6 Reasons to Love Living in Collingswood, NJ

I grew up about 15 minutes from here, in Moorestown, and Collingswood was always on my radar. I knew it as this funky little town with its own vibe and a downtown that actually felt alive. So when it came time to plant my own roots, it wasn't much of a surprise that I ended up here.

People ask me all the time: "Is Collingswood actually as good as everyone says?" Honestly — yes. And the more time I spend here, the more convinced I am that this 1.5-square-mile town punches way above its weight. Here are six reasons why.

1. The Walkability Is Actually Real

So many towns market themselves as "walkable" and then you get there and it's a strip mall with a sidewalk. That is not Collingswood.

Haddon Avenue is the spine of this town, lined for blocks with independent restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, a bookstore, a plant shop, pet stores, and bakeries — the kind of small business density you'd expect in a much bigger city. You can genuinely walk your kids to school, walk to dinner, walk to the farmers market, walk to the train.

Men's Journal even named Collingswood one of the best places in the country to live car-free, and once you spend a weekend here, you'll understand exactly why. It's rare to find this kind of walkability at this price point so close to a major city — and it's one of the first things I point out to buyers relocating from Philly who are nervous about "losing" that lifestyle by moving to the suburbs.

2. The PATCO Puts All of Philadelphia at Your Front Door

If I had to pick the single most underrated reason to live here, it's the PATCO High-Speed Line.

The PATCO connects Collingswood directly to Center City Philadelphia in about 15 minutes. No traffic, no parking garage, no bridge toll, no stress. You walk or park at the station, hop on a train, and you're in the city. That gives you access to Center City's entire restaurant scene, Reading Terminal Market, sporting events, concerts, or your daily commute — all fifteen minutes away.

During the week, the train runs from 4:30am to midnight, and it runs 24 hours on weekends. During peak commuting hours, trains come every 8 minutes; even in the middle of the night, they still run every 30 minutes.

Collingswood isn't a suburb you retreat to because you're giving something up. It's a suburb you choose because you get to keep the city and come home to something calmer. That combination is genuinely hard to find, and PATCO is what makes it possible.

3. It's Only a 16-Minute Drive to Philly

Prefer to drive instead of train it? You're still only about 16 minutes from Philadelphia by car. That means date nights in the city, catching a show, or meeting friends downtown are never a production — just a quick hop over the bridge and you're there.

Between the PATCO and the short drive, Collingswood gives you real flexibility. Some days you want the ease of the train; other days you just want to grab your keys. Either way, the city is never far.

4. The Collingswood Farmers Market Is One of the Best in the Country — Literally

Every Saturday from May through the Saturday before Thanksgiving, from 8am to noon, Atlantic Avenue transforms into the Collingswood Farmers Market, running right underneath the PATCO High-Speed Line.

It started decades ago with just 12 farms. Today, it's a full community institution with fresh Jersey produce, local meats and seafood, artisanal cheese, bakeries, prepared foods, local coffee, live music, and seasonal gifts. The American Farmland Trust actually voted it the best farmers market in the entire country.

A typical Saturday morning here means running into six people you know, grabbing a coffee, loading up on peaches or fresh strawberries, letting your kids run around while a local band plays, and petting every dog that walks by. It sounds small until you've lived it — and then you realize it's one of the biggest quality-of-life wins of living here.

5. The Restaurant Scene Punches Way Above Its Weight

USA Today named Collingswood the best small-town food scene in the entire country. Not the region — the country. Once you've eaten your way down Haddon Avenue, that stops feeling like a stretch.

Here's the twist that makes it even better for your wallet: Collingswood is a dry town, which means almost every restaurant is BYOB. Grab a bottle of wine, walk it over to dinner, and skip the restaurant markup entirely. It's a small thing, but it adds up fast — and it makes going out to eat here feel a lot less uptight and a lot more like a normal Tuesday night thing you can actually do.

The restaurant turnover here is also low, which tells you something. These aren't places that open with hype and close in eight months — a lot of these spots have anchored the avenue for over a decade. That's the real sign of a food scene built on locals eating there every week, not just visitors passing through once.

6. The Event Calendar Never Stops

This might be my favorite thing about Collingswood, because I don't think people understand just how much happens here year-round until you actually see it laid out.

Spring kicks off with the Green Festival in April — sustainability workshops, composting demos, local vendors. Then comes May Fair, a full takeover of Haddon Avenue with 200-plus artists, a KidZone, live music, a classic car show, and an estimated 50,000 people coming through town.

Summer brings the farmers market in full swing, Cruise Nights on Haddon Avenue, Porchfest (a free walking concert through the neighborhoods), Independence Day events, National Night Out, and movie nights in Knight Park under the stars.

Fall means the Collingswood Book Festival — the longest-running, largest literary festival in the entire Delaware Valley, with over 60 presenting authors along six blocks of Haddon Avenue, completely free.

Winter turns the whole town into a Hallmark movie: the Holiday Parade, the Parade of Lights, a Holiday House Decorating Contest, tree lighting, a Chanukah celebration, and DecemberFest pop-up events all through downtown.

There's genuinely an event almost every weekend from April through December. If you want a real sense of community — where you actually know your neighbors and run into familiar faces — this is what builds it. Shared experiences, over and over, all year long.

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For what you get here — real walkability, a top-ranked food scene, fast access to a major city by train or car, and a community calendar that never quits — Collingswood is still a genuinely strong value compared to other walkable towns near Philadelphia. It's exactly why I tell relocating buyers to put this town on their list, even if they've never heard of it before.

If you're thinking about relocating to the Philadelphia area, or you're already local and weighing South Jersey as an option, reach out — I'd love to help you figure out if Collingswood is the right fit for you.