How is the Woodbridge area? (Edison, Bayonne: middle-class, apartment complexes, condominiums)

[Raven1976]

Area near Woodbridge Mall? Safe? Quiet?

[Retriever]

Everything is relative.
If you are coming from an urban area, then--yes, it is safe, relatively speaking.
If you are coming from a highly congested area, then--yes, it is...perhaps a bit quieter than living on Route 22.

[Raven1976]

Originally Posted by Retriever

Everything is relative.
If you are coming from an urban area, then--yes, it is safe, relatively speaking.
If you are coming from a highly congested area, then--yes, it is...perhaps a bit quieter than living on Route 22.

Yes, I'm coming from West New York (center of hell) so I guess I would find most towns quieter. I still don't want to end up living around a ghetto like I am now. I can't tolerate this area much longer.

[Seduflow]

there were 3 murders, 2 robberies, and ghetto thugs roaming the streets with bats the last time i checked recently. I'd keep a close eye and make sure to always carry something to protect yourself!!

;-)

[Retriever]

If you are coming from Hudson County, then--yes--you would probably be delighted to move to Woodbridge Township. When I was a child (a VERY long time ago), my family moved from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, to Bayonne. Bay Ridge was then--and still is--a very nice, stable middle-class area, so we were not fleeing any urban decay. We moved because my father's work moved.

Anyway--when we moved to Bayonne, I felt like we had moved to the country! I know how ridiculous that sounds, but since everything was on a smaller scale, and since we now had a backyard where we could pick apples and peaches and grow tomatoes, it seemed like an idyllic environment. We were even able to get past the provincial, very "backward" mindset of much of the local populace.

However, the reality is that Bayonne, like all of Hudson County is actually urban. So--when I got my first apartment, I moved out of Hudson County--to Union County--which was a step upward. At least I got a little further away from the oil tanks!

Today, I live in a semi-rural area with no perceptible air pollution, a crime rate that is incredibly low, and where it is so quiet that I can hear the mailman's truck approaching from 1/4 of a mile away.

So--my message is that everything usually works in steps. A good first step would be to move out of Hudson County if the noise, congestion, and ghetto atmosphere bothers you. Iselin and Woodbridge (the parts of Woodbridge Twp adjacent to Woodbridge Center) will seem much quieter, by comparison to Hudson County.

Iselin has a very large Indian population, but it is not what most folks would consider to be a ghetto--despite the traditional definition of that term. It is a community of mostly well-kept smaller homes, and the school system is decent (not the best anymore, but far from the worst!).

And, the availability of transportation to northern NJ and NYC is excellent!

Later in life, you may find that the Woodbridge area no longer suits your needs, but for the time being, it would probably be an improvement for you and your famly.

[BobKovacs]

The "area near Woodbridge Mall" isn't very specific, and can vary greatly. There are apartments right near the mall that are OK, and depending on which direction you head from there, you're either going into downtown Woodbridge proper (nice), Iselin (OK, but with a large Indian population as noted above), Fords/Menlo Park Terrace (OK), or Avenel (not so great).

Even the "not so great" areas nearby are good by comparision to WNY, but you still need to provide more detail to get a decent answer.

[homenj]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

Yes, I'm coming from West New York (center of hell) so I guess I would find most towns quieter. I still don't want to end up living around a ghetto like I am now. I can't tolerate this area much longer.

Then I wouldn't suggest Hopelawn or possibly Fords because they're too close to Perth Amboy.

Avenel is ok. if you're in certain parts.

Colonia is nice but pretty expensive.

However the northwestern section of Perth Amboy is very nice and very suburban and you really won't have to feel that same "urban, blighted atmosphere" you feel in other parts of Perth Amboy. (Although P Amboy has done a great job in revitialization in recent years)

I have friends who live in that section and it actually feels pretty isolated from the rest of the city.


But stay out of Keasbey you definately won't feel much of an upgrade!!!!

[homenj]

Originally Posted by Retriever

We were even able to get past the provincial, very "backward" mindset of much of the local populace.

Provinical mindset? was there really a provincial mindset in Bayonne compared to Bay Ridge? Please elaborate.

[HubCityMadMan]

Originally Posted by homenj

Then I wouldn't suggest Hopelawn or possibly Fords because they're too close to Perth Amboy.

Avenel is ok. if you're in certain parts.

Colonia is nice but pretty expensive.

However the northwestern section of Perth Amboy is very nice and very suburban and you really won't have to feel that same "urban, blighted atmosphere" you feel in other parts of Perth Amboy. (Although P Amboy has done a great job in revitialization in recent years)

I have friends who live in that section and it actually feels pretty isolated from the rest of the city.


But stay out of Keasbey you definately won't feel much of an upgrade!!!!

The three areas in Woodbridge I would not want to live would be Hopelawn, Keasbey and Avenel. Fords is another area that shares a border with Perth Amboy, but I personally think it is nicer than Hopelawn or Keasbey, but still one of the lower end areas of town.

Woodbridge "proper" (07095) is pretty solid, with a nice main street area that on the whole does not have a whole lot going on, but there are a few restaurants (Reo Diner, Jim McGreevy's favorite) and that J.J. Bitting beer brewery place. The mall is close by as well, and I know there are a handful of decent apartment complexes and condominiums along Woodbridge Center Drive directly across from the mall. I cannot give you first hand info on them, but just driving past them they look very clean and well kept.

The other areas mentioned seem pretty spot on. Additionally, Sewaren is nice with the waterfront thing going on around there now, but nothing like the Perth Amboy waterfront. Port Reading is OK, kind of industrial waste around there though and drifts into Carteret, which is a dump just like Avenel. Menlo Park Terrace is a small neighborhood just west of Rt 1 and uses Metuchen zip code 08840, but it seems to be just a small neighborhood of older cape cods.

I would start looking at Woodbridge proper and Fords. If you do not see anything in those areas to your liking, check out the others mentioned. Also look next door in Edison too, some decent affordable areas there too.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by homenj

Provinical mindset? was there really a provincial mindset in Bayonne compared to Bay Ridge? Please elaborate.

Well, for starters, anyone who was not Bayonne born and bred was considered to be an "outsider" who could simply not be an integral part of the community. By contrast, our neighbors in Bay Ridge were far more open-minded and accepting of newcomers than the folks in Bayonne.

I can also recall my mother asking folks, "What is that smell?", when the inevitable stench of the Baker Castor Oil factory or countless other industrial facilities would waft over us. The consistent response was, "What smell? I don't smell anything!" Yes, they could have become inured to industrial pollution after a period of many years, or...more likely...they were just in denial about the horrible smells that afficted Bayonne in those days.

One of the things that absolutely astounded my young mind when we moved to Bayonne was that most of the elementary school kids (my peers) had...
never been on a train (this was in the '50s before train travel had dwindled)
never been to NYC--which was all of 25 minutes away by bus
never been outside of NJ

I can recall also being astounded by the competition among my peers each evening to be "first one to see the street lights come on".
Really? You consider this to be a major accomplishment? I mean, they do light up each night...

And then, there was the annual "parade of the garbage trucks". Yes, once each year, there would be a parade to display the city's garbage trucks. If you can explain this one to me...please do.

Incidentally, I should point out that the city's garbage trucks were essentially open dump trucks. One man would stand in the load area of the truck, and would catch the garbage cans that were tossed up by another DPW employee would walked along the curb. (Imagine being the guy who got to stand in the bed of the dump truck as it filled ever-higher with waste!) This was their system while most of the civilized world used automated trucks that fed garbage into a closed container upon someone moving a lever. But, the city fathers of Bayonne were so damn proud of their open dump/garbage trucks that they saw fit to parade them once each year. Can you explain this phenomenon for me?

I don't know about your definition of provincial (or even "Provinical" [sic]), but the above-noted observations certainly fit my definition of that term.