What Do You Like About Sussex County

[cookiemonster12]

Originally Posted by b75

Ok I grew up there - Here's the low down...

It has some beautiful, beautiful places & scenery. If you are into the great outdoors this is the place for you. If you are looking to get away from the rat race, either on vacation or to retire this is the place for you. If you like to hunt, camp, canoe, ski this could be the place for you.

That being said: yes there are some well ranked schools. However, if I recall correctly, I believe they did analyze the drug problem up there & it was determined to be akin to or worse than that of an urban area. From a sociological standpoint that is not unique for a rural area b/c of the overall lack of activities. Personally, if I had a family & the choice I would target a more suburban area to raise my children & if I could afford it either build or buy a vacation/retirement home up there.

As far as retail goes there is not a whole heck of alot. And the stores tend to have overstock items shipped there which means you get alot of the riff raff & not as much in the way of selection. Plus, the stores are very inconvenient.

Depending where you live, your roads may or may not be paved & (as I said depending on where you live) the town may ignore some of its own roads when it comes to snow plowing. Given that it snows more up there, that can be cute to say the least, especially if you have to go to work.

The disparity between the haves & the have nots tends to be fairly wide spread; the kids tend to form 2 distinct groups (the slacker H.S dropouts or just graduated vs the elite college prep honors students).

Politically, if you are progressive, I'd avoid any sort of political conversation, as the overall culture is a very, very Republican one.

So bottom line, it depends on what you are looking for as to whether or not Sussex County is right for you.

I agree......you hit the nail on the head. Good post!

[faye_may]

I got on looking just to see how things were in Sussex after 24 years and apparently not much has changed except the cost of housing!!! I built a home on Staffordshire Dr. in 1980 and just wonder what it's worth today!!! I guess the local pub is still at the corner and it sounds like the lake is going strong. I had friends who own a home on the lake at the same time I lived there and believe they still do, lots of good memories there for myself and my children, but also not so good! Maybe someday Sussex will get in time with the rest of us!

[stevemorse]

Vernon is in the process of creating a whole main street. The plan are being put foward and we will see. Now personally, I would not live in Vernon, but behind the scenes there is a lot going on that the general public does not know about.

[Songbird42]

My son in law is a local builder in Vernon, and they can't keep up with the building, some of his homes are well over 1 million, how people are doing it I have no clue, when we built our home in 1970 our taxes were under $800.00
our lake dues were $25.00 a yr. I think what appeals to me is the town itself is small, my parents had businesses there and at one time, everyone knew everyone, I could go into the A&P and meet at least several people I would know, not no more. Alot of the originals have either died or left because of the taxes. My daughter and family are still hanging on to there 2 1/2 acres on Rt. 565 with taxes heading for $8,000, I still say its a great place to raise kids.

[NY Independent Voter]

"I still say its a great place to raise kids."

I agree with you. The schools are great!

[ProudCapMarine]

It's a great place, but building is much too fast. Even with the housing slowdown.

[yoooooooooooooooooooooooo]

the towns are i've been to are absolutely beautiful, especially downtown sparta and lake mohawk. sussex county definitely has natural beauty that a lot of nnj doesn't have anymore due to urban sprawl.

that being said, i don't think i'd much enjoy living in sussex at the present time, since i'm young and there's not much to do there. i live in mendham/randolph right now and it's pretty boring but sussex is definitely more rural..i'm planning on moving to montclair after graduation, but i would definitely consider living in sussex when i am older and have children.

[Boysareus]

If you ever get a chance , look up Lake Mohawk in Sparta and Byram TWP., Its a gem of a place..Southern Sussex County is a bit of civilized country...you are in the country but civilization is not too far if that is what you need...Definitely not the place if you must go to the city all the time....(But people do commute from her to there)