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My husband and I are in our early 30s and will be relocating from Chicago in a few months. We both have lived in Washington DC , Chicago and loved certain parts of NYC. We want to find a nice area that is vibrant, safe, family oriented (will be starting a family this year) and easy access to NYC. He will have to travel to NYC occasionally so if we can find an area that meets most of our criteria that would be a perfect situation. Any suggestions anyone can provide to us will be greatly appreciated.
Here is some information about us and what we are looking for that might be helpful to you.
I've done some researching and a lof of people are saying Main Line and Old City/Society Hill.
We like to find an area half-way between NYC and Philadelphia and South Jersey.
I've narrowed my search down to the Main Line but if there are other nice areas I'm open to suggestions.
Where are you moving from? Lincoln Park Chicago
Where will your husband be working? Collegeville, NYC Will you buy or rent? We like to rent for 1 year but if we find an area that we love we would consider buying.
Price Range? Rent($2000-$2500) Buy(400k-600k)
Do you prefer public or private schools? Some form of quality day care is important and good school district for elementary school.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Restaurants and coffee shops, boutiques , parks, a cinema and some form of downtown would be desirable (don't want small town or rural feel.
How will you get to work? By car but would like to be close to train station b/c my husband will have to travel to NYC and we love NYC.
Activities? We love to do different things so variety is important to us.
Can anyone tell me a little more about Main Line. I don't quite understnad why it's so big and popular place to live. I would appreciate your recommendations including some recommendations on real-estate agents/websites for the area.
The Main Line is a string of traditionally upscale communities in the NW 'burbs. Lancaster Avenue/Route 30 is the common thread that literally runs through all of these places with Narberth, Wayne and Bryn Mawr sprouting traditional downtowns. School districts are generally considered to be among the best in the region although there are other good choices elsewhere. You'd be in relatively high-density suburbia.
Depending on the size of home (SFH?) you're looking for, your renting/buying range may be reasonable; others more knowledgeable can verify.
There are other choices to consider, however none of them would allow your husband to have a train-only commute to NYC without dipping down into the city first. Living along the Main Line would at least allow the option of taking Amtrak from Ardmore or Paoli. Alternately, there is a less expensive, if more time-consuming option of taking a combination of SEPTA trains to Trenton, NJ where your husband would directly connect with the NJ Transit trains.
Over in what I'd like to call the "V" above Philly, upscale areas of Abington (east of Old York Road/Route 611, south of Susquehanna Rd.), Jenkintown, and Cheltenham may appeal. Jenkintown acts as the de facto downtown for the surrounding area. This might be roughly halfway between Collegeville and a car ride to the NJ Transit's Hamilton train station (recommended over Trenton's station for parking purposes).
Also in Bucks County on the other side of the river from NJ, there are communities such as Yardley, Newtown and Lower Makefield that have an increasing number of NYC ex-pats and other determined super-commuters who either drive or take a short SEPTA ride over to Trenton for the aforementioned NJ Transit connection. This choice would obviously favor your husband more than yourself.
You may have to decide either who is willing to endure the longer commute or choose to both have moderately strenuous daily travel.
Another area you may want to consider swould be Chestnut Hill, also served by two train lines, but City wage tax (additional 3% of income). This is a great neighborhood with a reall downtown feel, a little more suburban in nature when compared to Lincoln Park. Also on Chestnut Hill Chestnut Hill Videos « The Shops and Restaurants of Chestnut Hill you would likely have to look at private schooling as the Philadelphia school system is lacking
The Main line is a collection of older more dense suburban areas, some of the wealthiest and nicest in the country. Great schools both old and new money wrapped around an old main street feel with shops/rest/bars/cafes but again is definately sleepier than lincoln Park.
Bucks is a little more rural/suburban with very quaint old towns (400 years old for some), main streets sorrounded by newer suburban sprawl and rolling hills and pretty landscapes. Newtown, Yardly, Upper Makefield, Even the New hope area afford excellent schools and close proximity to trenton (many people to Manhattan from here), Council Rock in that general area probably has the best rep among the schools. But honestly both the main line and that area of Bucks offer schools as good or better than just about anywhere in the country and are consistently ranked aming the best in the state and country.
Honestly I would think a lot has to do with job location, a commute a few times a month from the main line is not bad, not something you want to do everyday, bucks is better for more frequent but may be further from the regular office etc.
Another area you may want to consider is Center City (Phillys downtown) it is by far the most vibrant area of the Philly area and in many ways gives a scaled down version of NYC. But again wage tax and the like. But it may if renting give a good location to get a vibe for the city and explore where to live etc. Also Center is about 65 minutes via Amtrak from 30th Street station (main Philly train station) to Penn Station in NYC
Edit
Oh sorry, I just saw Collegeville as a place of work, I would suggest the main line, ~20-30 minutes to Collegeville and 1hr and 40 minutes with Septa and Amtrak (Pfizer will pay for) out of Philly
With NYC being a location your husband will need to commute to on occassion you are somewhat more restricted with what areas you can look at. If you strongly feel that you want to live on the Main Line I would recommend looking at homes near Ardmore or Paoli (both of which are stops for the Amtrak Keystone which runs to NYC).
I have actually met a few people who do the Ardmore-NYC commute via Amtrak on a daily basis. That's 2 hours 1-way but they do work on the train so their employers allow their hours to be a little more flexible. If you are in Philly or near an Amtrak station north of Philly the commute is significantly shorter. From Philly its 1 hour 20 min (1 hour 5 min Acela), and from Cromwells Heights Station its only 1 hour.
www.everyhome.com - This is a great site for real estate listings in the area, which although you are renting may be something you want to look at.
Explore Classic Towns | Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia - This is a website that mostly talks about the type of towns you are looking for (Restaurants, coffee shops, cinema, downtown, etc.) in the greater Philly area. Phoenixville (where I own currently) would be the closest match for Collegeville BUT if you are commuting into NYC on even a semi-regular basis I would want to find a place closer to an Amtrak station.
It's a tough combination what you are looking for, but I think if you do enough experimenting you will be able to find it. Good luck!
For a spot (somewhat) equidistant to Collegeville, NYC & South Jersey you may want to consider Buck's County. The area has trains (regional rails and Amtrak) that could get you to NYC or Philly quickly, though the commute to Collegeville (likely on the PA turnpike) would be a grind and probably not something you'd want to do every day. Newtown (Council Rock school district) and Yardley (Pennsbury school district), for example, would meet your requirements for vibrant, safe, family oriented, and good schools in Buck's.
I loved to see Old City & Society Hill on your list of potentials. It would be easier than the western PA suburbs to NYC or New Jersey, but still not easy to get to Collegeville. (Be warned 76 is a tough road, particularly during rush hours.)
That said, I really enjoyed living in Center City when we were starting our family. There is a good amount of people with infants & toddlers living downtown. The support structure (mommy & me classes, parks, etc.) exists to foster interaction with other parents, which for me made it easy(ish) to be a new mom in a new city. More importantly, strolling through the city with a baby is way more interesting than driving with him through the suburbs. I'm not sure of the Center City daycare situation... Nannies were pretty common, easy to find, and priced on par with what my friends were paying for suburban day care.
Bottom line, if you can figure out how to minimize Collegeville as a commuting destination I'd strongly consider Center City. Otherwise, your instinct to be on or close to the main line is probably a good one.
Where are you moving from? Lincoln Park Chicago
Where will your husband be working? Collegeville, NYC Will you buy or rent? We like to rent for 1 year but if we find an area that we love we would consider buying.
Price Range? Rent($2000-$2500) Buy(400k-600k)
Do you prefer public or private schools? Some form of quality day care is important and good school district for elementary school.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Restaurants and coffee shops, boutiques , parks, a cinema and some form of downtown would be desirable (don't want small town or rural feel.
How will you get to work? By car but would like to be close to train station b/c my husband will have to travel to NYC and we love NYC.
I'm not totally clear on the work situation. Will your husband be working on a daily basis in Collegeville and occasionally have to commute to NYC? NYC was mentioned the most, but Collegeville not at all besides answering the question, so I'm wondering if his trips to Collegeville are also infrequent. And will you be working? If so, in what area?
In terms of in between Philly and NYC, you could check out Princeton as an option, has most of what you are looking for.
Chestnut Hill does combine the qualities of Society Hill and Main Line in many ways, vibrant yet family oriented. Another area to consider in Center City is Fitler Square. Manayunk and East Falls are other areas to consider. Manayunk is not exactly like Lincoln Park but its similar in that its a vibrant area that is close enough to downtown but is set apart and has its own feel. East Falls is next to Manayunk and is more residential but is better for things like parking.
But besides that, I'm confused on what you are looking for in an area. Main Line and Old City/Society Hill are quite different. Speaking in terms of Chicago, are you looking to stay in a Lincoln Park type of place or are you looking to move out to the North Shore and get into New Trier schools?
Thank you so much for all of the recommendations. To help you understand of what we are looking in Philly. We want to find a neighborhood that is comparable to Lincoln Park (vibrant, city feel, family oriented, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, boutiques, etc). My husband will be commuting to Collegeville 70% and 30% NYC and he doesn't mind commuting 45 mins to work as long as we can find a neighborhood where it will be safe for us to start a family and enjoy the city feel living. If we can find an area in the suburbs with excellent school system and close to city feel, we'd be interested as well. From all the posts, Center City and Jenkintown sound appealing to me. Does anyone like Rittenhouse area? Also, if you know of any good real estate agents, I'd appreciate any referrals. Thank you so much!! This is so helpful.
I appreciate your comment about Center City. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few more questions. Do you feel safe walking or jogging around the city? Is there a particular street/streets that you would recommend? Are there mostly apartments and condo in Center City? As for nannies, is it easy to find a reputable nanny? Since I'm new to Philly and will know anyone so a place where I can find a good support structure is very important to me. First and foremost is finding a safe neighborhood. Any recommendations is greatly appreciated.
The Rittenhouse area of Philly is very nice. If its the city feel you are looking for Center City may be your best bet. I know a great agent I could pass along to you, but she only does homes in Lower Merion (Ardmore, Wynnewood, etc). Send me a direct message if you are interested.
The only downside I see to living in Center City for you is that a 45 min commute to Collegeville from the city is going to be pushing it. There is no rail line that runs out there, so he would have to drive. Under the very best of circumstances that is going to take 45 minutes and that will never happen. I-76 is a disaster, and even with the reverse commute (westbound in the AM) there will be plenty of traffic. In fact, according to google the traffic at 7:45 am is even worse westbound on 76 then it is eastbound! If you are seriously considering being inside the city he needs to practice the commute to know if he can really live with it. Take it from someone coming from Phoenixville into Center City on a daily basis, no matter how you do it you're looking at an hour and driving the whole way is not something I would ever choose to do. When I go to Collegeville directly from work it's typically around an hour and 15.
Last edited by Jfoldno7; 07-28-2010 at 12:45 PM..
Reason: typo
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I'm not sure of the Center City daycare situation... Nannies were pretty common, easy to find, and priced on par with what my friends were paying for suburban day care.
