Quailmeezy said:
I'm considering accepting a job offer that would relocate the wife and I (and soon to be born baby girl) to the Philly area (from Houston) in about 6 months. Any recommendations on places that I should consider living (the job would be in Collegeville)?
Also, any thoughts on what you love/hate about the area in general would be much appreciated.
Well, again, I'm not terribly close to that area, but I've been through it a few times. It's a pretty nice region, just north of King of Prussia and Norristown. There's an absolutely massive mall in KoP, and the good news is you'll be close by for Muster (it's always been near the mall since I've been going for 4 years now). There's a lot of newer developments and stuff happening there. What neighborhoods are best and such...can't help, I would recommend you drive up and see for yourself. Things also start to transition from being urban to more rural, though you've still got to go a bit farther north before you're "in the country".
I would caution you that you need to try and plan, if at all possible, to avoid 476 and 276 like the plague. They're toll roads (and not cheap ones, either), and traffic sucks royal eggs. As much grief as I've given TXDoT over the years, PennDOT makes them look absolutely brilliant. If anyone has a wreck...you're in for a long (2+ hour) wait due to the fact that there is no frontage road, and exits are about 10 miles apart. In fact...driving in general just isn't a lot of fun up here. The roads are crap thanks to the ice and salt and plows, and they never get fixed. As if that's not enough, people up here can't drive. At all. Merging is something they really cannot comprehend. Also, I doubt you'd be too far in that direction, but Reading isn't a great place to live. Crime rate starts to rise the closer you get.
I live north of Collegeville by about an hour and a half (Lehigh Valley), so my experiences are probably a little different than you'd get, but my wife and I love it up here. You get 4 full seasons, we're close to Philly and NYC if you want to enjoy the big city life, and I think Collegeville is far enough out from Philly you can probably find a neighborhood with small-town feel if you prefer that. There's also a lot of outdoors stuff, too. The Poconos are probably 2-3 hours of driving for you, you're not too far away from Amish country, there's good bike riding and hiking if you go just a bit farther out, and looks like you've probably got some fishing possibilities near you as well. But make sure you look into comparing the cost of living. Housing up here is MUCH more expensive than what we were enjoying in SE TX. You're also going to be dealing with income tax on the state and township level, so get ready for that screwjob. Property taxes will also make you pee yourself a little. When you search for housing up here, make sure you look at what school district you're in and the related tax rates, because I've found that the school taxes are extremely variable...and ridiculously high. But if the compensation takes that into account...go for it.
I'll try and answer any other questions I can if you'd like. Hope this helps.