Possibly moving from TX to work at Villanova University north of Philadelphia (Chester: best towns, apartment complex)

[Dentex]

Can anyone give me advice on moving from Denton, TX to the suburbs of Philadelphia? I'm a single, 40 year old professional female and have a chance to work at Villanova University.

I know NOTHING about that part of the country, and am curious about weather adjustments, cost of living, the potential for social life if I'm stuck in a college town....etc.

[pman]

Villanova is in the city's wealthy western suburbs and is not your typical college town. it's not far from the city and very little of the area revolves aroudn the university the way it would in a smaller area. housing will be significantly higher (esp for land). denton appears to be near dallas so expect it to be colder in the winter (actually, it appears to be a ten degrees cooler in philly in all seasons...maybe 15 in january)...but there will be spring and fall where temps are lower than dallas. philly actually appears to be less humid as well. villanova would be halfway to dallas from denton ( in terms of travel times). regarding social life, it's a big metro area (~5.9 million people)and you shouldn't have too much of a problem there. depending on your lifestyle, some areas will be better than others in terms of meeting people. the crime rate in philly is about the same as dallas. oh yeah, pennsylvania means penn's woods. a lot more trees.

[Duderino]

Coming from Denton, which I gather is a fairly large suburb of Dallas, I think you're definitely going to be in for a bit of an adjustment. Like Dallas, Philly is a large city with enough social forums and cultural amenities that I don't think you'd have a hard time finding things to do or people to meet.

Villanova is actually west of Philadelphia in an suburban area commonly referred to as the "Main Line," and it is a very affluent area with the cost-of-living to go along with it. Unless you'd be receiving a higher than average salary, anywhere in or near Villanova is more than likely not going to be in your price range (not uncommon for people who work in colleges/universities in that area). However, Ardmore, a town that is about 5 miles east of Villanova and very proximate to Philly may be a good fit for you in terms of both price and an active singles/social scene. Not to mention you could take a quick train ride to work, which would be very convenient in order to avoid horrendous Route 30 traffic (a vital traffic corridor in that area).

Weather here is your typical four seasons. Winter here will be much colder, longer and snowier than Dallas for sure -- so that's an adjustment in and of itself if you're not used to it.

If you can provide more information about your cost-of-living needs, I'm sure other people can be helpful as well as far as your potential options.

Good luck!

[bryson662001]

Yes Villanova and vicinity is not unlike Highland Park in Dallas......old, suburban, crowded, fancy, expensive

[Dentex]

@Duderino...I'd hope to spend about $1500 per month on rent/mortgage. I've looked around on Craigslist for housing in that range, but it's mostly apartments that look to have been built in the mid 20th century. I haven't checked Ardmore tho'. Thanks for the tip!

[rainrock]

Valley Forge is about 10-15 minutes away from Villanova. VF is a pleasant ultra suburban place to live but is right next to KIng of Prussia and Conshohocken which are hubs of retail and some modest nightlife activity.

Some towns you may want to research- Valley Forge,Chesterbrook,Gulph Mills,King of Prussia are a few miles NW of Villanova and tend to be more suburban oriented.More typical of what you would find in Dallas

Rosemont,Bryn Mawr,HaverfordArdmore,Narberth,Wynnewood are older, conservative, affluent towns that also house alot of the areas college students.

Wayne is one of the best towns in the region and thats a mile direstly west of Villanova on RT 30.


Good luck.


Mod cut - copyright picture


http://theloftsatvalleyforge.aitrk.com/images/photogallery/large/29.jpg (broken link)


King of Prussia
King of Prussia Mall. largest Mall on east coast. Very upscale inside eventhough its a little outdated looking outside.

[rainrock]

Bryn Mawr Pa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa02rKGQ9AI

Villanova


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzqEdcHr_3o

Wayne Pa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfaQNZZ-J-k

[newmarlig]

My first choice would be center city. You could get an apartment in your budget. The problem is you would have to pay the city wage tax. Here is the train you could take. It's 1/2 hr. from center city (suburban station) to Villanova. Ardmore and Narberth (as suggested above) are on the same line. It's an 11 minute ride from Narberth and a 7 minute ride from Ardmore.

SEPTA | Paoli/Thorndale Line Regional Rail Schedule | Weekday | to Thorndale

[rainrock]

Dentex that photo is a newer apartment complex called the Lofts at Valley Forge.The website was cut by the moderator.


The website is
theloftsatvalleyforge dot com in case its something you may be interested in.

Good luck.

[Dentex]

Thanks so much! Now that I look at all this information, I'm leaning towards living in center city and riding the train to campus. Great information!