Delco people.....need general info/opinions.
 

I have known a few people from Delco in my lifetime. However, other than hitting an occasional bar in their area, or hanging at their house, I never paid a lot of attention to the areas.

I am currently in a situation where I need to move AND find a new job. I may have an offer down in the Delco area. Therefore, rather that find a new place up in far Northeast and make that possible long commute, i was considering looking in Delco if I get the job.

What are the areas like down there? The job is in Folcroft....so I guess i want opinions on Folcroft, Sharon Hill, Glenolden, Yeadon, etc....

Are there any areas to absolutely stay away from? Any that are better than most?

Please keep in mind I will be renting for now...duplex or townhouse.

Any opinions??? Any nice townhome communities in any of these areas?

Honestly, Delco on the whole is a nice place to live. Not much in the way of good-paying jobs, but if you got an offer thats great. But lots of stuff to do, so close to center city.

That said, the Sharon Hill/Glenolden/Yeadon/Folcroft area is pretty much the lower tier of delco and is rapidly rapidly declining. More and more "low class" people are moving there from West/South/SW Philly and it really is going downhill. I'm not sure exactly where you are from, but it is probably very similar to certain parts of the northeast.

However, just a 10 minute drive away, there are plenty of nice communities to rent in Springfield, Havertown, Drexel Hill, or even Aldan. I don't want to scare you away though, the areas still aren't too bad , just lots of white trash and such. Definitely check it out and decide how far of a commute you'd be willing to make.

haha for what I do, Delco is the mecca of jobs!!! I'm in import/emprt operations and without exagerting, there are easily 20 big names companies in Delco (Essington, Folcroft, Sharon Hill, etc).

Ok, so Drexel Hill, Springfield and Havertown are within reasonable daily driving distance to Folcroft. Thats awesome to know. I grew up in Juniata with the scum of the earth, but have lived in a nice area of the Far Northeast for a few years now. I def don't want to be living amongst section 8'ers and what not.

Thanks for the input man. I'll def be looking into the "nicer" areas if I get the job. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for, as I would have never known those other areas were so ****ty. lol

Like he said I'd shy away from the Folcroft and that side of chester/mcdade blvd. Springfield is great.. but taxes are outrageous. I'd suggest Drexel Hill if anything. The only bad thing about delco is we are overwhelmed with traffic.. it's pretty pathetic. My favorite part is sitting in traffic on rt 1 and seeing my house in the distance, yet I have to sit there and just wait.....

That is one reason i was considering looking close to the job location, a short commute...but if those areas are crappy, I'll brave the commute. I am so used to it. My current commute is over and hour.

Also about the taxes..I currently live and work in the city, so at least I should be saving 2-3% overall from city wage taxes if i am living and working in that area.

We shall see. Again, thanks for the input guys.

Traffic does backup at certain points during rush hour (Rt.1 and Rt.3 near Blue Route ramps) but in general, its not bad.
Doug- I know where you are talking about tho, RT.1 from Drexeline Center upto the Marple 10 cinema complex is a PITA @ Rush hour.

x2. McDade is about as far down as I would want to go, but Primos/Secane area isn't too bad...yet.

Drexel Hill has a couple lower/middle income sections that have some nice duplexes for rent. Lots of 20-30 somethings in these areas.

oh okay, yeah, I was referring more towards like business/corporate type jobs. There is TONS of retail jobs, and blue collar jobs like construction, landscaping, painting, auto mechanic, etc...

And I'm not surprised to hear there is a established import/export (are you George Costanza by chance? lol) industry there, its so close to the waterfront. What exactly does your company do or job entail? I'm looking for a new jobber! :)

international shipping and logistics....i don't work in the warehouse, i handle the business part of it (operation, regulatory, compliance, etc). I sit in a cubicle all day and act important..lol

If you start looking to buy, take a look at Newtown Square. It's probably one of the wealthiest areas in Delco, but it has the lowest taxes! That is all I care to say about that situation, at least for now! :)

^Newtown Square is the ish. Thats where I reside. And another thing is the township is very lenient my dad is adding about 1000-1500 square feet and completely changing our house and the township basically lets it go aslong as your on your own property. Its a nice area I love it up here we are right between West Chester and Philly.

folcroft isnt that far imo, 95 sucks in the morning but other that that its only a 30 mile 40 minute drive from north east.

I say stay the helllllllllllll out of Sharon Hill... I live in Drexel Hill & it's a quiet town but it's really nice. :)