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Is Philadelphia safe for my family?

Nice family suburb in pennsylvania...near philadelphia?

  • wondering where to live in PA. Are ther nice family oriented suburbs near philadelphia? Lancaster? Harrisburg? we are not conservative, nor religious. Just want a nice family oriented area, but a home, and good schools and safe for kids. any suggestions? coming from so cal, I know its cold and snowy in the winter. whats the average temp? is it fun snow , or just grueling ice? thanks for the info,. :o)

  • Answer:

    Let me start out by telling you that Lancaster and Harrisburg are NOT suburbs of Philadelphia. they are both small cities (Harrisburg is the state capitol) and the over both over an hour's drive away from Philadelphia. That's like saying Escondido is a suburb of LA. The Philadelphia metropolitan area extends into three states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, but the communities that are generally considered Philadelphia Suburbs are located in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania and in Camden and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey. The suburban counties all have good and bad areas, and very diverse. Montgomery County is 500 square miles with almost a million people, and runs from being everything from urban to rural in nature. Public transportation is good, and most (but not all) suburban school districts are very good. I am partial to the nicer communities that border the city, for both convenience and sophistication. Lower Merion, Radnor, and Haverford townships are all part of the "Main Line" and have excellent school districts and great living conditions, but they are a little more pricey. They are "old school' suburbs and have been developed for years. Abington, Cheltenham and Springfield (Springfield Montgomery County) are similar, old school suburbs also with great school districts and easy access to the city, but not as expensive. There are great small boroughs in the suburbs, like Conshohocken, and Ambler and West Chester. There are also some rugged areas, like Norrsitown or Coatesville or Bristol or the City of Chester that I would avoid. The climate here sucks. But this has been a very mild winter, and m,ore like North Carolina than Penneyslvania. But, in general, we get plenty of snow most winters. The summers are hot and humid, but the springs and falls are long and comfortable. The Philadelphia suburns are two hours away from the seashore towns in New Jersey, two hours from ski resorts in the Pocono mountains, two hours from New York City and two hours from Washington DC. It is a great place to live. Great colleges, universities, museums restaurants, historic attractions. Before you pick, I recommend you do a LOT more research on the area. And don't trust what any one person would tell you on-line. I have lived here for over 60 years, and highly recommend the area.

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If you like country life, quite surroundings and open fields, then you want to live in harrisburg or lancaster. They are smaller cities and in the middle of Amish country. If you want culture, people and a city experience, then you want to live near Philadelphia. There are many surrounding surburbs around Philadelphia that are very good, top rated in the nation in fact. I would suggest the "Main Line" area. It is a string of suburban towns consists of Ardmore, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Narberth, etc.. They are part of Montgomery County and Lower Merion Township. The schools there are excellent, top notch public schools as well as private schools. Top rated hospitals in the area as well. Many families move out there. Houses are expensive, but very stable. Not to mention you are only 20-30min away from downtown Philadelphia. Philadelphia gets all four seasons. Summers can get hot and humid, while winters can be brutal. However, so far this winter, no snow has stuck to the ground for more than a day. In the past, snowstorms can bring 10 inches of snow, which close down schools and such. Driving can get difficult, but the city and townships are usually very good at clearing the main roads. Usually there are one storm like that per winter, but not this winter. Normal winter temp is around 35-40, although right now is around 45. Summer can be humid with temps of 95 or so for a few weks. While most other summer days are arond 85-90 degrees.

MBA seeker

A lovely suburb to live in, very close to Phila. is Abington. Money magazine gave it the top rating of areas in the country. The school system is considered best. By regional train it takes a half hour to get into Center City Phila. The area has many churches and synogogues. There is a shopping mall close by, and many shopping centers. Penn State Abington is here, and they have a full cultural calendar for the community. As far as Winters, that can be variable. We happen to be having an unusually warm Winter this year. We have not had more than a sprinkling of snow. Today it is beautiful outside. However, other Winters we have had a foot or more of snow. Depending on what you have to do on those days, it can be fun or it can be grueling. And certainly the skiers love it. Sometimes it turns to ice, and that's not very nice, unless you plan to go iceskating.

Dorothy C

Plenty fit the mold. Being born there I'll go with Dorthy & give a second vote for Abington,PA. Harrisburg is Central PA. A whole other universe. Lancaster County is Amish country. That is as far away from So-Cal. as you can get. Not many horse & buggies in San Diego as I recall. Weather? Actually it has has been a off snow year here. Been warm all winter. Today is clear 60 deg.

lana_sands

Lancaster is a haul. Harrisburg further. Good schools? Bucks County (no where - there are pockets of you-don't-want-to-live-there, north of the city and Cherry Hill, Medford Lakes, and Audubon or Haddonfield over in Jersey. Wrong year to ask for weather. If winter was always this nice, I'd like winter. Then again, I'm pretty sure God gave us a break after the last two winters. Both rated in the top three all highest snow levels of all time.

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