Collingdale is a borough of about 8,900 people squeezed into less than one square mile of southeastern Delaware County, Pennsylvania, sitting just off the I-95 corridor and roughly nine miles southwest of Center City Philadelphia. It is the kind of place that still calls itself Everyone's Hometown, and for good reason: the SEPTA Route 102 trolley clatters right through town, MacDade Boulevard anchors a busy commercial strip, and some of the most affordable homes in all of Delco line quiet streets of brick twins and rowhouses. This guide covers what daily life in Collingdale is really like, from the commute to the schools to the historic cemetery at the end of Springfield Road.
If you have been house-hunting around Upper Chichester and Boothwyn and want the same warm, neighborly feel with genuine transit options and an even easier price point, Collingdale deserves a Saturday afternoon. For the full breakdown of neighborhoods, housing stock, and every frequently asked question, skip to my complete Collingdale community guide after this read.
Everybody's Hometown, From 1891
Collingdale was incorporated as a borough on December 23, 1891, carved out of the eastern edge of Darby Township as Philadelphia's industrial workforce spilled into the inner-ring suburbs. For most of the 1800s the land was farmland, much of it held by the Morton family, and the town grew quickly once developers bought land along the new trolley right-of-way. By 1940 the borough had climbed past 8,000 residents, and the brick twins and rowhouses that went up in those decades still define the streetscape today.
The borough wears its nickname, Everyone's Hometown, proudly. It is also quietly one of the greenest-feeling towns you will find at this density: nearly half of Collingdale's land is occupied by four cemeteries, which double as tranquil open space and give the town a sense of history you can feel just walking around.
How Do Collingdale Commuters Get to Philadelphia?
Transit is Collingdale's superpower. The SEPTA Route 102 trolley runs right through the borough along Woodlawn Avenue and Springfield Road, and the MacDade Boulevard station at the corner of Woodlawn and MacDade is the next-to-last stop before the Sharon Hill terminus. In the borough's earliest days the stop was plain Collingdale Station; SEPTA renamed it MacDade Boulevard in 2010, but locals still know it as the trolley stop at the heart of town.
Hop on and the trolley carries you straight to the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby, where the Market-Frankford El whisks you into Center City in about 20 minutes. SEPTA bus Route 113 also runs the length of MacDade Boulevard, connecting to the Darby Transit Center and back to 69th Street. Prefer to drive? Center City is roughly nine miles northeast, about 20 minutes in normal traffic, Philadelphia International Airport is only about five miles away, and Wilmington is a straight 18-mile shot down I-95.
Collingdale Schools: What District Serves the Borough?
Collingdale is part of the Southeast Delco School District, which also includes neighboring Darby Township and Sharon Hill. Most borough kids walk to Harris School on Sharon Avenue, the K-8 building right in Collingdale, then move up to Academy Park High School on Calcon Hook Road in Sharon Hill, about five minutes away. The district offers Advanced Placement courses, career and technical pathways through Delaware County Technical Schools, and a full slate of athletics and activities.
School fit is personal, so I always walk families through the specific buildings, bus stops, and programs that match their kids. For the deeper district rundown, the housing numbers, and the honest comparisons to nearby towns, the complete Collingdale community guide has it all in one place.
What's on MacDade Boulevard?
MacDade Boulevard is Collingdale's commercial spine, running the full length of the borough with pizzerias, neighborhood shops, and everyday essentials. Creekside Plaza, just off MacDade, is the anchor stop, with an ALDI for groceries and a row of convenient stores. For bigger shopping trips, 69th Street and the stores along Baltimore Pike are ten minutes up the road.
Dining here is unpretentious in the best Delco way: quick slices, steak sandwiches, corner takeout, and the eternal Wawa run when you need coffee or a hoagie on the go. It is the kind of strip where you run into neighbors, and that is exactly the point.
Where Do Locals Go Outdoors?
Collingdale Park is the borough's main community recreation space, with playgrounds, ball courts, and green space where kids play after school and families gather on weekends. A few smaller neighborhood parks dot the side streets, and because so much of the town is open cemetery grounds, there is always a quiet place to walk.
Bigger adventures are minutes away. The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania, is about ten minutes north with boardwalks and superb birdwatching, and Ridley Creek State Park offers 2,600 acres of trails and picnic groves a short drive up the Blue Route corridor.
A Cemetery That Reads Like a History Book
Collingdale's most significant landmark is Eden Cemetery, established in 1902 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, at 1434 Springfield Road. When Philadelphia's old Lebanon and Olive cemeteries ran out of room, thousands of burials were reinterred here, which is why some of the most celebrated Americans of the 19th and 20th centuries rest in this small Delco borough.
World-renowned opera singer Marian Anderson is buried here, along with abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor William Still, educator and voting-rights advocate Octavius V. Catto, and pioneering physician Dr. Rebecca J. Cole. A quiet walk through Eden Cemetery is a genuinely moving history lesson, and it is all right in the neighborhood.
Who Is Collingdale a Good Fit For?
Collingdale suits first-time buyers who want an affordable entry into the Philadelphia market, city workers who want a real public-transit commute without paying Philadelphia's wage tax, and anyone who flies often and values a ten-minute airport run. The housing stock, mostly brick twins, rowhouses, and small detached homes built between 1900 and 1960, rewards buyers willing to put in a little sweat equity, and the price points are among the lowest in Delaware County.
It is also a place that welcomes longtime locals and newcomers alike, with a tight-knit, front-porch culture that makes plugging in easy. If you are weighing Collingdale against towns you have already toured around Upper Chichester, the combination of trolley access, airport proximity, and price is hard to match anywhere else in Delco.
Come Ride the Trolley Through Everyone's Hometown
Collingdale is a small borough that quietly delivers a lot: a trolley stop at the heart of town, some of the most affordable homes in Delaware County, a commercial strip that has everything you need, and a National Register cemetery where American icons are laid to rest. It is friendly, genuine, and closer to the action than its price tag suggests.
When you are ready to look seriously at Delaware County homes, I would love to help. As a Realtor licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, I guide buyers across Delco, from 115 Louise Dr in Upper Chichester to the trolley towns along the MacDade corridor. Call me at 267-977-0304, or book a quick chat, and let me show you around. You can find more seller and buyer reads at AndreRichardson.com.
Andre Richardson
Realtor · HomeSmart Realty Advisors · PA RS349905 · NJ 1969348