New neighbors, tell me what you really think about our town!

October 6, 2006 5:41 PM

I'm in the process of buying a house in Chester Springs, PA (a western suburb of Philadelphia). If any MeFites are locals, I've got a few questions about the area . . .

I'm in the process of buying a house in Chester Springs, PA. I've done my research and I have my lawyer and CPA in agreement. I trust the realtor and am happy with the whole situation.

So, before I sign the official papers and make it a done deal, I have some questions to anyone who lives or has lived in the area.

What are your general impressions of the area? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Is it a good area for a single working professional 20-something? (I'm not open to urban living, though I know much more 20-somethings live in areas such as Manayunk, Center City, etc. I also work out in the suburbs, so the area is convenient.) I prefer the privacy and green spaces that the suburbs afford.

I know traffic is not the greatest in parts of the region, but I'm resolved to accept that is pretty much the case anywhere in the area.

Does anyone have experiences with the home-owners associations in the area? Are they good? Bad? Unreasonable? Accomodating?

Is there anything else I should know about the area that you wish you knew before you moved there?

I do plan on asking some of the neighbors these same questions, but I always trust the honesty and candor that MeFites bring to the table!

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

posted by galimatias to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

We have good friends who live there.

It has grown rapidly and is apparently full of recent arrivals from all over, mainly due to corporate recruiting and transfers for the companies that roost in the office parks near and far.

While the area seems inoffensive to us, it's not exactly crawling with single 20-somethings, that I've seen on my visits. It's family territory.

And, is now really the time to buy? Chester Springs is absolutely prototypical of exurban mini-mansion expansion -- sizable swaths of Chester Spring were farmland a few years -- it's exactly the kind of place where real estate could easily fall another 20% in the next couple of years. (Chances are you're already buying 5-10% off the peak, though, so that's good.)
posted by MattD at 6:50 PM on October 6, 2006

Background: I'm a college student now living in Amherst, MA. I grew up in Kimberton, a couple miles away from Chester Springs, and my parents still live there (and probably will for the rest of their life).

This makes me a little biased, but I think it's a wonderful area. Northern Chester County is being developed more and more each day, which is really quite sad, but Chester Springs is still pretty rural and beautiful. If you care about preserving this, definitely get involved with your neighbors and the local government in keeping urban sprawl out.

I imagine you know this already, but you'll probably be getting your water from a well. This means that if the power is out, you won't really have running water (at least for long). It also means you have to be more aware of the water quality of the well, among other things. Just something to keep in mind since you seem to be coming from KoP (where I assume you have public water).

I can't think of anything else specific at the moment, but then again I've been here most of my life.

House ownership questions are a bit beyond my knowledge, but feel free to send me email to the address in my profile for anything else (or post more comments here, though email will likely be more timely).

Welcome to the area! (assuming you finalize the sale...)
posted by thebabelfish at 6:57 PM on October 6, 2006

MattD makes a good point: it really is family area.

About the real estate value though, it really depends where you're buying in the area (of course).
posted by thebabelfish at 7:01 PM on October 6, 2006