Chatham, Madison, Ridgewood, Short Hills, Summitt or Wyckoff? (Orange, South Orange: real estate, appliances)

[babybluepumpkin]

Which town would you live in given these choices?
Chatham, Madison, Ridgewood, Short Hills, Summit or Wyckoff

[procwaad]

Depends on what you are looking for and what you want to spend - Short Hills, Chatham, and Summit are pricey but very nice (as long as you are not in East Summit), great sense of community and town centers, but really high taxes. I grew up in Summit on West End Ave, and my mom just sold the 3 Bedroom 1.5 bath my parents originally bought for $47K, not updated at all with the avocado appliances and pink tiles, for $600K. Madison is also nice, a small step down and a bit more reasonable. Don't know much about Wycoff and Ridgewood. If you have kids and they will be going to public schools, I would pick Chatham, personally. Hope that helps!

[mead]

They are all very nice wealthy towns with very nice downtowns (does Wycoff have a downtown though?) So they are all pretty much cut from the same cloth. Fairly rich suburban towns with very good schools.

It really comes down to where your jobs will be located and how far of a commute you want, because there isn't that much difference in the towns beyond location and the cost of real estate.

[kristin1]

I live in Ridgewood, and as nice as it is, I wish we had chosen Wyckoff. The people there are just a little more down to earth than Ridgewood. Also, a true family-oriented community and the town parks are fabulous! It has a small downtown, but has nice restaurants throughout the town.

It's a little less expensive there, and you can get alot more land in Wyckoff than you can in Ridgewood. The town Y is better than Ridgewood's Y, and there are great things to do with the kids throughout the year esp at Abma's Farm.

In Ridgewood, it seems like EVERYONE works on Wall Street while their stepford wives stay at home with the kids. In Wyckoff, there seems to be a better mix of people and there are quite a few working moms there,too. Just my experience with these two towns.

PM me if you want more specific info! Good Luck!

[KewlGuy]

Wyckoff is nice. And more affordable than Ridgewood,

[geminijinx]

they are all gorgeous towns, safe, expensive, wealthy, reputable. my favorite out of all of them is Chatham. Short Hills has the mall, so there's sometimes some traffic and a bit of an overflow of rich Seton Hall kids (South Orange) perusing the mall with their mom's credit cards. Summit has some great restaurants. Wycoff is kinda out there in the middle of nowhere. Summit has a lot of NYC workers.

[ira]

Originally Posted by babybluepumpkin

Which town would you live in given these choices?
Chatham, Madison, Ridgewood, Short Hills, Summit or Wyckoff

I can't really offer an advice because I am biased - I love Ridgewood

I agree with others - Wyckoff is a great town and is definitely more affordable and more "down-to-earth" than Ridgewood. One thing to consider though - it doesn't have a train station, which makes the commute that much more difficult. There is a bus but it's not as reliable as the train and it limits your options. I think that's the only reason Wyckoff is more affordable than all those other great towns - Wall Street guys can't get to Wall Street as easily

Another thing about Bergen County is the Blue Laws. Basically all stores except food are closed on Sunday. So, you have to do all your non-food shopping on Saturday or go to other counties. Some people love it, some people hate it. If you think you would hate it, than RIdgewood and Wyckoff are out of the question.

[NJfourLife]

Originally Posted by geminijinx

Wyckoff is kinda out there in the middle of nowhere.

As a Wyckoff resident, I can say it's not out in the middle of nowhere...we're 20 minutes from NYC.

As for the Original Poster, all are very nice, upscale towns, however....Wyckoff is the most family-oriented town. Similar to Ridgewood, most families have at least one spouse who works in NYC, so this is definitely a town good for commuting.

Ridgewood is sort of the meeting place for the area towns which have no downtown to speak of (Wyckoff, Oakland, Franklin Lakes, etc.) Ridgewood is generally a wealthy town, as is Wyckoff, but as another poster said "people are more down-to-earth in Wyckoff."

It's really up to you, how close you want to live to your workplace, and the environment you want for your family. All of the towns are good choices, but only you can make the decision.