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My wife and I are looking to move from Chicago to be near family in NYC metro area as well as other old friends on the East coast.
Last week we checked out the metro NYC area, and as expected the housing inventory is limited and expensive so we decided to broaden our search a bit into other parts of NJ and see if it makes sense.
If you are familiar with Westchester at all, the kind of town we like most would be similar to Tarrytown or Montclair (both have housing costs that would be a bit out of reach for us).
We are now investigating Princeton as a possibility. It is near enough to NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. and seems to have enough in town activities and shops to keep us plenty busy.
We are looking for a condo or two story townhouse (master BR, kitchen, living area on the first floor) with a garage in a nice area within walking distance to some destination spot with shops and maybe a good coffee house, bookstore, etc. We will have at least one car to move around a bit and need some source of organic produce, e.g. Whole Foods or equivalent (cheaper would be great!).
This forum has been extremely helpful in our search so far (I've posted on the Westchester and Ct. forums) and hoping that I might get similar outstanding advice about Princeton or alternatives that are a bit further from NYC metro but still accessible. Thanks much for your help!
Keep in mind if you live in Princeton you are going to pay a premium for two things. A very good school district and commuting to NYC.
There is a Wholefoods on Rt.1 that should work for you.
Yes, this is a similar issue with Westchester County and Fairfield County, CT.
Are there nearby towns where I will not necessarily be paying a premium for the school district. Since I am not commuting to NYC, it is not necessary for us to be close to the train - just some access.
You should definitely consider some of the surrounding towns. While not "cheap", they are generally a bit cheaper than Princeton. Towns like Pennington and Lawrenceville. Even some sections of Hamilton and Ewing are nice. Also check out Lambertville. That has a more walkable feel to it and lots of shops and restaurants.
You should definitely consider some of the surrounding towns. While not "cheap", they are generally a bit cheaper than Princeton. Towns like Pennington and Lawrenceville. Even some sections of Hamilton and Ewing are nice. Also check out Lambertville. That has a more walkable feel to it and lots of shops and restaurants.
Have you also considered PA?
Thanks for the suggestions. We would definitely like to be in a walkable area since we do a lot of walking and like to have a "destination" while we are walking. I'm going to check out the towns you recommended, most especially Lambertville. Thanks again for your help.
Keep in mind if you live in Princeton you are going to pay a premium for two things. A very good school district and commuting to NYC.
There is a Wholefoods on Rt.1 that should work for you.
Also don't forget Whole Earth, which is on Nassau St (R 27) within Princeton itself and offers locally produced vegetables, fruits, as well as other organic goods.
If you liked Montclair, you could also try near-by towns like Verona where you can get in a little cheaper but still have access to Montclair.
Morristown could also be worth a look.
Princeton is tricky... if you compromise and look outside of it, you lose the "feel" quickly.
Lambertville / New Hope (PA) might also fit a lot of what you're looking for.
Seems like Lambertville is a good place to check out. I'll do so promptly.
I thought of towns outside of Montclair but when looking at the housing inventory, there doesn't seem much in terms of condos/townhouses in the area and high taxes seem to be pervasive. But I will go back and look again and see if there are some possibilities that I overlooked. A single family probably is not appropriate for us at this time in our lives.
Also don't forget Whole Earth, which is on Nassau St (R 27) within Princeton itself and offers locally produced vegetables, fruits, as well as other organic goods.
There is nothing I love more than locally produced, organic produce!! We will definitely visit Whole Earth when we visit Princeton. Thanks much for sharing this with us!
Thanks for the suggestions. We would definitely like to be in a walkable area since we do a lot of walking and like to have a "destination" while we are walking. I'm going to check out the towns you recommended, most especially Lambertville. Thanks again for your help.
I personally love Lambertville, but it is somewhat isolated compared to Princeton (does not have easy access to trains, if that is a concern). There was also major flooding in the area after Irene, but I believe that is not a regular event for the town...
I would also add Hopewell to your list of towns to see (north of Pennington), there is less to do there than Princeton, but it is just as pretty and the housing stock significantly less expensive.
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