Agree that it's not really possible to commute from the city to fort Washington in 30min, and that Ambler is a very nice suburban town, and to visit in person before committing to anything.

I'd add that Conshohocken is another suburb that you could consider that is popular with your demographic. It has a slightly more (but not all that) urban feel compared to Ambler feeling more like a small town.

Another thing to consider with respect to the wage tax is that it's just one component of the cost of living, and it's worth looking at the whole picture before balking at the wage tax bill. Manayunk (another area you could consider) is a very similar area to Conshohocken in many ways, except Manayunk is in the Philadelphia city limits and Conchy is not. Rents for similar apartments in Manayunk happen to run $100-$200/month cheaper compared to Conchy. So if you're making around median income it's only a difference of whether you're paying that $100-200 to you landlord or to the municipality (and since property taxes are lower on average in Philly than most of the suburbs its really just taking a different route to the municipality in the end).