Moving to Montgomery County, PA (Lansdale, Montgomeryville: real estate, apartment complex, condo)

[Philmove79]

Hello all, we are possibly moving to Montgomery County, PA next spring, and are trying to figure out a neighborhood to land! My spouse will be working in Upper Gwynedd. I work from home, so commute time for me is not an issue. Spouse would like commute to be no more than 20-25 mins.

We are Indian-American, and would like to live in a place with good public schools, low crime, diversity and walkability. Any suggestions on good towns? Here are details below:

When are you moving? Spring 2016
Where are you coming from? Georgia
Why are you moving? Work
Where will you be working? Merck
Have you been here yet? Not recently

Will you buy or rent? Buy.
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House/townhouse.$400K-600K, 3+ bedroom and 2+ bath. Newish home or old/rehabbed. Not looking for a huge place, as we're moving much closer to family now and won't have long term house guests anymore. 2000 sf more than sufficient.
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? Pa only.
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, 2 kids, ages 5 and 3.
Do you prefer public or private schools? Public.
Do you have pets? No.
Do you want or need a yard? We'd like one but could give it up if there was a park nearby.
Are you keeping a car? Yes, 2.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Bustling Activity.
What do you want to be closest to? Work and good schools. An indian grocer not too far is a big plus too. We tend to be pretty active, so parks nearby are good too; we'd also like to be able to walk to the library, farmer's market, etc. if possible.

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
We want to live in a neighborhood with lots of young kids so that our kids can play easily. Other than that, we currently live in a pretty ethnically mixed neighborhood (maybe 30% non-white, with a fair number of indians). Would like a similar feel in Pa...just don't want our kid to be the only desi child in her elementary class, but she doesn't need all indian friends or anything.

Thanks in advance!!!

[Flyers Girl]

Not allowed to link to real estate sites, but if you do a search for "Upper Gwynedd Township, there's a lovely home pretty much at the halfway point of your price range and it's a whopping 9-minute commute to Merck.

As far as bustling activity and any other requirements, I will leave that to folks more familiar with the area. Zero walkability though. For that, you'd probably want to look more towards "downtown" Lansdale.

[chicagoliz]

You have a pretty big radius from Merck and will be able to find something nice for your needs. We are actually moving at the same time you are, and bought the house we're in because my husband had a job at Merck. PM me if you want some more details. (There's a new Indian grocery store that opened up last year a few minutes from our house.)

From Merck, you could do anything from Ambler, up to Doylestown, over to Souderton, Skippack, Schwenksville, Collegeville. All of those will have places in your price range. Ambler, Doylestown, and Lansdale would have the highest walkability.

[Philmove79]

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. I am going to look up all these areas later tonight.

So here are a couple of areas we've been wanting to check out: Lower Merion, Berwyn, Blue Bell, Lansdale. We were interested in these areas because the schools seem amazing, but LM and Berwyn will just be too far for spouse, right? I'm thinking commute would be 40 mins? Please correct me if I'm wrong...Also, what are your thoughts on Blue Bell, in terms of walkability? And finally, I notice many of the Lansdale elementary schools have high Asian populations - that is a draw for us. So, where, specifically, is Lansdale's downtown (so I can do a Zillow search around there)?

We are coming up for Thanksgiving for the week to visit family in Jersey, and are planning on leaving kids with grandparents for a day/day and a half while we 'scout'. Suggestions on where to drive to, pls let me know...

[toobusytoday]

Lansdale's Main Street is..... Main Street! Also, Route 63. Home

[mls128]

Originally Posted by Philmove79

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. I am going to look up all these areas later tonight.

So here are a couple of areas we've been wanting to check out: Lower Merion, Berwyn, Blue Bell, Lansdale. We were interested in these areas because the schools seem amazing, but LM and Berwyn will just be too far for spouse, right? I'm thinking commute would be 40 mins? Please correct me if I'm wrong...Also, what are your thoughts on Blue Bell, in terms of walkability? And finally, I notice many of the Lansdale elementary schools have high Asian populations - that is a draw for us. So, where, specifically, is Lansdale's downtown (so I can do a Zillow search around there)?

We are coming up for Thanksgiving for the week to visit family in Jersey, and are planning on leaving kids with grandparents for a day/day and a half while we 'scout'. Suggestions on where to drive to, pls let me know...

In terms of desirability I'd rank the areas you're looking at:

Lower Merion- would be at the top of my list, beautiful area, great schools etc. I would think about a 40 minute commute, maybe a little less depending on where in LM you live/proximity to 476. You will get less for your money in LM than the other areas you're looking at, but you have a good budget and seem to have reasonable expectations for a house, so you shouldn't have a problem finding something nice within your price range. Another area you might want to look at near LM is Radnor which is very similar with the great schools, also a "main line" area, downtown wayne is adorable, and probably a little bit of a better commute to blue bell. I believe Radnor also has a slightly higher asian population than LM if that is a factor.
Berwyn- not super familiar with having not spent a lot of time there but also a really nice area with some of the best schools in state. Probably would be the worst commute out of these areas.
Blue Bell- Not as a walkable but a beautiful, quiet area, plus you can't beat having little to no commute. Great schools
Lansdale- least familiar with but I know there is a little downtown area. Very close to Blue Bell. I believe it it is in the North Penn school district which is also very good. Honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of these areas it just depends what is most important to you.

[malibu33]

I live in North Wales (the township, not the borough), which is considered Upper Gwynedd Township. It is a great area! Very close to shopping and restaurants, such as the mall in Montgomveryville and businesses on 309, about 15-20 minutes from the turnpike which makes it easy to visit other areas, such as Philly, and North Wales has a main street which is cute and quiet. I think there is diversity in some areas, for example my apartment complex has a larger number of Indian-American residents, but I am not how representative that is of the area as a whole.

In terms of nicer areas as you describe that are close to your work I would say Upper Gwynedd, North Wales, Montgomeryville, and Blue Bell are all nice choices. If you are looking in Lansdale I would look at the outskirts- some parts of town, particularly near the train tracks, are a little seedy. I don't think there's a high crime level there but I wouldn't walk around the train station in town at night. I lived in an apartment in the borough of Lansdale a few years ago, and while I never felt personally unsafe, I know there were drugs in the complex.

Another nice area that is about 25-30 minutes away is Doylestown- I grew up in Doylestown and it is a great area with an excellent school district- it has a great downtown area that is one of the nicest around I would say.

[kimrocktherealtor]

Doylestown is a wonderful town with a walkable downtown area, HUGE kids playground (google kids castle), amazing schools (central bucks) and not far from Montgomery County.

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by Philmove79

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. I am going to look up all these areas later tonight.

So here are a couple of areas we've been wanting to check out: Lower Merion, Berwyn, Blue Bell, Lansdale. We were interested in these areas because the schools seem amazing, but LM and Berwyn will just be too far for spouse, right? I'm thinking commute would be 40 mins? Please correct me if I'm wrong...Also, what are your thoughts on Blue Bell, in terms of walkability? And finally, I notice many of the Lansdale elementary schools have high Asian populations - that is a draw for us. So, where, specifically, is Lansdale's downtown (so I can do a Zillow search around there)?

We are coming up for Thanksgiving for the week to visit family in Jersey, and are planning on leaving kids with grandparents for a day/day and a half while we 'scout'. Suggestions on where to drive to, pls let me know...

I've lived in Upper Gwynedd and Berwyn. I would say you should start right in Upper Gwynedd -- there are lots of newer developments in your price range and it's a couple minutes to Lansdale's downtown. You should find a decent amount of diversity given the proximity to Merck. I see no reason to go all the way to Berwyn or Lower Merion, given the schools and housing that you have available in and near Upper Gwynedd. The commute in rush hour would be at least 40. Blue Bell's not walkable, nor are most of the suburbs you mentioned, but they are close to places with cute downtown areas.

[Philmove79]

Thanks so much to all, we visited over Thanksgiving week and got a good idea. Your recommendations were right on the money.


We did go to LM, Radnor and Wayne, loved all of them, but I don't think spouse can stomach that sort of commute to Merck (and I work remotely 100% so its fortunately irrelevant for me). Like some said, Blue Bell is pretty but just not that walkable and a little far from all the conveniences I've gotten used to. We did see some cute areas of Ambler but we're not optimistic about finding a home there that isn't a fixer upper (we are not handy whatsoever).


So I think we'll have to stay in North Wales, Upper Gwynedd, Montgomery Townships, as most of you recommended...which feels rather suburban but at least its close to everything we could need and good schools.


So, my next few questions, north penners (is that a term?) :


1) do any of you know of specific subdivisions with large numbers of young children (under 8) and parents (mid-30s) in Upper Gwynedd, North Wales, or Montgomery Townships that would be a good place to look? we want to move into a neighborhood where our kids have built in playmates a few doors down.


2) anyone have an opinion on Lansdale Montessori?


3) and, can anyone recommend a parents' listserve(s) where I can get information on what parents recommend in the area, in terms of all the essentials? For example: daycares, pediatricians, pediatric dentists, pediatric specialists (we need an allergist), after care programs, summer camps, piano lessons, swim lessons, basketball league, the dreaded nanny search, etc. etc. etc....you get the idea, the "research" we parents do on a daily basis! Here I belong to a few that have given me a treasure trove of good recommendations as well as saved me lots of time....hoping to get connected with another network or listserve that will provide that parent-relevant info.


Thanks much in advance.