Hillsborough seems reasonable from a rent perspective. What other areas can you recommend in Central Jersey? Rent ~$1200 (Plainfield: apartments)

[vader747]

I am looking to rent a 1BR apartment that is around 20mins drive from Branchburg, NJ

Places at the top of my list are:

Hillsborough & Bridgewater

Can you recommend any other places? I dont want to spend over $1200/month and I am looking for a 1BR / studio.

Also would you recommend Hillsborogh and Bridgewater

North Plainfield, South Plainfield and Plainfield have apartments in my budget but I am not hearing good things about the area.
Not sure if Somerville is a good place. I am hearing mixed reviews about somerville.

Bottom line is that I need something close to branchburg and within $1200.
I dont care about schools etc cause I dont have kids but I want to live in a decent area.

Any feedback or comment will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help in advance.

What I am noticing about central jersey is that there arent many good apratment building in nice areas. Perhaps I am not searching properly. Thoughts?

[vader747]

No input yet

[digi21]

Hillsborough, Bridgewater, Branchburg, and Flemington are good. Somerville is fine - you will know if it's not a nice section of Somerville. Clinton and most areas of Hunterdon county are very nice. North Plainfield is mostly okay but I wouldn't want that Rt 22 commute.

[vader747]

Thanks for your input digi21!! Very helpful.

[jerseyjersey]

If you can find an apartment in the downtown area of Somerville, you'd have a decent area, an easy commute to Branchburg, and a bunch of shops, restaurants, etc right outside your door.

Bridgewater is also nice, though it might be hard to find a good apartment for $1200. If you can find one, Bridgewater is also an easy to very easy commute (depending on where in town you're located--it's quite large and spread out), and has the mall, movie theater, nice parks, etc. You may want to check out some of the condo complexes off Milltown Road-not sure how many 1 BRs there are, but I know many people are trying to rent their condos and townhomes, hoping that the market will improve, and biding their time til then.

You may also want to try Raritan (the one in Somerset County)-it's located right next to Bridgewater, but tends to be a bit more affordable, and still very convenient for you-maybe not as "nice" as Bridgewater, but still fine and safe (and it has a fantastic pizza place--DeLucia's, and a great deli--Randazzo's, which IMO are worth checking out if you live in any of these towns!). Raritan would more likely have apartments located in multi-family homes or above shops, I'm not sure how many apartment buildings, if any, are there, if that matters to you.

[vader747]

Thanks for your input JerseyJersey.

What is the right price point for a decent 1BR apartment in Bridgewater?
It sounds like $1200 is a little too low to get something decent.
Whats the average price point for a 1 BR in bridgewater?