other.

*though one of the things that make the Instant Urbanist Village at Valley Forge in King of Prussia work is that its shopping center includes a Wegmans supermarket. Wegmans, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., is known for eye-popping produce sections and outstanding prepared-foods and deli departments, and they also carry domestic linens, housewares and small appliances, making them a good stand-in for a department store. And you can walk to the Wegmans from the townhouses and many apartment buildings that are part of the Village.

[NewtownBucks]

The Promenade at Granite Run is another planned town center that was recently redeveloped from an obsolete mall. That's something to look into. It's also very close to Media, although I also think being in Media itself is probably closest to what you are looking for.

[skintreesnail]

Isn't there a Trader Joe's in Media right on the main drag? It's got both a trolley and regional rail into the city as well. I don't have much experience with the suburbs, but media seemed to be one of the towns outside of Philadelphia that had pretty much everything you'd need as a resident. Always thought it strange how so many suburbs had a nice main street but lacked staples you'd expect in a walkable town, like a grocery store.

Chestnut Hill has that same feel, probably more so, only it's in Philly so doesn't really count

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by skintreesnail

Isn't there a Trader Joe's in Media right on the main drag? It's got both a trolley and regional rail into the city as well. I don't have much experience with the suburbs, but media seemed to be one of the towns outside of Philadelphia that had pretty much everything you'd need as a resident. Always thought it strange how so many suburbs had a nice main street but lacked staples you'd expect in a walkable town, like a grocery store.

Chestnut Hill has that same feel, probably more so, only it's in Philly so doesn't really count

I always put Media, West Chester, and Doylestown in the same category. They also all happen to be the county seats of their respective counties.

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by skintreesnail

Isn't there a Trader Joe's in Media right on the main drag? It's got both a trolley and regional rail into the city as well. I don't have much experience with the suburbs, but media seemed to be one of the towns outside of Philadelphia that had pretty much everything you'd need as a resident. Always thought it strange how so many suburbs had a nice main street but lacked staples you'd expect in a walkable town, like a grocery store.

Chestnut Hill has that same feel, probably more so, only it's in Philly so doesn't really count

If you aren't worried about the school district, and you're retired so not worried about wage tax, then I see no reason to rule out Chestnut Hill.

[myplacephilly]

What's your budget? I would suggest University City or Mount Airy, walkable and convenient neighborhoods in Philly. Both are close to many amenities and parks. Clark Park in University City is a wonderful community space, with a great farmers' market, and you would be near all the hospitals, too. There are some nice condos and garden apartments there, but you have to keep your eye out as they do not come available often.