Featured Apartment:
Philadelphia - City View Apartments are comfortable, convenient, and affordable. We are ideally located in King of Prussia, with easy access to Philadelphia and Jersey. Spacious floorplans compliment the attractive design to make City View the perfect home for everyone. View More Listings -->
Renting an Apartment in North Wales
North Wales is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United
States. It is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is one of the
three historic population centers that make up the North Penn Valley.
The population was 3,342 at the 2000 census.
Like many small boroughs in Pennsylvania, North Wales is at "build out,"
meaning that its boundaries have not kept up with population growth.
Summarily, many businesses and residences with North Wales addresses are
located in outlying townships that were never annexed by the borough.
North Wales is in the North Penn School District.
Location
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total
area of 1.5 km� (0.6 mi�), all land.
History
As its name suggests, North Wales was settled by Welsh immigrants who
named it after North Wales in the UK. (For more on Welsh settlements in
colonial Pennsylvania, see "Welsh Tract.") It began as a pastoral
village in agricultural Gwynedd Township.
Its rural character was abruptly disrupted by the building of the North
Pennsylvania Railroad starting in 1852. Service from Bethlehem to
Philadelphia through North Wales began in 1857. The town quickly grew
around the railroad station, with hotels and restaurants lining Walnut
Street and Main Street within walking distance. North Wales was
incorporated as a borough in 1869, taking land from today's Upper
Gwynedd Township, then the northern portion of Gwynedd Township.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, much of North Wales
borough's housing stock was built. Most houses in the borough remain
today rowhouses, twins, and modest detached homes.
Between 1826 and 1900, Lehigh Valley Transit operated its Chestnut Hill
Branch trolley line, which connected North Wales to surrounding towns
through service to either Philadelphia or Norristown. The trolley ran
down Main Street through the borough, but detoured onto Pennsylvania
Avenue to enable it to cross the North Penn Railroad tracks rather than
being stopped at the grade-crossing while the train passed.
Although trolley service ended and trackage has been removed, rail
service to North Wales is currently served by SEPTA. Many North Wales
residents commute to Center City, Philadelphia by the R5 train.
North Wales' Main Street, although a shadow of its former glory, still
serves the community by providing basic services such as pizza parlors
(Most notably the local favorite Tony's Pizza and a Papa John's), a
bank, a pharmacy, a running specialty store, doctors' offices, cafes, a
dry cleaner, a furniture restoration store, and other commercial shops.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 3,342 people, 1,299 households,
and 869 families residing in the borough. The population density was
2,263.8/km� (5,848.7/mi�). There were 1,330 housing units at an average
density of 900.9/km� (2,327.6/mi�). The racial makeup of the borough was
90.31% White, 4.82% African American, 0.06% Native American, 2.09%
Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 0.78% from other races, and 1.77% from
two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.50% of the
population.
There were 1,299 households out of which 34.6% had children under the
age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together,
9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were
non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and
8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The
average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.18.
In the borough the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of
18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and
10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years.
For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age
18 and over, there were 95.9 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $54,605, and the
median income for a family was $63,235. Males had a median income of
$41,265 versus $33,045 for females. The per capita income for the
borough was $26,590. About 3.2% of families and 4.7% of the population
were below the poverty line, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and
4.0% of those age 65 or over.
City Government
North Wales has a city manager form of government with a mayor and a
nine-member borough council. The mayor is Doug Ross.
The borough is part of the Thirteenth Congressional District
(represented by Rep. Allyson Schwartz), the 61st State House District (represen
ted by Rep. Kate Harper) and the 12th State Senate District (represented
by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf).