Real Estate 2010: 10 Awesome Neighborhoods To Call Home

If the tanking of the real estate market has taught us anything, it’s that a house isn’t an investment. It’s a home — a place to retreat to at the end of the day, to raise your kids and hang with your friends, to build your life around and become part of a larger community. So, what are the best places to call home around Philly? Here, our guide to some great neighborhoods worth discovering … or rediscovering
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By Lauren McCutcheon & Christine Speer
 
 

 

 

 

The Jackpot
Merion Golf Manor, Main Line

This bucolic, historic Main Line neighborhood named for the esteemed golf club is the type of place where you can raise your kids — and where they’ll return to raise theirs.

Schools: Coopertown Elementary and Haverford High are great. Still, loads of MGM kids attend the Haverford School, Baldwin, Notre Dame, Agnes Irwin, Episcopal. …

Commute to Philly: 25 minutes by car via Walnut Street; 20 minutes on the R5 from the Ardmore SEPTA station, a five-minute drive.

Things you get: Top-notch schools; Karakung Swim Club; lil’ Merwood and ball-field-filled South Ardmore parks; instant entrée to country-club society; houses priced from under $500,000 to upwards of a million.

Things you don’t: There’s no downtown — you’ve got to steal nearby Ardmore, Haverford or Wynnewood’s.

Betcha didn’t know: Its roundabout intersections — a Main Line rarity — cut down on through traffic.

Residents you ought to know: Nicholas DeBenedictis, Aqua America president and CEO and Convention & Visitors Bureau board chairman; Joanie and Bob Hall, daughter and son-in-law of Vera Bradley co-creator Barbara Bradley Baekgaard.

The future: A large part of this neighborhood’s charm and appeal is its lack of forthcoming development. All of the land is mature and built; you’ll never see cookie-cutter stucco McMansions here.

Meet the neighbors: “We wanted to live in a friendly, walkable place where you really get to know your neighbors,” says Christine Mahan, 42, who moved in with her husband and two children this past July. “It just feels like a community.”

Wanna buy here? “There are three neighborhoods within Merion Golf Manor, each with its own distinct price point and style,” says Janis Nadler, a realtor with Haverford Station’s Prudential Fox & Roach. “There are the raised ranches on the lower end, colonials and split-levels in the middle, and then the over-$500,000 estate homes.” See something you like? Act fast. “There aren’t sales very often,” Nadler says. “People who live here stay.”

Just sold: A two-story, four-bedroom 90-year-old Tudor on St. Davids Lane, with vaulted-ceilinged family room, for $660,000.

You might also like: The rolling hills and beautiful stone houses in Penn Wynne — between Manoa and City Avenue. 

 
 
Originally published in Philadelphia Magazine, March 2010

  • Meg

    My husband, 30 year old daughter and I wish to relocate in a suburb of Philadelphia. Although my husband will be retiring soon and I am already retired, we do not want to move to a senior village. We would like an area with families with children, middle age couples with older children and seniors. We live on Long Island now and will be selling our present home. our budget is $250,000 to 350,000 and do not want to be on top of our neighbors but nearby without looking into their window. Can you suggest areas forus.

  • Joanna

    Disappointed that only 1 Philly neighborhood made it into the list. :( I guess the quality of the public schools and the crime rate don’t help much.

  • Dustin

    If any of these Neighborhoods interest you and you would like to check out apartments there, See Vacancy.com to find apartments to fit your needs.

  • Niki

    “Lord” Markel keeps his properties in tip top shape? Maybe this butt kissing reporter should talk to some of the tenants.

  • J

    This is a destination for bikers and bicyclists from the city and elsewhere on weekend afternoons – and a great local treasure for excellent beer and eats. Can’t believe this was overlooked!

  • Darren

    Brewerytown finally gets a mention! I live right by Brewerytown and have heard that Mugshots Coffee will be opening up in the next few months on the 2800 block of Girard.

  • Kladinvt

    It’s odd to read about the town I grew up in, that was centered on the steel company and the army hospital, to now be a “hip” nearly “chi-chi” bedroom community. I was there recently and was a bit shocked, surprised and happy to see things are the same and vastly different from when I lived there in the 60′s and 70′s. I guess Phoenixville like the mystical bird has risen from the ashes.

  • Anonymous

    To give the Annual Best Places issue a little more depth, perhaps there could be a quality of life category? Either through a survey or some form of index based on length of stay among residents in the same community. It would provide a little substance to the real estate stats. Also, it is stated that there is a price chart available for 375 additional places, but, that its not the case.
    Is this an oversight?

  • Kelley

    We are 22 year business owners and 20 year residents of the area! We live in Charlestown Hunt it is an excellent community. It is in the Great Valley School District and 3 miles from downtown Phoenixville! We are selling our single family home (109 Charlestown Hunt Drive).

  • Clause

    The “organic market” they were referencing was the popular Farmers Market located right in the downtown of Phoenixville. It is a great market that is open all year round and has the freshest selection of fruit, vegetables, meats and baked goods in the area.

  • Pamela

    sorry, I see that the website link in the previous post isn’t working. try http://phoenixvillegreencommunity.org/

  • Pamela

    Phoenixville Green Team is a group of interested residents who provide information and learning opportunities to the community about “living green in Phoenixville”. Our website is http://www.phoenixvillegreenteam.org and we are happy to hear from residents about what they do or experience or would like to know more about. You can sign up for email notifications if you would like to stay informed.

  • Pamela

    Hi Susan
    We live in Phoenixville (15 years now) and shop at Kimberton Whole Foods in Kimberton and Whole Foods in Devon, both are only 10 minutes away or so. The Giant in P’ville has a great selection of organic produce as well as nice selection of organic, gluten free foods. Best seleciton of major grocery stores.

  • Clause

    Susan, in case you haven’t been to Pville lately, this isn’t the old ‘ville you might remember. There are plenty of high income (including CEO’s) in Phoenixville and of course there are still plenty of blue collar folks. The new restaurants and shops embody the population that surrounds them and I don’t think Majolica (rated 1 of the top 50 restaurants in Philly by Craig Laban) and Hipster Home would be surviving without the locals support.

  • Sheila

    The organic store is probably the farmers market held Saturday’s May-November. There is also a produce junction. Both are great places to shop. I’ve enjoyed livng in Phoenixville for the past 4 years, great town.

  • Sue

    What I love most about Swarthmore is that you feel like you are part of a community that treasures connectedness. I never fail to see someone I know when I am out and about town and it most often results in a friendly chat.

  • Kelly

    Swarthmore is a treasure. The town is very walkable, has a quaint downtown area with more useful shops and parks then you might notice by car, and do not let the fact that its a college town scare you: the town is dry thanks to its Quaker roots and Swarthmore College students are so busy with their studies you never see them out anyway!!

  • oneninefoursixzero

    To check out reviews and preview events re: all things Phoenixville, check out oneninefoursixzero.com – some great info on alt culture / entertainment happenings in the ville.

  • LuAnn

    I think they are referring to Kimberton Whole Foods.

  • John

    I lived there from 1998 to 2009. I loved watching the transformation! It was SO nice to have easy access to Bridge Street rather than having to drive into Philly for an enjoyable meal and cocktails. I made a recent move to Key West, which I love, but I do miss Phoenixville.

  • Jen

    I am a 17 year Resident Realtor Specialist in Relocation,satisfied customers across the US have dealt with me. I am everything Newtown JenBuschel@gmail.com .Lets meet

  • Jen
  • Susan

    CEOs and construction workers all shop at the same organic grocery… please tell us where in Phoenixville this is.