Need family town near Florham Park (Livingston, Summit: best town, houses, neighborhood)

[al01721]

We are seriously considering moving from Boston to NJ. We have 3 small children and would like to be in a family neighborhood and town. My husbands office is in Florham Park so we would like to be within 30 minutes of there. What would you recommend as the best town as far as family, schools and a nice downtown. I'd rather not pay for a town that is expensive solely for commuting if there are other options within 30 minutes of Florham Park. Budget is $1-1.4 for a nice family neighborhood, 4 bedroom.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by al01721

We are seriously considering moving from Boston to NJ. We have 3 small children and would like to be in a family neighborhood and town. My husbands office is in Florham Park so we would like to be within 30 minutes of there. What would you recommend as the best town as far as family, schools and a nice downtown. I'd rather not pay for a town that is expensive solely for commuting if there are other options within 30 minutes of Florham Park. Budget is $1-1.4 for a nice family neighborhood, 4 bedroom.

nothing wrong with Florham Park itself - but better IMHO would be madison or chatham. both great places and close to FP. you'd have no problem in your price range, but consider taxes.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by al01721

We are seriously considering moving from Boston to NJ. We have 3 small children and would like to be in a family neighborhood and town. My husbands office is in Florham Park so we would like to be within 30 minutes of there. What would you recommend as the best town as far as family, schools and a nice downtown. I'd rather not pay for a town that is expensive solely for commuting if there are other options within 30 minutes of Florham Park. Budget is $1-1.4 for a nice family neighborhood, 4 bedroom.

Madison, Summit, Chatham and Short Hills are all great towns with an easy ride to Florham Park. They are also NYC commuter towns. If you don't want a commuter town you can look west to Mendham or Chester, both of which are upscale and have wonderful schools. Also look at Mountain Lakes which has the best schools, wonderful community but no downtown.

[brookdaleresident]

You received great suggestions, and to add, Livingston. Also, search Millburn in addition to Short Hills.

[al01721]

Thank you all for your information. What towns of those listed, can you get the most house for the money? Or are they pretty equivalent? Which would you say is most family oriented? This is such a hard decision!

Thank-you!!

[hrjersey]

Short Hills/Millburn they share a school district and Millburn has a very nice walkable down town. The houses and taxes are very pricey but there are beautiful homes in this area and top notch school system

Livingston - newely renovated "down town" area. High taxes very nice homes. Excellent school system. Good community.

Summit - nice walkable down town. Good school system, high taxes, very nice homes.

I know Chatham and Madison are also nice towns but off the cuff I don't know about their school systems.

I think someone could find things that are wonderful about all of these towns listed.

The most home for the money I think is difficult to say. It depends what you want. Older vs. newer home. Big lot vs. smaller lot. In this price range you can get a nice size home but in some towns you will be far from your neighbors...some people like this, for others it doesn't offer the same neighborhood feel that they like.

New Jersey is wonderful and you are looking at some of the best we have to offer. Good luck.

[al01721]

Thank you so much for your information. I love the neighborhood we are moving from which has relatively newer homes (12 years old). They are about 2600 square feet. Not huge, but not small either. The lots are about 3/4 to 1 acre and everyone in the neighborhood knows one another and all the kids play together and the parents are friendly and down to earth. There are 50 children under the age of 10 on my street alone. I love it here so much, it is going to be hard to replace, but we have to relocate. I'd love to find something similar to what we have here, but I'm not sure it exists!

[Obrero]

OK I would say most house for your money in order of most to least.

Chester
Mendham
Mountain Lakes
Madison
Chatham
Livingston
Short Hills
Summit

My choice would be one of the non-commuter (even though plenty of people commute to NYC) towns. Having moved around a fair bit I have found that in a place like Summit for example when you meet a new person they will ask, "where do you work?" But in a Mountain Lakes for example they are more likely to ask, "how old are your kids?"

My top choice from the list would be Mountain Lakes because of the schools, not that they are bad in the other towns, and the fact that you don't have to commute to NYC.

[al01721]

Which of those towns would be considered the non-commuter towns?

Thanks again!

[brookdaleresident]

Consider as your children age, you'll have different interests also. If you're planning on staying for the long term, your needs may change in the near future.