Can someone tell me about South River NJ (Union, New Brunswick: insurance, how much)

[nj_native247]

My family is looking into buying a bigger house. We currently live in Union NJ and we are looking at some houses in Heritage Woods / Landing in South River.

I heard this area off Old Bridge Tpke is not to shabby - is this true?

Is South River a really bad town? The houses we are looking at were built in 2001 or higher, taxes not too high, and def seem much nicer then Union. People we talked to about the area said its really nice. The houses are under 600K and really really big. Can't go much further then here as commuting to work will be a huge pain.

I know the high school is not good, but no one will be attending the school systems there.

Any advice?

[lilyflower7]

South River is considered more "working class" or "blue collar" so it's not as desirable (for lack of a better term) than nearby towns such as East Brunswick. However, it's far from shabby and is a pretty nice town. I think it's comparable to Union or maybe a little nicer. You should be fine there - the reason land is cheaper compared to where you are now is because you're heading away from the city. There are a few sketchy areas of Middlesex County but South River definitely isn't one of them.

[nj_native247]

Thanks so much for the information!

Any other opinions? Would be greatly appreciated.

[RUNYYfan]

As lilyflower mentioned, South River is a working class town. If I remember correctly, the Heratige Woods section is a newer development off River Road. It's not a bad area by any stretch. I would, however, just be careful to make certain you know how much of a flood plain you may be on, especially as you get closer to the river.

Generally the town itself is homogenous with a variety of different cultures and ethnicities making up the history of the town. County Route 527 bounds the town on the west side and just beyond it is Route 18 with many types of stores and shops. Within the town, there are a number smaller specialty shops as well.

Do keep in mind that traffic on 18 can be congested during morning commutes so you will need to plan accordingly. The traffic will move, but it can be slow. If you are commuting into NYC, there is a bus depot at the East Brunswick Transportation Park&Ride up at Tices Lane.

I hope this gives you a rough sense of the area.

[nj_native247]

Thank you for the detailed information RUNYYfan! This helps tremendously!

I was unaware of the flood plain, so i will DEFINITELY look into that - is flood insurance needed in South River? Any specific areas that are directly affected that I should avoid? Looking at Heritage Woods and Heritage Landing.

[HubCityMadMan]

Main Street looks pretty sketchy and you have the "Crack House" there on the corner of Ferry Street. But I agree the whole town is not like that. I do not think the schools are anything special, but I never heard they were horrible either.

[RUNYYfan]

Originally Posted by nj_native247

Thank you for the detailed information RUNYYfan! This helps tremendously!

I was unaware of the flood plain, so i will DEFINITELY look into that - is flood insurance needed in South River? Any specific areas that are directly affected that I should avoid? Looking at Heritage Woods and Heritage Landing.

While flood insurance is not required, any time you are looking around water, I'd recommend it. As an example, there are newer townhouses in an area called Hiram Square which is about 400 yards from the Raritan River. It's a great area and normally dry, but during Hurricane Floyd, the place was turned into this:



For reference, the Raritan is normally between the trees at the very bottom right of the photo and the little dots in the murky brown water just slightly above the tops of the trees.

In terms of your specific area, IIRC, some of the street names are Veterans Drive, Lark Drive, and Addington Court. While I do not recall them specifically being listed in any of the Floyd reports, they are close enough to the river that I would suggest checking the FEMA Historic Flod Maps to see what they say about the South River area. You can check them out here. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any newer maps than these.

Hope this helps.

[EBWick]

I think that flood photo is New Brunswick and not South River.

[RUNYYfan]

Originally Posted by EBWick

I think that flood photo is New Brunswick and not South River.

You are correct. I neglected to put that in the post after the name of the section, "Hiram Market." I apologize for any confusion.

[nj_native247]

Thanks everyone for the input - really helpful!

RUNYYfan - thanks so much for the detailed information! We have seen some house on Veterans Drive as well as Addington Court. Very nice houses, but my concern was that the river is behind them.

I will continue to look for newer maps for these areas.

Thanks once again!