Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 03-18-2007, 09:28 AM
 
4 posts, read 41,423 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Hi... I'm relocating and will work in Exton, near the junction of N Pottstown Pike and 76. I'm looking for a place to live that is a 30 minute drive or less to work. I would like a newer house in a neighborhood near a city center. Perhaps an older neighborhood in a transitional phase? I have never lived in the "burbs".. I prefer city living, but I would like a newer place with a small to average yard. Any suggestions of towns with a lively city center and residential area!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for any suggestions.
Carol
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-18-2007, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,210,044 times
Reputation: 2715
The(best) nearest thing to city living is probably West Chester, and I wouldn't call that a city-more like a nice sized town.A very good one at that, great restaurants, walkable downtown,city planned neighborhoods. The preeminent city lifestyle in this entire area is Center City Philadelphia imo.Nothing remotely comparable.

Pottstown at one time was a vibrant small city ditto Downingtown but both of the cities have seen better days. Both are now probably better known for their suburban areas at least thats were most of the people are moving in to.

back to Exton.
There is a nice town center right in Exton(Main Street At Exton) that has excellent shopping and restaurants. Exton also has an impressive shopping mall and the King of Prussia Mall(largest Shopping mall in the US) is only 15 minutes away. There are numerous housing developments being built in the towns surrounding Exton. The housing market is fairly slow and their are tremendous values out there to be had.

I would suggest looking into West Chester-surrounding areas include Westtown,Goshen,Paoli,Birmingham,Chadds Ford

Exton/Downingtown- surrounding areas Chester Springs,Malvern,Lionville,Great Valley,Eagleview,Pickering Valley,Kimberton.

Good luck.you should enjoy that area. Exton and the surrounding area is growing quite a bit. Its still relatively young, 20 years ago it was mostly farmland and woods but there is alot starting to happen out there.

Last edited by rainrock; 03-18-2007 at 10:22 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2007, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Newtown Square, PA
179 posts, read 1,066,889 times
Reputation: 63
it really does depend on your price range! the mianline is nice with some nice city centers, wayne especially, but prices are high!! Downingtown and west chester are also nice with more reasonable prices. west chester has more of a city feel than any other town besides living in philly, and your ride to exton would be around 30 minutes with traffic, maybe less.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2007, 07:44 PM
 
4 posts, read 41,423 times
Reputation: 11
Hi Rainrock... Thanks for the reply. I would love to live in Philly city center, but the drive to work would be too much. I'll check out the areas you suggested on my next visit. On my first visit to Exton I did notice how new everything looks, and I prefer an more mature area with lots of nice trees.
Thanks again,
Carol
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2007, 07:58 PM
 
4 posts, read 41,423 times
Reputation: 11
Hi William,
Thanks for the insight. I'll definitly look into Wayne and West Chester, and some of the city center areas along the mainline. I'd like to be able to walk from my house to a city center.
Thanks again,
Carol
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-19-2007, 10:35 PM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,210,044 times
Reputation: 2715
CarolJB you should check out Phoenixville. This is exactly a transitional older town. This may be exactly what you are looking for. Its supposedly making a very nice comeback. Its not that far from your job site. Check out the city of Pottstown too, bad name but its a pretty cool small city. It has some really nice parts to it and a few marginal areas of town but you never hear about any serious crime in Pottstown.

Towns to check out

West Chester
Downingtown
Phoenixville
Pottstown
Malvern
Wayne
Paoli

Everything else in that general vicinity is suburban in nature.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-09-2007, 07:05 PM
 
19 posts, read 110,264 times
Reputation: 17
As mentioned above, home prices vary widely depending on what you are looking for. Obviously an older home in Pottstown is going to cost less than one in a new x-urban development. Prices have not topped out yet, either in Pottstown, or Malvern. Both areas are surrounded by developments, all the way to Berks County (where we live.)

You might also try rural Chester County, there are quite a variety of homes there from developments to colonial homes.
Check the areas around Route 401 and you'll see what I mean.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2007, 05:30 PM
 
1 posts, read 11,175 times
Reputation: 10
I would suggest mainline if you can pay for it. I am very sad to move but I have to with my job and selling a house in Ardmore no pressure if interested let me know its mid 500k. Narberth is a great place though too I think from what you described that would be a nice area to look at.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top