Greetings all,

I have been asked to drive someone around for a day who is thinking of relocating to the Philly area, just to give them a "taste" of the Philly burbs. I can't say that I have too much knowledge in that area, and am looking for suggestions on where to take him. He would be looking for a nice townhouse/small house in the 250-350 range that is at most an hour commute from the city. Does anyone have any suggestions of areas I could drive him through just to give him a preliminary idea of what is available?

Thanks,

Eric

Drive through Conshohocken/West Conshohocken and then check out the communities along Rt 30 (Lancaster Ave) like Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Malvern, etc. You might also want to check out Lansdowne/Drexel Hill/Springfield/Media along Baltimore Pike and/or the communities along Rt 13 (Chester Pike) in Delaware Co.
Conshy and the Rt 30 communities are richer and slightly more "happening" while the Baltimore/Chester Pike communities have older, less "hip" populations and much less expensive real estate. Chester Pike's a short hop from I-95 and the R2 commuter rail line runs through it. The Baltimore Pike communities have trolley/R3 service and the farther out ones have I-476 access. The Rt 30 communities are on the "main line" (R5 rail line) and have driving access to Philly from Rt 202/I-76 (some of the most congested highways in the region during rush hour).

If he's interested in NJ, check out the stuff along Haddon Ave East of Rt 130. They're all along the PATCO line and have good highway access to Philly.

Finally, I'll put in a plug for some of Philly's "suburban" areas: NW Philly along Germantown Ave and North of Washington (Mt Airy/Chestnut Hill) as well as Manayunk/Roxborough along Ridge Ave and West of Fairmount Park (you can check these out on your way to Conshohocken). NE Philly along the Blvd beyond Frankford Creek.

He might want to go to realtor.com and look at what kind of real estate's available before deciding what exactly to look at.

HTH

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If he's adventurous and might want to buy in a developing area - rather than a developed one - take a look at the communities along the Jersey riverfront north of Camden.

Take a ride on the RiverLine.

It's my understanding, and I've yet to do it, that some of these wonderful old towns are beginning to look better, ever since they opened the light rail line.

Where else can you get riverfront property cheap. Well, maybe you can get it alot of places after the Ivan but it's still worth a shot.

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Wayne, PA. Havertown, PA. Manayunk, Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill. Flourtown. Conshy. Tell him not to buy til he finds out where he's working. you don;t want to live in phoenixville and get a job in the city....or live in Wayne and get a job in Trevose.

montgomery county

and try out some cheltenham and abington

they will not disappoint

Here's a map of the new-construction homes in the suburbs that sold for $250,000 to $350,000 since July 2004.



Most of the new construction in that price range, is out towards Limerick, or New Britain, Yardley and Morrisville.
All of those are more than an hour away, even by train.

There are some areas of close in homes though


Hal