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Most of NJ outside of the inner city areas is exceptionally safe. The next thing to wonder is what you care more about, price or commute time. I can tell you off the bat that if you are working in Manhattan want to live somewhere near the train and use it to commute. Crossing the Hudson in an automobile during rush hour is near impossible. The closer in towns right on train lines have shorter commutes but tend to be more expensive. Closer in towns adjacent to, but not on train lines are a bit cheaper but the town might not be walkable/have a downtown if you are looking for a community focus. Farther out towns on train lines will have longer commutes, but still in that 1.5 hour commute window and will be cheaper than the closer in towns. If you are living more than an hour by train from New York, i suggest living in the town with the train station, as otherwise you will rely on your automobile like you are in Southern California again. Here are some towns to look at.
Railroad towns: South Orange, Maplewood, Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Madison, Morristown, Morris Plains, Denville, Cranford, Westfield, Fanwood, Dunellen, Somerville, Raritan, Garwood, Lyndhurst, Rutherford/East Rutherford, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Waldwick, Allendale, Ramsey, Mahwah, Westwood, Emerson, River Edge, Hasbrouck Heights (Teterboro), Wood-ridge, Montvale, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Montclair, Metuchen, Edison, West Windsor (Princeton Junction), Princeton, South Amboy, Matawan, Aberdeen, Hazlet, Red Bank, Middletown, Little Silver.
short commute, near railroad/bus: West Orange, Livingston, Springfield, Mountainside, Clark, Kenilworth, Wayne, Elmwood Park, Woodland Park, Totowa, Nutley, Florham Park, Harding, Wyckoff, Tenafly, Teaneck, Englewood, Palisades Park, Old Bridge, Sayreville, Highland Park, Lawrence, East Windsor, Somerset, Watchung, North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Bridgewater, Plainsboro, North Brunswick, East Brunswick, South Brunswick, and many more.
These following towns are on train lines but lie quite far out, if you are up to an extreme commute: Whitehouse, Clinton, Annandale, High Bridge, Mount Arlington, Hackettstown, Netcong, Roxbury, Mt. Olive.
Edgewater, West New York, Guttenberg is right next to the George Washinton Bridge, and is by the Hudson (WITH AMAZING VIEWS of Manhatthan literally you see Empire State and all the High rises right across.. I feel sorry for the ppl in NY cause they have to look at our lack thereof scenary/ buildings). There is a lot of high rise apartment newly built and couple of townhouses. Very safe, but on the expensive side.
If you are willing to commute out 40 minutes you can reach Essex County which have nice suburban homes and some townhouses, but Id only suggest it if you have kids w. And since it is the suburbs there is no nightlife if you are young and single. But some towns too look into are Millburn, Chatham, Short Hills, Livingston. And nearby towns like Montclair, Morristown.
If your young and single then Id suggest Hoboken which is pretty safe with a lot of eateries and bars .
Are you looking for an urban area, or suburban area?
NJ is a much safer state than California, FYI...as a point of reference. 99.9% of any violent crime is limited to a select few cities. The suburbs (which make up the vast majority of the state) are VERY safe in NJ, really among the safest in the nation.
I'm thinking about moving to Merchantville, NJ I'm weary because I have kids and I do not want to live to close to Camden is this area safe for a young family.
Someone mentioned New Brunswick. There is a lot of crime there so I wouldn't look there. Safer bets in the area - Metuchen, East Brunswick, Edison, So. Brunswick, maybe even North Brunswick. Metuchen has its own train station that goes into the city (I'm guessing it's about a 40 min. train ride). East Brunswick neighbors New Brunswick which has a big train station. So. Brunswick is huge so you may or may not be very close to a train station (Princeton Junction) there. If you want to be by the beach, there are rail lines that way too and there are lots of nice towns. Stay away from Asbury Park though. It really depends what you want in a town and your budget. Other unsafe towns that come to mind: Newark, Camden (too far of a commute for you anyway), So. Orange.
I'm thinking about moving to Merchantville, NJ I'm weary because I have kids and I do not want to live to close to Camden is this area safe for a young family.
I don't know about Merchantville but, if you are worried about being too close to Camden, you might want to look at Voorhees. It's further away. Just watch where you look though because I've heard not so great things about neighboring Lindenwold (not nearly the magnitude of Camden though). Voorhees is a big town and when I was looking down that way, I never even saw Lindenwold but read about it. Marlton is supposed to be nice too. Medford Lakes is also really nice. Schools in Medford and Voorhees are very good. I believe Moorestown is also very good.
Someone mentioned New Brunswick. There is a lot of crime there so I wouldn't look there. Safer bets in the area - Metuchen, East Brunswick, Edison, So. Brunswick, maybe even North Brunswick. Metuchen has its own train station that goes into the city (I'm guessing it's about a 40 min. train ride). East Brunswick neighbors New Brunswick which has a big train station. So. Brunswick is huge so you may or may not be very close to a train station (Princeton Junction) there. If you want to be by the beach, there are rail lines that way too and there are lots of nice towns. Stay away from Asbury Park though. It really depends what you want in a town and your budget. Other unsafe towns that come to mind: Newark, Camden (too far of a commute for you anyway), So. Orange.
What kind of crime , are we talking about Violent or petty.....New Brunswick seems to fall in the category of Average Urban area crime....not like the bigger cities...
What kind of crime , are we talking about Violent or petty.....New Brunswick seems to fall in the category of Average Urban area crime....not like the bigger cities...
No, the crime is not like bigger cities because it is not bigger than say Newark. I'm talking all kinds of crime. I know a 70+ year old man who was walking in New Brunswick recently with another elderly friend and 2 guys jumped them for no reason. He ended up in the hospital with broken ribs. I also had a babysitter who lived off campus while attending Rutgers. Their house got broken into. The cops told them that a police report would be pretty pointless because there are so many break-ins. There have also been numerous stories of violent crimes over the years that have made it to NY news channels. Granted, New Brunswick has changed quite a bit over the years and I'd say it's a little safer than it was but still by no means safe in my opinion. If you go to neighborhoodscout.com and plug in New Brunswick, its crime rate is 16 out of 100 (100 being the safest). Newark is 10 which isn't that much different than New Brunswick. Camden is 2. Go to the neighboring towns of New Brunswick and you get the following: Highland Park 61, Somerset 41, East Brunswick 65, North Brunswick 63. So, for me personally, I would never recommend someone look in New Brunswick if they want a safe town.
No, the crime is not like bigger cities because it is not bigger than say Newark. I'm talking all kinds of crime. I know a 70+ year old man who was walking in New Brunswick recently with another elderly friend and 2 guys jumped them for no reason. He ended up in the hospital with broken ribs. I also had a babysitter who lived off campus while attending Rutgers. Their house got broken into. The cops told them that a police report would be pretty pointless because there are so many break-ins. There have also been numerous stories of violent crimes over the years that have made it to NY news channels. Granted, New Brunswick has changed quite a bit over the years and I'd say it's a little safer than it was but still by no means safe in my opinion. If you go to neighborhoodscout.com and plug in New Brunswick, its crime rate is 16 out of 100 (100 being the safest). Newark is 10 which isn't that much different than New Brunswick. Camden is 2. Go to the neighboring towns of New Brunswick and you get the following: Highland Park 61, Somerset 41, East Brunswick 65, North Brunswick 63. So, for me personally, I would never recommend someone look in New Brunswick if they want a safe town.
That sounds like one bad incident and typical suburban crime , that doesn't make a city bad.... I rarely see violent crime reports in the Newspaper and there ontop of those things. I would look at the FBI stats....NB would fit into below average city crime.... It also depends on the section of New Brunswick there is a rough area in one neighborhood....
I'm thinking about moving to Merchantville, NJ I'm weary because I have kids and I do not want to live to close to Camden is this area safe for a young family.
I am not sure how your fatigue from child-rearing relates to the issue of safety, but if you are truly weary as a result of your children, perhaps it is time for a thorough medical exam. It is possible that you are feeling weary because of a medical issue, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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