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you mean short hills, not saddle river, right? short hills is in essex county while saddle river is in bergen county.
to answer the original question, i don't think any one subsection of the nyc metro has an obvious advantage over the others. some people might prefer westchester over jersey, long island, and sw connecticut for various reasons, while others might be partial to one of the latter three. but the bottom line is that you can find nice communities with charming downtowns, attractive architecture, good mass transit access to manhattan, and excellent public schools in all directions from nyc. it's all about finding the right town rather than focusing on a specific region within the metro area.
that said, i prefer northeastern nj because it contains some of the closest suburban towns to midtown and downtown manhattan. proximity to the region's employment/cultural/nightlife center is very important to me, so if i were to commute from the suburbs, i'd much rather live right across the hudson river in edgewater/fort lee or perhaps a little farther out in a bedroom community such as montclair or ridgewood than in a far-flung town such as bedford, armonk, or darien.
another thing is that i prefer the diversity and ethnic food offerings in north jersey over the other suburban regions mentioned. yes, i'm aware that port chester (located on the westchester/fairfield border) has a vibrant latin food scene, but north jersey has plenty of that (bergenline ave is north jersey's answer to roosevelt ave in queens) plus fantastic asian (korean, indian, and japanese in particular) and middle eastern (egyptian, lebanese, syrian, palestinian) food as well.
also, my understanding is that nj's taxes, as horrendous as they are, are generally lower than the ny state suburbs. of course, some towns are worse than others. and then there's the sales tax, which is lower in jersey (including no tax on clothing/shoes regardless of price) and gas, which is usually $0.30 cheaper per gallon than in ny state or ct. so despite the fact that the cost of living is more or less the same in all of nyc's suburban areas, nj is cheaper in some respects.
finally, i find that it's somewhat easier to get out of the nyc metro from north jersey for weekend road trips to the catskills, philly, or the poconos. of course, if a person were more tied to new england, then westchester/fairfield would be more convenient. it all depends on the person's preferred out-of-town destinations, but at least for me, nj doesn't feel as "penned in" as the other areas; i feel like it's easier to go to places in all directions. i also happen to prefer the ocean beaches of nj and LI's south shore over the LI sound beaches of westchester/connecticut.
but hey, that's just me. to each his own.
Yeah, I posted Saddle River twice instead of Short Hills. Saddle River is a cool name btw. Even better is you can get right on NJ 17 and shoot up to the Catskills in about an hour I would say.
Good thread and thanks to all who contributed. For background, I grew up in NJ (near the beach), lived in CT for a bit and now re-married and live in Manhattan (but looking to leave to Westchester or Fairfield Counties). We looked in N. NJ, but taxes are fairly high (property, inc, sales) and the commute isn't great in my opinion. Unlike Westchester, a lot of NJ that is right near NYC is not very nice (e.g. Newark). Still learning about Westchester, but seems pretty good (though all 3 types of taxes probably highest) and probably most expensive. Commute great. Guess that have the LI Sound but unlike NJ or CT, they don't seem to make great use of the coast (mostly private). CT has prob best taxes (prop, inc, sales), good schools, some beaches (not as nice as NJ, but closer), some mountains (for skiing). In particular, Westport has great public activities (residents have access both to Longshore, a former country club with pools, tennis, etc.) as well as Compo (beach). Now I just need to convince my wife (Ana) to deal with the commute !
I'm assuming you're comparing Bergen county to Fairfield and Westchester counties. Northern NJ has A LOT more in comparison to just Fairfield and Westchester. So I'll just keep it fair here.
Bergen County has Edgewater, Alpine, and Englewood Cliffs which are beautiful millionaire towns less than 8 miles from Manhattan. Westchester has some great towns too but it's more of a drive to get to the heart of the city (Manhattan). Fairfield has really beautiful towns but I actually like the towns farther from NYC, like Shelton. I actually really like the Rutherford, Hasbrouck Heights, and Wood-Ridge more than the uber rich towns in Bergen County.
Paramus is the retail hub in the whole NYC metro- So that alone is a plus.
I don't know why the OP didn't include Rockland county. You can't get from Fairfield to Westchester to northern NJ without going thru Rockland! It basically flows into northern NJ seamlessly, and has a lot of similarities to Westchester as well.
As a Rockland Native, if we group ourselves with one of the other three choices, I'd have to say its a mix between NNJ and Westchester.....which it literally is wedged between, making my point moot.
So, I vote Rockland!......but i clicked the bubble next to Northern NJ cuz Rockland wasnt an option.
I don't know why the OP didn't include Rockland county. You can't get from Fairfield to Westchester to northern NJ without going thru Rockland! It basically flows into northern NJ seamlessly, and has a lot of similarities to Westchester as well.
As a Rockland Native, if we group ourselves with one of the other three choices, I'd have to say its a mix between NNJ and Westchester.....which it literally is wedged between, making my point moot.
So, I vote Rockland!......but i clicked the bubble next to Northern NJ cuz Rockland wasnt an option.
Make Rockland an option! :P
Maybe because Rockland does not have the reputation that Westchester and Fairfield have.
On the other hand , as I am sure you know, Rockland is almost 1/3rd parkland. That should count for something!
Also, if prices are a problem for the ppl in Westchester/NNJ, check out rockland. its quite a bit cheaper. and it still has great schools (Clarkstown, Nanuet, Pearl River, Suffern), fun towns (Nyack, Pearl River), connected to NJ transit, many bus options, and a commute to the city really isn't that bad.
* Public Schools (k-12) - already mentioned
* Friendliness of people - same as all other places mentioned.
* Aesthetics of houses and towns - same as other placed mentioned
* Proximity to shopping centers - Palisades mall in W. Nyack, downtown Nyack, Paramus is 15 mins away, White Plains is 20 mins away. Personally, I prefer city streets over malls.
* Taxes - Its NY.....what do u expect. taxes suck, but not any worse than the other options (with the exception of CT)
* Proximity to the beach/shore - maybe the worst part about it. But it borders Harriman State Park, is near Ringwood, NJ, and has Bear Mountain! plenty of parkland.
* Diversity - very diverse county. Its the most jewish county in the nation, %-wise. Lots of diversity. Spring valley has a lot of dominican/hispanic influence, New Square/ramapo/monsey has much of the jewish population. Pearl River is irish. Nanuet & New City is Italian. Tappan, running into Old Tappan, NJ and continuing down to Fort Lee is a strip of Korean presence.
* Prestige - Very nice. overall a middle-class county. not much extreme poverty or ridiculous money. Haverstraw and Spring Valley are lower-income, while New City, Stony Pt., Montebello, and upper Nyack/grandview have the money
* Value
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