My husband and I are planning to relocate with our 10-month old to the Philly area, but we are currently having a debate about where to purchase a home (this will be our first home purchase). My hubby's parents live in Mount Laurel, NJ and Riverton, NJ, and we feel it would be most convenient to live on the Jersey side of the Phila. area. Specifically, we have our eye on Haddonfield, Haddon Township, and Collingswood. However, we currently live in Los Angeles and I'm somewhat worried that the NJ area will be very congested, just like LA. So we are also considering living in PA, and specifically, the Abington Township area. I'd love any feedback about raising a family in Haddonfield, Collingswood, and Abington -- as well as suggestions for other towns we might consider. Our requirements are to have roughly a 30 minutes (or less) drive from Mount Laurel/Riverton, and to be able to take public transportation to Center City.
We have lived in a few different towns in the Philly area. We now live in Wayne, PA and LOVE it. It is a great town with a really fun downtown, great schools (Radnor township), plus lots of parks, trails, etc...The township sports and activities for the kids are very well run and fun. We can walk and bike to just about everything and the Septa Regional train station is right in the middle of town.
Welcome soon to the East! Haddonfield and Collingswood are absolutely beautiful areas with great schools. Public transportation is extremely close to both areas. It would probably be a 15-20 minute train ride to the city if that and less than 30 minutes to Mt. Laurel. I don't know much about the Abington area but can say the towns you are looking at are historic and beautiful. They can be a bit crowded depending on where you locate in the town but not like LA. If possible, you may want to rent an apartment or house that is already furnished for a couple months and place your items in storage to make sure you really are in love with a town before you settle permanently. Best of luck in your move!
Voorhees is also a nice area as is Magnolia and Sommerdale. Another nice area is Cherry Hill. All of theses areas are nice and near train stations so you could go into center city. I do not think it will be as congested as LA. I think that North Jersey is definantly more congested. I have lived in South Jersey as we call for for about 4.5 years. Good luck
I live in Maple Shade, NJ. It's close to Riverton and Mount Laurel.
The biggest downside to NJ is the property tax. It's one of the highest in the country, so you need to know that going in. For a 4 bedroom home on a quarter acre, you can pay around $6500/year just in property tax.
On the other side, NJ has lower gas prices than PA and DE (but not enough lower to offset the property taxes).
From NJ you can take the PATCO highspeed line into Philly for about $5 round trip, whereas roundtrip on the Septa Regional Rail from Abington, PA to center city Philadelphia is a little over $10 round trip.
Haddonfield and Collingswood are really nice towns. They've both got a gorgeous "downtown" area with a real town identity. There's also a "Friends School" in Haddonfield if you're looking for a really good private school. Though I think the public schools in both towns are good as well. There's also PATCO stops right in Haddonfield and Collingswood, so you'll have easy access to center city Philadelphia.
If you want to be within a half hour of Mount Laurel, you almost need to live in NJ. But then again, I don't know a lot about the different towns in PA except the ones on the far side (Media, West Chester, Chaddsford -- all of these towns are nice and family friendly with Septa Regional Rail access to Center City, but they'll take you 45-60 minutes to get to Mount Laurel).
Hope that mishmash of information helps. Good luck.
Glenside is a great town in the Abington area. Wonderful schools and very close to the city with a train station right in town. Part of Glenside is actually in Abington Township. There's shops and a few restaurants in town and a wonderful library.
I currently work in Narberth and just love it. It's a very family friendly town with a lot going on that the whole family can enjoy. They have a little downtown and it's a quick 15-20 minute train ride into Center City. It's a walkable town and there is a lot to do nearby as well. You would also still be within 30 minutes to Mt. Laurel I believe.
We just moved to Abington Township from Michigan. We love it. There are train stations all over the place, so it's easy to get to center city. We're minutes from Abington Memorial Hospital and all our doctors/pediatricians are close by. Although it's relatively close to the city, it doesn't have a big city feel. It's very pretty. From where we live (actually Glenside), it's about a 10 minute drive to the turnpike. My husband works in Morrisville, which is right over the border from Trenton, and it takes him about 35-40 minutes to get there from where we live. So far, we've been very happy here.
Good luck with your decision.
I am from PA currently live in NJ. You do not want to move to NJ. PA schools are better, homes are cheaper, cost of living is lower and property taxes are much lower. For example, my mother lives in ROse Tree Media School district 3 bedroom on a half an acre. It's a great place to live better than any of the Haddons. Her property taxes are 3200. In NJ where you are looking (if you could find a half an acre it's so congested) you would be paying at least 20000. This is not an exaggeration. Towns in PA: bryn Mawr, media, Glenn mills, Kenneth square, downingtown, west Chester., Pottstown ... Not sure how far of a commute u want. Good luck. Oh if you ever move from jersey you have to pay a 5% tax on the sale price of your home to the state.
