My husband and I said it out loud. We think we may have to move in the next few years. We are not moving tomorrow and we’d have to spend time getting our house ready for selling but we are out of options in the city. I love my little neighborhood. I love my neighbors. It is actually all about the schools and taxes.

Here in Philadelphia after elementary school which goes till 8th grade you have to find a high school. The neighborhood high schools are not the best and usually kids are applying to charter schools and magnet schools. Ryan although super smart is not a kid that tests well. His performance on tests varies wildly from week to week in 2nd grade. How is this going to be as he moves along in school?  The school where we are now is an amazing community but the school district has left us with no paper till the end of the year and we lost our lunch ladies. Parents are volunteering to manage the kids at lunch. Ryan will probably not get into any of the magnet high schools and we need to prepare for that. Aaron’s class is now at the limit of 30 kids. I see his wonderful kindergarten teacher at the end of each day and she has many volunteers in and out all of the time, but she seems ready for a bucket of martini’s daily. Most of the issue I have with the school is not the school but the School District of Philadelphia.

Then there is the tax issue. If I continue to work from home and take on more clients I will have to pay the Business Privileged Tax as well as other taxes to the City of Philadelphia. If I move out of the city, just to the other side of the river, about 2 miles from where I live now, I will not have to think about these taxes. We will have the resources of the Lower Merion School District which rates in the top 200 schools nationally for math and science. They also have a great reputation for their special education.

As a dedicated city dweller the thought of moving to the suburbs in the past has made my skin crawl. These days it makes my skin crawl a little less than it used to. Big Sigh.