anyone live in Spring City, Franconia, Phonenixville or Collegeville, PA??

[momoftworedheads]

Hello all,

My husband and I are in the process of looking for somewhere new to live.  We have lived in Philly for our whole lives, we have lived in parts of the Northeast and I lived in Center CIty for a little bit.  It is time to move, we want better education choices for our children, better environment for them to grow and live.  Our neighborhood has been changing for 5 years and it is not for the better:(  We have 4 children and are expecting a fifth next month.  Our children are 11, 8, 6 and 2.  My Dh works in Montgoment County, near Collegeville, so that is why we are looking in the places I mentioned in the title.  If you live in these places, could you please tell me what you like about it and how you like the schools if you send your child/children to school?  Also, I would like to know if there are good food co-ops, access to other like-minded parents, etc??  Thanks if you have read all of this.  Take care!

[MrsMike]

I live in the general area. I'm not too familiar with Spring City, but Collegeville and Phoenixville are generally good places. Phoenixville has some dodgy areas, but they are working to change things around for the better. The traffic sucks. Phoenixville is very crunchy-friendly. Lots of farms around the area, plus a weekly Farmer's Market. Collegeville has a lot of farms - one is Longview Market (formerly Willow Creek Orchard), which is an organic farm and market open everyday except for in the winter. There are little local farmer's markets throughout the area - Lower Merion, Skippack and more. There are CSAs in the area. I have never been able to afford one so I don't know specifics. www.localharvest.com is a great site to help you locate local farms, farmers markets and CSAs.

We do really like the area. My husband and I grew up in Northeast Philly and I do miss Philly from time to time, but my parents live there so I still get to visit. I miss the accessibility of Philly....you could walk and take buses everywhere. There are some buses that run through Phoenixville and Collegeville, but it's not like the access in Philly.  Phoenixville has more in the way sidewalks and is easier to walk to stores. The area I live in isn't very pedestrian friendly, so that's frustrating. I hate having to drive 1 minute down the road to the store rather than walk. I really like the access to farms and farmer's markets. I find that there is a lot going on almost all the time, so family entertainment isn't an issue. My son will start Kindergarten this Fall and we're in a different school district than you would be in those towns, so I can't help in that area. There are a few good natural-friendly doctors in  the area as well as midwives, should you need one.

[wjey]

We live in Sellersville, which is about 10 minutes from Franconia.  It's a nice community, mostly rural-ish.  You won't have the amenities of a large city, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere!  But there are alot of farms and farmers markets (plenty of produce stands, fresh eggs/milk/meat from local farms.  The Souderton School District is a good one.  Most of the schools are very good (I subbed in the district elementary schools for awhile and have friends with kids in the district.  We're two minutes over the line into the next district.).  There are plenty of nice playgrounds and parks, but you will need to drive to them, as it really is a pretty rural area, for the most part.  I know there are CSAs nearby and I believe that there is a United Natural Foods (UNFI) co-op in Harleysville, which is 5-10 minutes from Franconia.

[momoftworedheads]

Thanks ladies!!  We are still looking, we did look at some homes in Douglasville and Gilbertsville but it is a little to far for me.  We are still rtrying to decide on location.  Thanks so much for your information, it does help!

Take care