If you were comuting to Florham Park (Westfield, Summit: condos, townhomes)

[al01721]

and wanted a great school system and a family oriented town, would you be better off in Westfield, Mountain Lakes, Basking Ridge, Mendham or Chatham? Will I be paying the same for each of these towns as far as being commuter towns? Are all these towns equally expensive or how would you rate them in terms of price? Any other comparisons of these towns is welcome. It is very hard to decide things like this when you've never lived there. Is the traffic really bad in any of these towns?

Thank-you so much!!
Allison

[Ellwood]

Mendham, Chatham are pricey lovely areas. You also might consider Florham Park, E. Hanover, Whippany.

[al01721]

I was under the impression the schools weren't so great in Florham Park which is why I was focusing on the towns listed. If anyone from the area could tell me if the traffic is bad in any of those town, that would be great. Also, are the towns I listed comparable in terms of price or how would you rank them? Thank-you so much for any information you can give me.

[tahiti]

you already asked this, didn't you? UKOK gave you a ranking:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-j...ml#post1468979

all those towns are the cream of the crop in all aspects. they are all pricey, but with your range you'll be fine. generally the further west you go, you'll get more for your $$$$$.

traffic is relative - do you mean in town itself? if so, i'd gather the towns with the downtowns will have more traffic, but we're not talking SoCal or anything. i think out of the towns you listed, basking ridge and westfield will yield the longest commute to FP, i'm guessing around 45 minutes, but don't hold me to it.

i'd have a hard time picking which to choose, honestly. they're all excellent choices - median family income well over $100K, great schools, family towns. they all have the potential to border on "snobby", due to wealth which can be a downside.

[al01721]

I didn't get huge response. I was looking for ranking as far as price. I'm confused about location and price because I thought for example, Chatham would be the most expensive due to the location, but now I'm hearing Westfield is a better commuting location. We don't need train access so I don't want to pay a huge premium for that. I didn't realize you weren't allowed to ask more than one question related to the same subject. Sorry about that.

[al01721]

I guess where would Westfield fall into the ranking. I've recently focused on this town as well.

[CuCullin]

Westfield is a great location - I can't speak to commuting by driving to Florham Park, haven't had to go that way in some time, and I typically am on the train. Schools are excellent, home prices are higher, has a great walkable downtown area (though more recently filled with mall-type stores (lucky jeans, victorias secret, etc) over small businesses).

[al01721]

Would you think it would be more than a 1/2 hour to Florham Park? Where are most people commuting to from Westfield? Would you expect it to be more expensive than Summit?

[CuCullin]

No, I wouldn't - its against traffic (Probably take 78W... 78E is a nightmare in the morning), so that wouldn't be bad. Its about a 25-30 minute ride overall.

Pricing is comparable, but in the lower price ranges you see townhomes/condos in Summit, 1/2 duplexes in Westfield. Westfield does have some new condos going up in downtown though, but they are in the higher range. House-wise, I'd rate them about the same overall; both can be pricey, depending on what you want.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by al01721

I didn't get huge response. I was looking for ranking as far as price. I'm confused about location and price because I thought for example, Chatham would be the most expensive due to the location, but now I'm hearing Westfield is a better commuting location. We don't need train access so I don't want to pay a huge premium for that. I didn't realize you weren't allowed to ask more than one question related to the same subject. Sorry about that.

UKOK's ranking is based on price. You'll get most for your money in Chester - $1M will get you something very nice with a good amount of land (think at least 1 acre), Westfield will probably get you a nice size house, but on a much smaller piece of property (1/3 acre?). I believe a lot of what is going on in Westfield right now is tear downs - putting larger, new homes after tearing down existing structures.

I *think* Chatham is closer to FP than Westfield.

Seriously, it's going to come down to commuting and what type of house you want. Commute from any of those towns won't be that bad, so you need to focus on the type of home you want.

Here's a comparison...here's a home in Chester for 1.2M on 2.3 acres:



and here's a home in Westfield for $1.075M on .25 acres:



you can't go wrong with any of the schools in any of those towns. Good luck!