Why isn’t everyone moving to the Main Line?

[Anonymous]

The illadelph died 30 years ago but doesn’t know it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too white & insular

As compared to say Bethesda?

Yes. It’s a rare thing nationally-speaking how we have such high-performing, racially diverse schools in the DMV.

Bethesda is one of the whitest places I have ever seen outside of northern New England and upper Midwest. It is the epitome of white privilege.

Do you mean Potomac? Our BCC-feeding ES is almost comically diverse...like as if they assembled our kid's class to take a picture to advertise diversity.

Yep, here are the stats:

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP24_Chapter4BCC.pdf

If you add hispanic and black, the lowest percentage for any ES is 24.5%.

[Anonymous]

Some of the comments are bizarre. Won't live on the Main Line because of Philadelphia crime? That's akin to saying you won't live in Bethesda or Chevy Chase because of DC crime. Main Line is further away from the dangerous parts of Philadelphia than Chevy Chase is from Anacostia. Even West Philadelphia is pretty far from much of the Main Line. Taxes also aren't outrageous. I looked at a few listings and for the typical 800-1.2 M property they average around 12k a year, which is reasonable. It's nothing like the 30k tax bills you find for a 1M house in NYC suburbs. Main Line taxes are actually a lot more affordable than a bunch of other townships around Philadelphia, which have higher taxes and poorer schools, like Cheltenham township or Glenside or Swarthmore, although the latter has good schools. Main Line offers excellent public and private schools and is rich in resources. Not all the Main Line is affluent. There are more modest parts. But it is still the premier residential area around Philadelphia. And it's also not subject the vagaries of Philadelphia politics or Philadelphia schools, especially with DEI policies hammering at even Masterman in the name of equity, similar to what happened to Thomas Jefferson. People committed to the city are definitely worried about it. But it's not an issue on the Main Line whose schools are strictly zoned.

The reason we aren't moving to the Main Line is because jobs aren't in Philadelphia. Sure, it's not the city it was 100 years ago, but it still offers a great lifestyle for people who want to live there and can make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the comments are bizarre. Won't live on the Main Line because of Philadelphia crime? That's akin to saying you won't live in Bethesda or Chevy Chase because of DC crime. Main Line is further away from the dangerous parts of Philadelphia than Chevy Chase is from Anacostia. Even West Philadelphia is pretty far from much of the Main Line. Taxes also aren't outrageous. I looked at a few listings and for the typical 800-1.2 M property they average around 12k a year, which is reasonable. It's nothing like the 30k tax bills you find for a 1M house in NYC suburbs. Main Line taxes are actually a lot more affordable than a bunch of other townships around Philadelphia, which have [/b]higher taxes and poorer schools,[b] like Cheltenham township or Glenside or Swarthmore, although the latter has good schools. Main Line offers excellent public and private schools and is rich in resources. Not all the Main Line is affluent. There are more modest parts. But it is still the premier residential area around Philadelphia. And it's also not subject the vagaries of Philadelphia politics or Philadelphia schools, especially with DEI policies hammering at even Masterman in the name of equity, similar to what happened to Thomas Jefferson. People committed to the city are definitely worried about it. But it's not an issue on the Main Line whose schools are strictly zoned.

The reason we aren't moving to the Main Line is because jobs aren't in Philadelphia. Sure, it's not the city it was 100 years ago, but it still offers a great lifestyle for people who want to live there and can make it happen.

FYI there was just a years-long state lawsuit in PA over that. The verdict was (by a conservative judge) basically that the school funding structure in the state is inequitable. I’m not sure if it will lead to anything for the poorer schools in Chester, Upper Darby, Cheltenham, Norristown, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Peep those property taxes

This

Peep your own state and city taxes. PA is a flat 3%.

Much higher than 3% if you work in Philly (which has a 3.4% commuter income tax on top of the 3% state income tax).

[Anonymous]

I used to live there and still get back there often to see family. It is provincial, dull, car-dependent, and often snobby. The whole metro area has an attitude problem. If you think it's great, move there. You can easily work remotely from there, and the train is easy. But obviously it isn't that great else it would be more expensive because the houses can be quite nice.

[Anonymous]

Ha. I posted this same thought a while ago in a thread about absurd house prices in Lyon Village. DC suburbs suuuuccck. The only thing that keeps me here is my cushy fed job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My perception is that the mainline has a fraction of the “prestige” it once had. It just seems a bit more run down nowadays.

A lot more UMC people send their kids to philly public schools now in Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, Queen Village, the neighborhoods slightly west of UPenn (Garden Court & Spruce Hill) etc so those areas have good k-8 schools. I don’t think the main line has a monopoly on where wealthy Philadelphians live anymore.

South of Lancaster Ave is in outright bad condition lately.

interesting. where do they send their kids to HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My perception is that the mainline has a fraction of the “prestige” it once had. It just seems a bit more run down nowadays.

A lot more UMC people send their kids to philly public schools now in Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, Queen Village, the neighborhoods slightly west of UPenn (Garden Court & Spruce Hill) etc so those areas have good k-8 schools. I don’t think the main line has a monopoly on where wealthy Philadelphians live anymore.

South of Lancaster Ave is in outright bad condition lately.

interesting. where do they send their kids to HS?

The pp is just making stuff up. “South of Lancaster” (not a term anyone uses anyway) doesn’t mean anything. You can live “south of Lancaster,” live in a beautiful neighborhood, and send your kids to lower Merion, haverford sd, radnor, TE, etc. Some of the most elite private schools are “south of Lancaster”.

[Anonymous]

I was just there last weekend and was impressed by the abundance of beautifully built historic houses in walkable lovely neighborhoods / top school districts at prepandemic prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their average neighborhoods are like the nicest neighborhoods in DCA, with as high or higher rated schools at 1/2-2/3 the price. Or you could pay even less to live in Chestnut Hill and send kids to private. Why isn’t this more popular? My friends there are living in palaces with pools that would be $3M+ here.

DCA is the airport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My perception is that the mainline has a fraction of the “prestige” it once had. It just seems a bit more run down nowadays.

A lot more UMC people send their kids to philly public schools now in Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, Queen Village, the neighborhoods slightly west of UPenn (Garden Court & Spruce Hill) etc so those areas have good k-8 schools. I don’t think the main line has a monopoly on where wealthy Philadelphians live anymore.

South of Lancaster Ave is in outright bad condition lately.

interesting. where do they send their kids to HS?

The pp is just making stuff up. “South of Lancaster” (not a term anyone uses anyway) doesn’t mean anything. You can live “south of Lancaster,” live in a beautiful neighborhood, and send your kids to lower Merion, haverford sd, radnor, TE, etc. Some of the most elite private schools are “south of Lancaster”.

All the nice houses are north of Lancaster Avenue. There is a very clear divide. It gets hideous the further south until you hit the NHSL stops. Bryn Mawr & Shipley are north of it. Haverford School is technically south of it but barely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their average neighborhoods are like the nicest neighborhoods in DCA, with as high or higher rated schools at 1/2-2/3 the price. Or you could pay even less to live in Chestnut Hill and send kids to private. Why isn’t this more popular? My friends there are living in palaces with pools that would be $3M+ here.

DCA is the airport.

DC Area is a perfectly acceptable abbreviation. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My perception is that the mainline has a fraction of the “prestige” it once had. It just seems a bit more run down nowadays.

A lot more UMC people send their kids to philly public schools now in Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, Queen Village, the neighborhoods slightly west of UPenn (Garden Court & Spruce Hill) etc so those areas have good k-8 schools. I don’t think the main line has a monopoly on where wealthy Philadelphians live anymore.

South of Lancaster Ave is in outright bad condition lately.

interesting. where do they send their kids to HS?

The pp is just making stuff up. “South of Lancaster” (not a term anyone uses anyway) doesn’t mean anything. You can live “south of Lancaster,” live in a beautiful neighborhood, and send your kids to lower Merion, haverford sd, radnor, TE, etc. Some of the most elite private schools are “south of Lancaster”.

All the nice houses are north of Lancaster Avenue. There is a very clear divide. It gets hideous the further south until you hit the NHSL stops. Bryn Mawr & Shipley are north of it. Haverford School is technically south of it but barely.

Really? Here’s one of those extremely terrible houses in Bryn Mawr south of Lancaster with an inground pool?

[Anonymous]

Not sure if these towns technically are on the Main Line (there is a local train station), but the towns and housing stock are nice and the schools are good. But you don’t see much diversity.

Berwyn
Wayne
Malvern