Worst towns in NJ (Newark, Jersey City: relocate, apartments, condos)

[student2nj]

Hello,
I am from India and will be soon joining UMDNJ as a Graduate student. I have read so much negative about the crime rate in Newark that I really donot know whether I should join UMDNJ. Though I can still change to go to graduate school at Brooklyn,NY and New Haven,CT but the course at UMDNJ is the best. Pls advise me:
1. Will it be safe to stay near UMDNJ in a hired room? Maybe for financial reasons I maynot be able to do this for long.
2. I have relatives living in Hightstown, NJ and at Long Island, NY so I will probably commute daily in the trains but the biggest problem is that I have my classes in the evening from 4 to 9 PM. So, will it be safe to walk the mile to the Penn Station from UMDNJ and then take NJ transit to either Long Island through NYC or to New Brunswick or Princeton? Are the trains safe at night? How safe will everything be in winters at 9 PM?
3. I will be spending a lot of time studying so I would like to be in a neighbourhood with lots of good parks so that I can take walks for a break and watch children play!

Please reply soon , I have less time at hand.
Thank You

[KewlGuy]

Originally Posted by streetlight

I moved away many years ago. But I still dream of my old home in Little Ferry.

Trust me, you wouldn't recognize Northern NJ if you came back. Thanks to our corrupt politicians our once beautiful suburbs have been infected with the same inner city ghetto scum that we originally moved to the suburbs to escape. This is all thanks to section 8 which our tax dollars subsidize. It's no wonder this once wonderful state is home to over a million illegal aliens while the hard working tax paying law abiding citizens continue to flee the state in droves. What a disgrace.

[cyntmac]

I don't know where you get the over a million thing from. I don't think anyone here will buy that one. NJ overall is not the "high crime state". Much of it is very low crime actually.

There are several Posters here that have never lived in the state and want to propagate the idea that most of the state is crime-ridden. What is on their agenda?

I have yet to contribute to a worst of thread. Cost of living and overall quality of life are not always synonymous with crime. People are facing many different types of issues today. We all know where the notorious crime areas are in NJ. Does it feel really good to list them again and again on a thread?

[misspascal]

Originally Posted by christina0001

Camden (crime)
Newark (crime)
Patterson (ghetto)
Trenton (crime)
Willingboro (Burlington County) (crime)
Dover (Morris County) (ghetto)
Atlantic City (ghetto, crime, high HIV rate)
Bridgeton (Cumberland) (ghetto)

I totally agree with you ....but what about Irvington?..lol

[aanchro]

No way Linden is as bad as you think. The Crime rate here is low from what I can tell. I haven't even seen any Gang activity for years. It's not the urban crap hole that it seems like.

[misspascal]

Originally Posted by wangfeifei

Is new brunswick really dangerous so much?

MAYBE IN THE LATE 80'S AND 90'S WITH THE DRUGS AND MURDERS, BUT I MUST SAY THAT NEW BRUNSWICK HAS CLEANED ITSELF UP QUITE A BIT. THE DOWNTOWN AREA HAS GREATLY IMPROVED. MAINLY BECAUSE A LOT OF RICH PEOPLE ARE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY TO SEND THIER CHILDREN TO RUTGERS. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY REPORTED RAPES IN OFF CAMPUS HOUSING. YOU KNOW WHAT...EVERYWHERE YOU GO YOU GET THE GOOD AND THE BAD...BUT I'D RATHER TAKE A LATE NIGHT WALK IN NEW BRUNSWICK RATHER THAN NEWARK ANY DAY

[mya]

Originally Posted by saudet

I currently live in West New York. Very Hispanic population. Of course, being a Caucasian, I don't "fit" in and am looking for a safe, more suburban area. Can anyone give me some pointers on Hillside.

you wanna "fit" in move to "hoboken"!

[mya]

you wanna "fit" in? move to "hoboken"!

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by saudet

I currently live in West New York. Very Hispanic population. Of course, being a Caucasian, I don't "fit" in and am looking for a safe, more suburban area. Can anyone give me some pointers on Hillside.

Hillside has some very nice area's and some not so nice
Just like everyplace else

If you can't find anything there come down to Rahway
we will find a fit for you

[mikef973]

Yes I agree New Brunswick is not a dangerous area. And yes, as someone said i would MUCH rather take a midnight stroll in NB than Newark. I guess i included it in my class 2 list because its the only place in all of Middlesex county where i have seen any bad areas at all. (besides perth amboy.) And because of the high HIV rate amongst rutgers students, the underage drinking, rape, minor quality of life offenses caused by students at rutgers. And there are several high crime blocks. But yes, it is debatable. I am in no way "scared" of walking down 95% of NB streets a night the way i am in Irvington or Newark. Not even comparable in fact.