mid-year move with high school student (Philadelphia, Reading: real estate, condo, how much)
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We are considering a move to Philly January 2024 with 2 teenagers who will be in 8th and 11th grades then. Priorities are living in walkable, racially diverse, friendly neighborhood in a single family home with at least a small yard. Public school highly preferred but can consider private if necessary.
I am trying to understand how to navigate Philadelphia schools. In reading through these forums, Masterman and Central come up consistently. Central is out because enrollment is already closed for next year and you have to attend for 2 full years to graduate from there. The kids currently go to a nationally ranked exam school but grades are not all As and Bs... there are some Cs in there, so unless they weight the grades (do they do that?) I think that means Masterman is out as well. What charter schools are good for middle and high school? Will the admission criteria be different there? Are there affordable private schools? I nearly choked when I saw one charging $43k/year for high school.
For neighborhood diversity, I am seeing University City, Mt. Airy, Germantown and Cedarbrook most often. Do any of these meet our other criteria? I also see Lower Merion schools for at least a little diversity and good public schools-- how suburban does this area feel?
Thanks for any advice!
When are you moving? Jan 2024 Where are you coming from? Cincinnati, but lived in Boston (Dorchester) for 10 years previously Why are you moving? Job Where will you be working? Drexel U (spouse), unknown health facility (me)-- I'm a midwife. I will need to be within 30 min of where I work but I don't know where that is yet. Have you been here yet? No
Will you buy or rent? Buy If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House, max $800k but would prefer <$600k
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? PA
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married with 2 teens Do you prefer public or private schools? Public Do you have pets? Dog Do you want or need a yard? Ideally Are you keeping a car? Yes-- I need one for when I'm on call Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? In between. We live in a residential urban neighborhood now but one block off a busy road so there are lots of sirens.
What do you want to be closest to?
Work - yes
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) - yes
Nightlife
Train or subway stations - yes
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Diverse, and really want a neighborhood with a strong sense of community, where we will be able to build friendships. Honestly I care much less about what my house looks like than that we can quickly integrate into the neighborhood: I'm picturing borrowing sugar, neighborhood BBQs, porch hangouts, kids running from one house to another, walking dogs together, etc. If only there was a way to search for this on a real estate site...
Favorite Beverage - Craft Beer, wine, water? Any and all
Lower Merion is a good school district. If you want to look at the "walkable" part, checkout Ardmore. Reading your post, the first places I thought of were Cheltenham or Jenkintown
Since your kids are already in high school, the advice I give to grade-school parents about considering their local public school in Philadelphia is out. IMO the changes that come along with puberty and the social dynamics of teenagers do influence, if not student performance in school, then the climate in which learning takes place, and that can in turn affect that student performance.
If Germantown and Mt. Airy are in the running, then you have the option of enrolling your child in Mastery Charter Schools' Pickett Campus in the heart of Germantown. I think they may have softened up on the carrots-and-sticks approach to getting the best out of their students — an educational model known as "no excuses" that was wildly popular with Black parents — but I do know that Mastery students generally do well and get into good colleges (I count a Mastery Shoemaker grad who got into Georgetown among my friends; he's now working in fintech in New York).
But you may want to check on whether they can accept students from Mount Airy. I vaguely recall hearing that the School District of Philadelphia rewrote the rules on who may attend charter schools so that those charters housed in what had been District-run public schools serving certain neighborhoods may enroll only those students who live in the schools' catchments. Mastery Pickett is one such school (all Mastery schools are located in former District-run buildings).
However, that might be an enticement for you to consider living in Germantown, the neighborhood I call home. I'd highly recommend you do so. Its shopping district and dining options aren't as upscale as those in Mount Airy up the Avenue, but it does have some really nice hangouts, including two great coffee shops (one of them also a bookstore) and the Attic Brewing Company craft brewery. And Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill function somewhat as siblings, with residents of each traveling among all three (well, maybe not so many Chestnut Hillers venturing into Germantown).
Because of diversity? Schools? Community feeling? Walkability? Or the whole package?
I think MarketSt wrote a good post so I wouldn’t dismiss certain city schools. But I meant most of those things beyond “true” walkability (which means the ability to truly live without a car which is difficult in any suburb)
Because of diversity? Schools? Community feeling? Walkability? Or the whole package?
Cheltenham is the most diverse place in the Philly metro that also has decent schools. It isn’t particularly urban although some areas are walkable. Jenkintown is right next to Cheltenham and has the more walkable town but is less diverse.
Lower Merion is a good school district. If you want to look at the "walkable" part, checkout Ardmore. Reading your post, the first places I thought of were Cheltenham or Jenkintown
Ardmore is also fairly diverse and—while certainly not cheap—has great homes to choose from in the $600,000-800,000 range.
One important thing to keep in mind about Cheltenham: while home sticker prices are much lower, property taxes are much higher, meaning your monthly home payments won’t be far off from higher-priced houses in lower-tax municipalities. Cheltenham homes also don’t appreciate the way they used to. While you shouldn’t lose money in nominal dollars, you probably won’t enjoy much inflation-adjusted profit when the time comes to sell.
I’ll put in a plug for Old Wyndmoor, the part of Springfield Township immediately adjacent, and walkable to, Chestnut Hill. A nice restaurant scene is beginning to develop in the neighborhood proper on Willow Grove Avenue. While this immediate section is mostly white, Springfield Township has some decent-sized middle class Black enclaves, making the school district somewhat racially (and fairly socioeconomically) diverse. $600,000-800,000 homes will pop up but sell like hotcakes.
Public schools are middling by suburban area standards—nowhere near nationally acclaimed like the Lower Merion School District, where I grew up. A lot of families self-select into the many great nearby private schools. But the District is small, which I like (the high school has under 800 students), and there are certainly sufficient resources for reasonably bright and motivated students to succeed.
Are you looking for city or suburbs (or doesn't matter as long as the other boxes are checked)? For in the city, follow MarketSt's (and others') advice, I can't help you navigate Philly school district or neighborhoods.
For suburbs, Lower Merion school district is one of the best in the state, but Lower Merion is a big township (and ranks fairly low on the diversity criterium in general). Lower Merion does have the advantage of being one of the more accessible suburbs to Drexel (i.e. University City) by either train or car. Really, almost all of the Philly suburban school districts are good. This is a good area for schools in general. Ardmore is split between Lower Merion and Haverford school districts (both good schools). Ardmore is one of the more diverse of the towns in Lower Merion and also ranks very high on the community and walkability criteria (and has two train stations - one for the commuter line that goes to 30th Street Station and one for the high speed line that goes into 69th Street Station where you can change to the Market Street line to go to U City). Narberth is another nice, walkable town in Lower Merion with a strong community, but is more white and rich, although if by "diversity" you mean you are concerned about racism, that is not a big problem anywhere in the Philly metro area.
Jenkintown is a nice, close knit community with a very strong (and small) school district that is also convenient to the trains to 30th Street (near Drexel). The residential community is very walkable, but most amenities are outside the town, so there is less of a walkable commercial center. Glenside is right next to Jenkintown and has much more of a commercial district with restaurants and shops and the Keswick Theater. You can go to further out suburbs like Ambler, Media, Yardley, Conshohocken, or Lansdale that would meet a lot of your needs (depending on where you work), but they are getting to be longer commutes for your spouse in the city.
Are you looking for city or suburbs (or doesn't matter as long as the other boxes are checked)? For in the city, follow MarketSt's (and others') advice, I can't help you navigate Philly school district or neighborhoods.
For suburbs, Lower Merion school district is one of the best in the state, but Lower Merion is a big township (and ranks fairly low on the diversity criterium in general). Lower Merion does have the advantage of being one of the more accessible suburbs to Drexel (i.e. University City) by either train or car. Really, almost all of the Philly suburban school districts are good. This is a good area for schools in general. Ardmore is split between Lower Merion and Haverford school districts (both good schools). Ardmore is one of the more diverse of the towns in Lower Merion and also ranks very high on the community and walkability criteria (and has two train stations - one for the commuter line that goes to 30th Street Station and one for the high speed line that goes into 69th Street Station where you can change to the Market Street line to go to U City). Narberth is another nice, walkable town in Lower Merion with a strong community, but is more white and rich, although if by "diversity" you mean you are concerned about racism, that is not a big problem anywhere in the Philly metro area.
Jenkintown is a nice, close knit community with a very strong (and small) school district that is also convenient to the trains to 30th Street (near Drexel). The residential community is very walkable, but most amenities are outside the town, so there is less of a walkable commercial center. Glenside is right next to Jenkintown and has much more of a commercial district with restaurants and shops and the Keswick Theater. You can go to further out suburbs like Ambler, Media, Yardley, Conshohocken, or Lansdale that would meet a lot of your needs (depending on where you work), but they are getting to be longer commutes for your spouse in the city.
Good luck!
For a desirable suburban area, Lower Merion is fairly diverse, and many of the public school catchments even more so than the Township overall. LMHS’ minority enrollment is now 33.0%. I believe the overall Township is ~75% non-Hispanic white. It’s certainly not a rainbow of diversity, but it’s not lily-white, either.
Jenkintown is a nice, close knit community with a very strong (and small) school district that is also convenient to the trains to 30th Street (near Drexel). The residential community is very walkable, but most amenities are outside the town, so there is less of a walkable commercial center. Glenside is right next to Jenkintown and has much more of a commercial district with restaurants and shops and the Keswick Theater. You can go to further out suburbs like Ambler, Media, Yardley, Conshohocken, or Lansdale that would meet a lot of your needs (depending on where you work), but they are getting to be longer commutes for your spouse in the city.
Good luck!
Hmm. Interesting how perceptions differ. But it's quite common for two people to look at the same thing and reach different conclusions.
Keswick Village aside, I would have ranked Jenkintown's commercial district along Old York Road over Glenside's commercial district (and partly because Keswick Village, which I think is nicer than the business district next to the train station, is located about a half-mile east of the train station while Glenside's business district is right next to it. But don't get me wrong — Glenside proper is plenty nice).
Keswick has the concert venue, but Jenkintown has the vintage movie theater and a brewpub right next door to it. (Keswick has a craft brewery as well, or at least did when last I was up that way.)
It's worth noting, however, that Glenside and Keswick Village both lie in Abington Township, which usually scores high on "great suburbs to live in" metrics and has a very good school district as well. It's not as diverse as Cheltenham, though, and also probably trails Lower Merion on that metric.
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