Burb vs. burb

Ardmore Quakertown

Montgomery County against Bucks County, $189K apart on a typical house, and two different ideas of a Saturday. The tale of the tape:

Quick verdict

  • Your dollar goes further in Quakertown: homes around $350K against $539K.
  • Ardmore has a train (30 min to Center City); Quakertown doesn't. For some households that ends the conversation.
  • Ardmore takes the food question. More kitchens worth arguing about.
  • Ardmore owns the night: more taprooms, later rooms.
  • Ardmore wins the browse. The shops are the afternoon.

The read, side by side

Food scene
Nights out
Shops & browsing
Arts & festivals
Trails & outdoors
Family Saturdays
Train to the city
Main-street walk
Peace & quiet

Scored 0–5 by us, the way we’d brief a friend. Not by a formula.

The numbers

Ardmore Quakertown
CountyMontgomeryBucks
Typical home$539K$350K
TrainArdmore, about 30 minNo station
Drive to Center City~25 min~60 min
SchoolsLower MerionQuakertown Community
Population13,5669,359
In our guide112 places106 places

Home values: typical figures checked against Zillow and Redfin, mid-2026. Train times: typical scheduled rides to Jefferson Station, rounded. Verify before you commit to anything with a mortgage on it.

A Saturday in each

Ardmore

  • Felicia's Pizza Kitchen: Pizza on West Lancaster Avenue, run as a takeout counter with a handful of seats.
  • Pilot and Powell: A clothing boutique on Parking Plaza, the block behind Lancaster Avenue where Ardmore keeps its municipal lots.
  • Axiom Contemporary: Contemporary art gallery in a Coulter Ave storefront, a block off the Lancaster Avenue strip.

The full Ardmore guide →

Quakertown

  • Bada Bing Bagels: New York bagels, par-boiled in the city that invented them and finished fresh every morning in Quakertown, from a shop that owes its name to one too many Sopranos reruns.
  • Moyer's Shoes: A family shoe store on West Broad that has been measuring feet and fitting them properly since 1952.
  • Veterans Park Quakertown: The Richland Township park where the communal stuff lands: free Movies in the Park on summer Friday nights at 7, plus the township's Community Day every August.

The full Quakertown guide →