Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How do these two towns differ, especially with regards to quality of schools, housing costs, crime, cost of living, flooding risk, diversity and the degree of snobiness? Does either town offer a significant advantage with regards to a work commute during morning rush hour to Bridgewater?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Last edited by knicksin8; 09-04-2012 at 08:05 PM..
Both are good towns; both have good schools. I grew up in Livingston and then moved back as an adult. I don't live there anymore; that should tell you something. Madison is a nice town, people are less ballzie and don't such a sense of self-entitlement. On the other hand, finding a nice house under $600K in Madision is going to be tough. Livingston has much better deals on houses because there is more inventory; its a much bigger town. The commute to Bridgewater will be better from Madison. Madison schools just got upgraded to # 6 in NJ Monthly 2012 Top High Schools; that's pretty good considering there are over 300 High Schools in NJ! If I didn't work in NYC, I would have moved to Madison. It was just too far for me, but there is a train in town and a lot of people there work in NY and take the train. Good luck.
How do these two towns differ, especially with regards to quality of schools, housing costs, crime, cost of living, flooding risk, diversity and the degree of snobiness? Does either town offer a significant advantage with regards to a work commute during morning rush hour to Bridgewater?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
MADISON without a doubt. I lived in Livingston for 5 years. It is such a snob fest. We couldn't wait to leave. I went to Drew in Madison and now that I am married with a child living in Florham Park, we spend alot of time in Madison. Madison would have been my first choice when we were looking for a house but my husband wanted to continue his commute to NYC from South Orange. He refused to do the commute from Madison. Otherwise, we would be living there! Everytime I have to go to Livingston, I can't wait to leave. Madison is just normal, nice, middle class people.
You would hop on 287 from Morristown to get to Bridgewater.
How do these two towns differ, especially with regards to quality of schools, housing costs, crime, cost of living, flooding risk, diversity and the degree of snobiness? Does either town offer a significant advantage with regards to a work commute during morning rush hour to Bridgewater?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Madison Schools rank higher than Livingston, though definitely no one would argue that Livingston schools are not very good. There is a definite difference in the vibe to the two schools...Livingston is more outright openly aggressive and competitive. The cost of housing is pretty even, when you figure in the sky high taxes in Livingston. While you will get a slightly larger home in Livingston for 650k than you will in Madison, your taxes on a 650K home in Livingston is 15k per year, and in Madison it will be between 10k & 11k. Flooding is not a real issue in either town, though individual homes may have issues with wet basements in either location. Both communities have some diversity. There are large Jewish and Asain communities in Livingston. As Morris County has so many fortune 500 companies, and the schools are so desirable in Madison, there are always plenty of transplants from all over the globe. It is not uncommon to hear several different languages being spoken by the customers while shopping at Whole Foods in town. Neither town has what one would call a "bad part of town", but due to its proximity to Newark and having 280 run through town, there is more crime in Livingston...that being said, it is more car thefts, car break-ins and home break-ins rather than violent crime or muggings. I would not consider Livingston "dangerous" by any means. (but I definitely think a good home security system is a must!) Having spent a great amount of time in both communities, I found Livingston to have more of an aggressive, competitive vibe, and Madison to be more laid back and friendly. Not to say that you wont find some aggressive and competitive people in Madison, nor laid back people in Livingston, I am just indicating the general vibe of the community as a whole. Livingston is a much larger community, so you do not have the small town feel that you find in Madison. (that can be good & bad thing, lol)
Your commute from Madison to Bridgewater will be shorter and a bit easier than from Livingston.
HTH
KoalaNJ
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Go with Madison
