Best Train towns in North NJ (Elizabeth, Clifton: apartments, rentals, condo)

[arturomora]

Hi future neighbors, looking for some help in finding affordable towns near train lines, from a list I'll present.
I'm looking for three types of answers:
Which towns might fit our criteria?
Which towns are just bad places to live, “stay away!”?
Any towns not on my list, that do fit the criteria?

Here is our situation, then our criteria:
--Wife and I moving from Kansas, need to rent by mid-May (NOT looking to buy)
--We understand about broker fees, but if you know any complexes w/ no fee, you're our hero!
--She will work in Montclair. After June 30 I will be "between jobs." I hope to find work in NJ, but I have to keep Manhattan as a viable commute option.
--Don't have kids, so schools not a factor.

Our criteria:
--"Nice" town, as in: relatively low crime (we're from Chicago, we don't need perfection, just no high crime), decent restaurants/entertainment w/in 10-15 minutes drive
--Very close to train lines perfect, but 10-15 drive to train OK too
--Affordable rent for 2+ bedrooms. In order of preference: townhouse, house, condo, apartment if we must. 1000+ sqFt, $1200-$2000 max.
--Max 30 minute drive to Montclair. Max 1hour or so train commute to Manhattan

So, here are the train lines and towns I just culled from transit maps:
SUFFERN MAIN LINE (NE NJ)
Fair Lawn, Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, Garfield, Clifton, Passaic, Secaucus, Union City

PASCACK VALLEY LINE (NE NJ)
Westwood, Emerson, Oradell, River Edge, Maywood, Teaneck, Hackensack, Teterboro, Palisades Park

MORRISTOWN and GLADSTONE LINES
Morristown, Madison, Chatham, Summit, Murray Hill, Maplewood, South Orange, West Orange, East Orange

RARITAN VALLEY LINE
Garwood, Roselle Park

NE CORRIDOR LINE
Methuchen, Woodbridge, Elizabeth

N JERSEY COAST LINE
Avenel, Rahway, Linden

We are so grateful….The choices are mind-boggling, so I’m hoping to pare them down. Please help if you can!

[vfrex]

I'm not sure if this is a trick question, but I suggest Montclair! Nice town, you can find rents within your price range, and there are something like 4 train stops right in the town. So most of the housing there is walking distance to a train stop that gives you a 45 minute direct ride to Manhattan. I'm not familiar with the specifics of rentals there, so can't help you much.

Fair Lawn, Ridgewood are nice towns as well with decently priced rentals within 30 minutes driving of Montclair and 1 hour train ride to Manhattan. Ridgewood has one of the more robust downtowns in NE Jersey.

I do not recommend Pascack Valley Line towns generally over Main/Bergen line towns due to relatively infrequency of train service. That said, Teaneck to NY by bus isn't terrible.

[labcjo]

I hope this is a trick question, because you really don't need to look any further than Montclair itself! It's my favorite town, and more culturally alive than any other town in suburban New Jersey (it reminds me a lot of Oak Park in IL), very walkable, and seven train stops in town! Besides the area directly around the Bay St. train station, it's very safe. Add Glen Ridge, the next town over, to this list also.

Montclair has lots of complexes where, if you call them yourselves, you can get in without a fee. For one that's close to both a train and a downtown, look at the Gordonhurst Ave Apartments. It's in Upper Montclair, close to the trains, the downtown on Valley Road, and Brookdale Park!

You should also look at Maplewood and South Orange. Very Montclair like in their sense that its long of young families that commute into the city, and you're only a 15 minute drive to Montclair. Both are short train rides into NYC, and both have walkable downtowns. Not as much to do as in Montclair, but the towns have a great small town feel, and an amazing, amazing sense of community (lots of families). Summit, Chatham, Madison and Morristown are great little towns also. Just avoid Orange and East Orange.

On the main line Fair Lawn, Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, and Garfield are very working class towns (I grew up in Elmwood Park). Nothing wrong with them per se, and they are great values, but just not much to do, and nowhere to walk to. Just be ready to get in a car and drive on a highway to a mall to do ANYTHING. Fair Lawn is for sure the nicest town of the bunch. Ridgewood, a few stops up, actually has a downtown with things to do.

From Westwood to Teaneck are the more upper class towns then the bunch above, but the rest applies. Highways and malls. VERY safe areas, as most of Bergen County is.

Don't know much about the rest, but Metuchen seems like a nice town also.

But if I were you guys, I wouldn't look any further than Montclair, Glen Ridge, Maplewood, and South Orange!

[Summering]

I would pick Denville, as it is a cozy place to live and I've taken the train from there quite often.

[NJbun]

Of the cities you listed based in NJ Transit maps, the following fall in the category of "generally avoid":

Passaic, Union City, Hackensack, Orange, East Orange, Elizabeth

So you might consider crossing those off your list. Good luck!

[Mightyqueen801]

I'll just echo everyone else. Start your search right in Montclair. Restaurants, shops, wide range of housing types, easy transportation to the city, and access to everything else you might need.

[DarkWolf]

Teaneck doesn't have a train station yet , your 15 years off and along the wrong line , that would be the West Shore line. Maywood doesn't have a train station either your 10 years off and that would be the Bergen - Passaic LRT or Northwest line....

Union City is along the Hudson Bergen LRT...

West Orange doesn't have a station either , although it might get LRT sometime down the road...

All those towns above while they don't have train stations , they have bus service to NYC...

[BrianG]

Start with Montcalir first and if you cant find anything there I would pick Rahway but then again I am bias, An early welcome no matter where you pick

2 br in montclaire start at 1250 and up
2 br in rahway start at 1050 and up
Have whoever you use as your realtor look for a place that the commission is either split between tenant and landlord or paid by landlord , that will at least save you a few bucks

[KoalaNJ]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Start with Montcalir first and if you cant find anything there I would pick Rahway but then again I am bias, An early welcome no matter where you pick

2 br in montclaire start at 1250 and up
2 br in rahway start at 1050 and up
Have whoever you use as your realtor look for a place that the commission is either split between tenant and landlord or paid by landlord , that will at least save you a few bucks

The OP indicated that they are seeking no more than a 30 min commute to Montclair, so Rahway does not fit the criteria. Same with many of the towns initially mentioned in their post. In reality, Morristown, Chatham, Madison, and Summit are more then the 30 minute commute, and Denville is pushing it. Also out of commuting time would be Woodbridge, Metuchen and Elizabeth. Unless of course you are working odd hours.

KoalaNJ

[FacultyM]

If you are from Chicago, I can tell you that Montclair and Evanston are like twins.

I would look there first as well.

Nicer towns on your list that have cute downtown, walkable areas - Madison, Chatham, Summit and Metuchen.