Living in Conshohocken: A Neighborhood Guide
The small borough has survived the transition from factory town to edge city with its character intact.
Downtown Conshohocken / Photograph by JG Photography/Alamy Stock Photo
A river runs through it
Philadelphians of a certain age will remember traffic reports that referenced the Lee Tire curve on the Schuylkill Expressway, and some even older ones can tell you what Alan Wood made (steel, for those who don’t know). A piece of his mill survives on the riverbank, but the Lee Tire plant is now an office park, a reflection of Conshohocken’s modern reality. The town’s name comes from one of two Unami (Lenape) words that refer to the bend in the river there — the reason for that highway curve, which is of course now called the Conshohocken curve.
Business and pleasure
Hotel West & Main’s exterior / Photograph by Jason Varney
Conshy is home to drug wholesaler Cencora, the largest publicly traded company based in Pennsylvania, and the Sora West complex built around its headquarters also features the classy Hotel West & Main (45 Fayette Street). The property’s development included the transformation of the 1874 Washington Hose Company firehouse into the hotel’s main entrance and dining establishments — 1874 Social on the ground floor and upscale Hook & Ladder one floor up. Among Conshy’s other must-try restaurants: Southern Cross Kitchen (Southern, 8 East 1st Avenue), Coyote Crossing (Mexican, 800 Spring Mill Avenue), Blackfish BYOB (seafood, 119 Fayette Street), and Pepperoncini (Italian, 72 Poplar Street).
Blackfish BYOB’s seasonal menu / Photograph courtesy of Blackfish BYOB
Shopping with personality
There are several one-of-a-kind, locally owned stores in town. To uplift your soul, there’s Thirteen Circles (320 Fayette Street), and to do the same for your home, try the Artist’s Loft (14 East 5th Avenue). XTRA Boutique (515 Fayette Street) features the latest in fashion, and if you want nuts and candy, Edwards Freeman Nut Company (441 East Hector Street) has been dishing out both since 1930.
A small town surrounded by suburbia
“Here you get a little more space while still being accessible to the city,” says Jen Benner, who moved to Conshy from Philly two years ago and leads the Home Sweet Home PHL Team at Keller Williams Real Estate. Younger buyers, she says, like the community’s rowhouse-heavy housing stock for its walkability, while families thinking about raising kids buy single-family houses in the surrounding townships. (Two of Montco’s biking/hiking trails knit them together: the Schuylkill River Trail and the Cross-County Trail.) Expect to pay $500K on average for a home in the borough and $100K more in the townships, but either way, be prepared to bid higher than asking price: Houses get multiple offers as soon as they go on the market.
Published as “Living in Conshohocken” in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
