northern nj (Newark, Passaic, Bloomfield: apartments, rentals, employment)

[ecocarl]

I'm toying with moving solo to northern NJ from Indianapolis. The goals are to be within access of a buddhist monastery in Lafayette as well as Manhattan and to be in proximity to Newark. I would only be going to Manhattan once a week. I would be living in New Jersey for a year to establish residency before attending NJIT (and then, of course, still living in New Jersey).

So: access to Lafeyette and Manhattan are important, but perhaps Newark is more of the focal point.

Rent would depend on what sort of employment I can find (which is another question), but would likely be on the inexpensive side. Surfing apartments.com gives me the impression that the inexpensive side is around $800 a month.

And I like the idea of living somewhere with a lot of foreign diversity. Nightlife and the like isn't important to me, and I have some tolerance of crime. I really just need a funcitonal place to do my own thing.

I like gardening, so if there is an area that is known for urban gardening, this is a plus.

If I remain serious about this, I'm likely going to head out there a few times over the next year. What should I look for? For example, how is public transit and should I consider it when looking for an apartment?

And how grim is the labor market? I just need to shake out something to keep me afloat the year until I start school.

How realistic are my goals?

thankyou to anyone that offers any advice!

[joe moving]

personally cannot imagine commuting to newark but many people do it

why not live out west closer to lafayette, i imagine it as being much more peaceful.

somewhere on the train line (New Jersey Transit - Home) will get you into NYC easily.

[BPerone201]

Lafayette is way out there, isolated from the Newark/NYC area. I doubt looking in that direction is very promising in terms of finding rentals.

I'm assuming you're budget is $800/mo for a 1bd.
Lyndhurst, Bloomfield, Kearny, Belleville, and Harrison are worth the look- Try Craigslist.org, it has much more options than apartments.com- You have the PATH in Harrison, so it shoots you into Manhattan, plus it's right over the Passaic River from Newark.

[jknic]

That's a bit far for commuting to Newark. For going to NYC once a week it's not bad, but maybe you should look into finding a temple closer to Newark.

[ecocarl]

There appears to be a theravadan buddhist temple in Englewood, so Lafayette is becoming a much lower priority.

what is the PATH?

I may start another thread about this, but are there volunteer fire departments in the area?

I may be out there in a few weeks to check the place out and get a feel for the area.

[jknic]

There are most likely volunteer fire departments in the area, they are quite common in NJ

PATH is a subway system that runs between NJ and NYC. It runs 24 hours.