Bensalem, PA and other communities in/near PHILADELPHIA

Kiwi13

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 10:07 am

Please tell me about:

Apartment rental costs (2-3 bedrooms)?

School options for kids on IEPs? (B”H we no longer need self-contained special Ed.)

Hashkafa of the area?

Specific areas within the eruv where I can look for housing? (Rentals)

***Is UPenn all it’s cracked up to be, as a medical system? (Please PM me if you have info but don’t want to post publicly.)

Anything else I should know?

Thank you.

amother

Chicory

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 10:18 am

UPenn health system is amazing!

Bensalem community is primarily focused around the kollel there. Last I heard was around 30 families.

You’ll most likely do better in Northeast Philly, rhawnhurst area. It’s a mix of hashkafas there’s, pretty open minded. And living in Philly vs the suburbs will make a huge difference on tuition

amother

Jetblack

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 12:13 pm

From what I've heard, as someone also looking into maybe moving to philly:
Rawnhurst is in the city of Philly itself, so the voucher amounts per student are higher. Elkins Park, which is technically not in the city of Philly and is a suburb, has higher property taxes/home prices and lower vouchers. Elkins Park, though, has a more suburban feel, with grassy yards, no duplexes, etc.

I'm not sure what the differences in the crowd between the two places is like

Bensalem is more kollel/kiruv, and a lot of families come when they are young and leave after a bit

amother

Jetblack

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 12:15 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

Oh, okay. That makes sense. Which communities have vouchers?

I believe the entire state receives some vouchers (Scranton, PA community does also, for example.) The difference in the value of the voucher is based on the public school district. A failing district gets parents a higher amount per student

amother

Jetblack

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 12:22 pm

Rawnhurst is definitely cheaper to buy then Elkins park or the southern community. Zillow the zip codes, I don't know them offhand but just put the shul address into zillow and work from there to get an idea

ETA: one of the shuls is on Rhawn street, zip code 19111
There's another neighboring zip code that also has frum families

amother

Blueberry

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 1:49 pm

I actually don't think that you should write off Bensalem so quickly. Not that I know much about the community today - but I did know it years ago.

While the community is more of a kiruv community + yeshvish kollel - as in full of Baalei teshuva who are at different stages of becoming frum, is that necessarily such a bad thing?
The yeshvish kollel people are the young families who come in and out - but the Baalei Teshuva and still secular members of the community are there to stay.

Kiruv communities tend to be very supportive, have rabbi's who are involved and provide support to the community members. You also would have more space to figure out where you want to fall on the frum spectrum then in a place where people define themselves as something specific.

I also understand that they are providing housing incentives which could be huge for you. And it is very suburban.

And yes the UPenn medical system is what its cracked up to be.

Regarding Rawhurts - you would need to find out what PS schools are like for your SN kids. The fact that they are providing vouchers ( beyond the regular state vouchers) is usually a sign that it is a failing district.

I think that Politz would be a good fit for your daughter, but doubt that they can accommodate your sons SN.

realtalk

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:12 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

I actually don't think that you should write off Bensalem so quickly. Not that I know much about the community today - but I did know it years ago.

Just to tie in with your other thread, Bensalem would be impossible without a car/ability to drive

amother

Foxglove

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:13 pm

The vouchers are not really passed on to the parents. There is NO voucher in PA. The help is ONLY in school districts that are failing. That isn’t even every zip code in Philadelphia.
Don’t come to Philadelphia relying on a school voucher.

Aside from that, I don’t know about Bensalem, but northeast Philadelphia is beautiful community, not caught up in Gashmiyus.

Your school would probably be Politz. Most of the special ed there is through OROT. And it’s expensive for parents. The school is a beautiful, wonderful school.

amother

Forsythia

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 2:19 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

What about Cherry Hill, NJ or do you specifically want to be in PA?

Kiwi13

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 6:50 pm

amother Forsythia wrote:

What about Cherry Hill, NJ or do you specifically want to be in PA?

Philadelphia would be mainly for CHOP and UPenn, and hopefully at least somewhat decent public transport.

I don't know much about Cherry Hill, but being across state lines would make it much harder/impossible to get insurance coverage for CHOP and UPenn.

amother

Brown

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 9:32 pm

Hi! I live in Rhawnhurst and would love to answer any questions you have.
1. Public transportation is OK, but really not great. Similar to other big cities, the safety declined during covid. And the network of lines and stations doesn't compare to say,
NYC. Most everyone here uses cars.
2. There is a program called Orot in the schools for special needs kids. It depends what is on the IEP. Orot cannot handle severe disabilities. But it handles kids who need more support/individualization than a mainstream classroom can give. It's colocated in the schools so the kids can have a social life as well. Best thing is to talk to Mrs. Katz, head of politz, to see what they're able to accommodate. Call the school, and her extension is the first in the list.
3. Penn is great. Both my husband and my friend are nurses there Wink

4. The frum zip codes are 19111 and 19152. Both in failing school districts, so we receive the equivalent of tuition vouchers. In addition to further school financial aid if necessary. Tuition is ridiculously cheap here compared to Jewish schools in the rest of the non-vouchered country. But of course if you need public schools, don't come here....
5. Housing is also super cheap, one of the most affordable frum areas of the east coast. 2-3 bedroom apartment is around 1200 these days. And many people rent. We are not an affluent community. In fact, there are more attached houses and multi-unit dwellings here than there are single houses. But there are nice yards and even nicer community members. Very Happy

Kiwi13

Tue, Mar 21 2023, 11:22 pm

amother Brown wrote:

Any chance you’re comfortable PMing me? (Please?)