Irvington information please... (Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth: sale, apartment, to rent)

[Smile2Go]

Hello, I'm new on the forum and I need some advice. Originally from NY (Queens) went through divorce 5 yrs ago & was financially wiped out (had to live out of my car for 2 weeks); couldn't afford to stay in NY. Borrowed $7K from a dear friend & moved to Trenton where I could get a 3bdrm house with a garage and a mortgage of $600/mo instead of paying $1,000/mo for a 2-room basement in Kew Gardens. However, it's been 3 years and I'm miserable here and want to move back to NY, but still can't afford it. Now that the housing market has dropped, I will walk away with only $15K from the sale of this house (no one wants to move to Trenton, but I'm a single blonde & I've survived!) Sometimes you're in a situation where you have to do what works at that time.
So, here I am again looking to move back north & the only affordable (HA!) area I can find is Irvington, NJ. I'm looking at a 4bdrm/2ba house for $235K--still WAY out of my price range, but I figure if I get a roommie, that will reduce my monthly costs. Plus, I have greater job opportunities in the N. Jersey/NYC area than I do down here in Mercer County. I was looking to rent initially, but to get a 2 bdrm apt would cost as much as making a mortgage payment and I wouldn't have the privacy or as much room as I can have with a SFH. Plus, I have 2 cats and trying to find a place that will allow me to keep my "babies" is next to impossible as well.
Can anyone advise me about Irvington? I know it's next to Newark which is going through a revitalization. I also realize it is considered a "rough" area, but coming from Trenton, I don't know if it is considered worse or better than this area. I have had my windows broken, my house egged, my car "keyed", my garage broken into, and items stolen from my property here...but I take that with a grain of salt because I realize the area this is. I'm still alive to talk about it! And I don't go out at night.
My long-term thinking is that even if I can get this house & stay 2-3 years, it will still appreciate in value considering it's approximation to NYC.
Thanks in advance for your replies.

[exhdo1]

Irvington is a tuff place. I would compare it more to Camden then Trenton. Just curious. Are you not in the same situation now that you want to move into. If you want to move to Irvington and work in NY why wouldn't you stay in Trenton and look for work in Philadelphia?

[dullnboring]

Irvington is bad. Really really bad. I have to agree that it's on par with Camden as opposed to Trenton. Irvington's crime rate as a whole is 50% higher than Trenton's and it's murder and robbery rates are double. Unlike Newark, which is going through some revitalization and has a handful of halfway decent areas, Irvington just is pretty much entirely rundown and unsafe. I understand the financial constraints you're under so I don't really have any good advice to give unfortunately, but I would advise against moving to Irvington. It honestly might be the worst city in New Jersey.

[njmedic]

Not a good place. High crime rate, a lot of gang activity. Nightly shootings, stabbings, assaults. Local hospital recently closed. Sections of Irvington resemble a third world country. Streets are blocked off to traffic by Jersey barriers so car thiefs can't race down them and kill people while eluding the cops. When it rains it floods. When the weather gets hot, poor people with no air conditioning come outside. This usually leads to fights and assaults. The only businesses that seem to prosper are fried chicken joints. Do you want me to continue?

[Colin Gittens]

I too would stay away for the reasons of crime. Also, the Star Ledger did a series on property taxes this year and I believe that Irvington's had not been reevaluated in some time (or were high to begin with). So there is a potential whammy with that as well (although I'd be very surprised if Irvington came back in any way, shape or form).

I'm not sure how you felt about Trenton's difficulties, but you're likely to experience the same or worse in Irvington. I wish I could offer an alternative, but Jersey's tough, as you know. Good luck.

[el nina mujer estalacalle]

Originally Posted by Smile2Go

Hello, I'm new on the forum and I need some advice. Originally from NY (Queens) went through divorce 5 yrs ago & was financially wiped out (had to live out of my car for 2 weeks); couldn't afford to stay in NY. Borrowed $7K from a dear friend & moved to Trenton where I could get a 3bdrm house with a garage and a mortgage of $600/mo instead of paying $1,000/mo for a 2-room basement in Kew Gardens. However, it's been 3 years and I'm miserable here and want to move back to NY, but still can't afford it. Now that the housing market has dropped, I will walk away with only $15K from the sale of this house (no one wants to move to Trenton, but I'm a single blonde & I've survived!) Sometimes you're in a situation where you have to do what works at that time.
So, here I am again looking to move back north & the only affordable (HA!) area I can find is Irvington, NJ. I'm looking at a 4bdrm/2ba house for $235K--still WAY out of my price range, but I figure if I get a roommie, that will reduce my monthly costs. Plus, I have greater job opportunities in the N. Jersey/NYC area than I do down here in Mercer County. I was looking to rent initially, but to get a 2 bdrm apt would cost as much as making a mortgage payment and I wouldn't have the privacy or as much room as I can have with a SFH. Plus, I have 2 cats and trying to find a place that will allow me to keep my "babies" is next to impossible as well.
Can anyone advise me about Irvington? I know it's next to Newark which is going through a revitalization. I also realize it is considered a "rough" area, but coming from Trenton, I don't know if it is considered worse or better than this area. I have had my windows broken, my house egged, my car "keyed", my garage broken into, and items stolen from my property here...but I take that with a grain of salt because I realize the area this is. I'm still alive to talk about it! And I don't go out at night.
My long-term thinking is that even if I can get this house & stay 2-3 years, it will still appreciate in value considering it's approximation to NYC.
Thanks in advance for your replies.

i have respect 4 you for not viewing a neighborhood as uninhabitable b/c of its reputation, and for being resilient and trying to forge a life for yourself against alot of the adversity that being different in certain areas of this state can bring you. try the section of irvington that touches maplewood. and have you gone on nj housing and urban development site? you can get many homes in a diversity of areas throughout the state well below market rate b/c they are fixer-uppers. try mortgaging a 2 family and renting the other half out. in fact hud's headquarters are located in trenton! good luck!

[mead]

Irvington? Oh hell no! I can see it now.... "In tonight's news a white woman was slain in a ghetto neighborhood of Irvington."

No no no, you don't want to do this.

Look for an apartment to rent in a half-way decent area. Jersey City or even Newark would be much better choices.

[randym]

Your better off being in an apartment in a good area than a house in irvington. You will not feel comfortable leaving your house. The honest truth is you'll be an easy target. Look up the statistics for crime and ethnicity on google. Irvington is 90 % black , 5 % latino, 3 % white and 2 % other.....EVEN THE MEXICANS WON'T LIVE THERE....IT IS A SCARY SCARY PLACE....FULL OF DRUGS, CRIME, AND CRAKHEAD PROSTITUTES...THIS MIGHT SOUND HARSH....BUT ITS 100% TRUE.....TRY ELIZABETH, WOODBRIDGE, PERTH AMBOY. LOWER INCOME...BUT RELATIVELY SAFE....GOOD LUCK

[cyntmac]

I very much doubt the legitimacy of this post-especially since you do not say what type of work you do and where you will be working. I have never heard of a homeowner in Trenton aspiring to homeownership in Irvington but if you are trying to learn something by posting this hypothesis here I would suggest considering several communities-not just one! In Real life any person would do that.
This post is no different than bogus poster "kidUno" posting about only wanting to live in Newark while claiming to know nothing about the city. For people reading these posts-a real poster in this situation would consider numerous areas in NY and NJ!! They would not be limiting themselves to this extreme- stating I am a blonde needing to move to the hood. Gimme a break. It's great to learn about the "fringe" areas of all these towns here, but do bogus posts have to be created to do that?

[CrazyJerzyKidUNO]

your better off in Newark than Irvington. Irvington is a very dangerous city and because of its curropt government probably will stay that way for a long time. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Just be carefull. If you dont want to risk it look into Newark or East Orange. Truthfully anything is better than Irvington, Even Camden.