Unscientific Survey: House Hopping
Moving from one house to another is a way of life for some Swarthmore residents. In an essay in the April 9 edition of The Swarthmorean, Satya Nelms dug into the phenomenon, exploring the reasons and results. One of the people she spoke to, Becky Hansen, has lived in eight houses!
In the same issue, Unscientific Survey asked readers to tell us about their own experiences with Swarthmore house hopping. Of the 129 survey respondents who reside (or have resided) in town, only about a third of you have lived in just one Swarthmore home. 40% of you have lived in two homes. 13% of you have lived in three, 9% of you have lived in four, and 7% (nine people) have lived in more than four.
Some of you also told about the opposite experience: being the latest of multiple generations of one family to live in the same house.
Here is a sampling of your comments:
“When we first moved here we couldn’t grasp the concept of moving across town or just how many people were doing it — until we did it ourselves!”
“I grew up here, with many wonderful memories. However, I never would have predicted that years later, the first house I would own would be only a mile from my childhood home. Swarthmore just has a way of pulling you back.”
“We specifically bought a bigger house in the borough hoping to fill it up in the years to come (and we did!) to avoid the ‘Swarthmore shuffle.’ We have no regrets — best decision ever.”
“George Keighton, fourth-generation resident at 311 Cedar Lane.”
“I’ve lived in four, my husband two. If I can include my parents, my family has three more houses — one before me, and one each for my mother and father as youths. These are the only ones I know of — there may be more — hinted at on Ancestry. No one will pass Becky!” –Anne Papa
“We moved into faculty housing while pregnant with our daughter, then two years later bought a house on the other side of town while expecting our son. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring different neighborhoods on each maternity leave, luckily having had our kids during September and May, in great seasons for long walks.” –Jeannine Anckaitis
“When we moved here from Michigan, it felt like coming home. We were living outside of Ann Arbor when [my husband] took a job here. I was back home with our two kids when he bought our first house on Vassar. After we lived there for 10 years, we bought a big Victorian on Elm. After more than 15 years there, and our daughters grown up, we purchased our present one-story house on Wellesley. This is our last house. I don’t plan to leave Swarthmore.” –Carol Savery
“Moved right around the corner — ten houses away when we downsized. Needed moving vans anyway!”
“Seven!”
“Both ABC [A Better Chance - Strath Haven] houses (current, and former girls) and then current house when I got too old to hang with the ABC Crew.” –Andy Rieger (and Lysa Rieger)
“We’ve always lived in Swarthmore College housing, but sized up from apartment to duplex to house as our family grew. It’s great being near campus — we’ve lived in three places within half a block of each other.” –Jayatri Das
“Not only have I lived in three different houses in Swarthmore, those three houses are in a half-block radius of each other. Swore as a teenager I’d never move back here. Well, that lasted till I had kids of my own and wanted them to live in a great community where they could hop on a bike and go to their friends or the pool.” –Corey Hull
“Under pressure to get settled before the beginning of the school year, we bought a house that was too small for our family of six. We kept an eye on listings and moved after one year to a larger home, about three blocks away.” –Heather Saunders
“I am across the street from the first house I bought, however a lot of life has occurred from then to now.” –Dotty Lee
“I lived in the Dartmouth House and fell in love with the town. I gave my landlord notice only because I planned on moving in with my then-girlfriend, but we broke up — which left me frantically finding a condo to rent. A few years and a much-better relationship later, and I was able to buy a house in town with my wife.”
“Renting, which makes home hopping easier.”
“My husband doesn’t like change and has wanted to stay in place, while I like all sorts of houses and would have enjoyed trying a few new styles and locations, particularly a fixer-upper. To me, that would be fun!”
“I lived in two off-campus college residences (Mary Lyon and Pittenger) and, in senior year, a home on the corner of Ogden and Guernsey Road. When I returned to Swarthmore College to work, lived briefly in college guest housing and, since May 1989, at my present home on North Chester Road.” –Maurice G. Eldridge
“We have lived in the same house (311 Lafayette Ave.) for over 50 years! And, at Christmas 2019, The Swarthmorean ran a photo of our family with the headline, ‘Richardson House in Same Family for 100 Years.’ The Richardsons obviously LOVE Swarthmore!” –Jeanette and Bob Richardson
“Seven, including the grandparents’ house that we sometimes lived in. We owned once, rented the rest, and then there was the empty nest.”
“Swarthmore has a variety of house sizes. As the family (and income) grow, move to a bigger house but stay in Swarthmore because of schools, friends, and community spirit. After kids leave home, downsize to smaller home but stay in Swarthmore because of walkability and community activities.”
“When we moved to the borough in 2000, I didn’t like this house much. We bought it because it was available and we could afford it. I imagined living in many other, more interesting houses in the borough over the years. But now, two decades on, I’ve grown to love this one (except for the things about it I don’t love). And moving is horrible and expensive. So I think I’ll just stay here.”
