mwdake

Check out Germantown and Chestnut Hill areas.
I have never lived there but have visited and the are beautiful historic areas but quite pricy.

Clrsth

Not sure if you are still looking, but we are also moving to Philly. My husband has already left, he's working at the Thomas Jefferson University in the centre, and I'm waiting with my children - 12,11 and 11 for our visas to be processed. Please get in touch if you've got any questions. We've rented a house in the Main Line area in the Radnor Township, near Newtown Square - schools looked good and my husband could get a train to work.

BigK

Many have mentioned the great town in the Philly suburbs, however, if you are sending your kids to the public schools you will want to research which schools exactly your town or desired neighborhood will feed into. You can do that by checking ratings here:
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

The suburbs have some good school districts. You plan on private schools, then stay downtown (Rittenhouse square) and there are many great private schools nearby. Good luck!

Jerseygirl

3 children in private schools and you won't get much change out of $100K per year.

MarylandNed

Unless there is something seriously wrong with the local public school system or money is not an issue, I really don't see the point in paying for private schools. That money would be much better used for college (undergrad and graduate school) IMO.

BigK

I meant to write "If you plan on private schools...."

Regardless of what you think of the value of private schools, many expats get a schooling allowance for their kids. This allows them to relocate to anywhere there may even be bad school (typical downtowns in the US), but the quality of life may be more exciting. It was just a suggestion

Jerseygirl

My daughter went to private schools...we didn't get a company allowance.

MsElui

we were brought over on a L1/L2, a LOT was in our deal - they do it so much there is a whole HR booklet of stuff that is standard, but allowances for schools were NOT mentioned. Maybe higher level staff maybe but not at the level we were.

N1cky

Ditto

Jerseygirl

We moved 18 years ago...my husband's company Coopers and Lybrand...were not used to transferring senior staff across the Atlantic. We were very much on our own...no relo consultants etc. We were also L1a/L2 and yes we did get an extremely generous allowance...plus a salary hike.

paddingtongreen

Delaware county, west of Philly, is fairly good if you stay west of Darby, Upper Darby and Folsom, although some residents would disagree with that slur. I raised my family in Springfield Delaware County (often referred to as Springfield Delco because there is another Springfield not to far away.) your best bet might be to deal with a realtor for the first rental, we don't know all of your areas of interest.
Get a map, look up a SEPTA map and schedules to judge transport limits so you don't go too far out for a decent commute.

Warrington Wolf

Try West Chester or Chads Ford. A little way out but good schools.

TheRunningMan

I'm about to move with my wife and two young kids (3 & 6) to Philly this summer. Its only really been decided last minute, so we still need to sort out everything! Our office is in Trevose, which I'm told is not such an exciting place to live, so I've been trying to get my head around where we should live. I'm on assignment in Europe currently, so my kids are both in a lovely International School. Would welcome any advice on where to live and associated recommended schools for that age. I'm told that Chestnut Hill and Doylestown are nice places. Any other suggestions? I've been trying to do some research on Zillow prior to our relocation agent getting instructed in a week or so. Options seem pretty limited. Anywhere else I should be looking? Also, is there much of an expat scene in Philly? When we move, we'll have a big hole to fill! :-(

Clrsth

We moved to Philly last August. We rented a house for a year and have just brought a house. We live along the Mainline area, which is the suburbs of Philly. It tends to be expensive - we paid $2000 for a 3 bedroomed house (but could have paid a lot more) but the schools are great in this area. Our kids are 12,12 and 13 and go to Radnor Township (www.rtsd.com) - the schools have a great reputation. Schools in Lower Merion, Havertown and Upper Merion are also great. We now live in a town called Wayne so my husband can walk to the station (although you can park at SEPTA stations for $1 per day) - his travel card costs about $120 a month from the mainline to Jefferson station in center city. There are lots of international students at my kids school - we know of 4 different British families, and my son has friends that are Chinese, French, Spanish Russian - because the schools are good it tends to attract international families. Lots of parents work for pharma companies. The school has a multicultural society which is good to meet other expats.

ScottUK1990

What does everyone think of the Cheltenham and Abington areas? They look pretty nice having driven through them.