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englewoods wards are divided by the RAILROAD TRACKS ( not quite dean st but sure as hell aint grand ) and palisade ave ... 4th being sw 1st being se and rotating
Actually, the border between the First and Third Wards runs along Tenafly Rd north of Demarest Ave, and the ward boundaries are messy and don't follow any particular rule in southern Englewood. The ward borders ONLY follow the railroad north of Palisade Ave and south of Demarest Ave, and actually follow Grand Ave in southern Englewood for longer (between Palisade and Garrett and again between Linden and Van Nostrand). And the First Ward is in the NE, not the SE. On a broad view, the First Ward is NE, the Second Ward is SE, the Third Ward is NW and the Fourth Ward is SW. The wards are not organized like a clock face.
Demographically, the divide is at Engle St/Grand Ave, so the formal ward distinctions (which are created by the need for population equality between wards and not by any community of interest concerns) are pretty irrelevant here. I don't think you're going to assert that Prospect St and Lydecker St, both in the First Ward, have anything in common.
There also aren't any houses between Engle St and Dean St in northern Englewood except a couple blocks at the Tenafly border (though there are some apartments by Hamilton), so worrying about whether Dean or Engle is the border is sort of irrelevant.
Last edited by BrownstoneNY; 01-29-2013 at 11:32 AM..
I want to ask a question again that might have gotten lost. And that's whether in Englewood, there are neighborhoods where people have that family friendly feeling. Where people feel really invested in their neighborhood. Or do you think it's so close to the city that that's really the main focus: just a place to live to be close to the city and not so invested in the community?
We're looking in the high 400s- low 500s so I'm not talking about the million dollar home neighborhoods.
I want to ask a question again that might have gotten lost. And that's whether in Englewood, there are neighborhoods where people have that family friendly feeling. Where people feel really invested in their neighborhood. Or do you think it's so close to the city that that's really the main focus: just a place to live to be close to the city and not so invested in the community?
We're looking in the high 400s- low 500s so I'm not talking about the million dollar home neighborhoods.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Haven't you asked this question enough? We already told you, yes, there are, certainly as much or more than Montclair. (At the least, there are more "old-timers" in Englewood than in Montclair.)
I guess I don't see where that is spoken of specifically. I see there are more liberal places. I see that some towns are "nice" or nicer than others but specifically whether people feel committed to the neighborhoods and have a community feeling, no I don't see it.
This is a question I see asked in other threads and is responded to very specifically so I hoped it could be here as well.
Haven't you asked this question enough? We already told you, yes, there are, certainly as much or more than Montclair. (At the least, there are more "old-timers" in Englewood than in Montclair.)
Apparently not or I wouldn't have asked again.
I guess I don't see where that is spoken of specifically. I see there are more liberal places. I see that some towns are "nice" or nicer than others but specifically whether people feel committed to the neighborhoods and have a community feeling, no I don't see it.
This is a question I see asked in other threads and is responded to very specifically so I hoped it could be here as well.
I guess I don't see where that is spoken of specifically. I see there are more liberal places. I see that some towns are "nice" or nicer than others but specifically whether people feel committed to the neighborhoods and have a community feeling, no I don't see it.
This is a question I see asked in other threads and is responded to very specifically so I hoped it could be here as well.
I mean, it's a hard question to answer, kind of ill-defined and nebulous. I'd say the entirety of Bergen county (and probably all the other counties in commuting distance of NYC as well) is oriented towards the city, to a large degree and all about the same in that regard except the handful that are particularly popular with people right out of the city. Englewood doesn't really stand out in that regard in either direction, at least in my opinion. Brownstone would know that a lot better than me and he seems to have answered your question.
I grew up in Englewood, graduated from Dwight-Englewood and my mom still lives there (2nd Ward, near Allison Park.)
I like Englewood a lot BUT I don't actually think it compares with Montclair (or Nyack) in terms of community-vibe. As others have mentioned, Englewood divides pretty much in half at about the railroad tracks. Residents on the Hill are pretty insular. I would be surprised if many even knew their neighbors (my mother has lived in the same house since 1987 and she chats with one neighbor maybe a few times a year and the other one, I haven't seen since the 1990s when I helped him plow his driveway.) And, because of the geography, it's not a very walkable town. Yes, downtown is walkable if you first drive and park there.)
Also, whereas I don't think Englewood is a racist town at all, it's also not very well integrated. Blacks and Hispanics (I am one, so I'll feel free to say this) tend to live 'below the tracks' and whites and Asians above (with a heavy and very insular Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.) The public schools are over 95% minority (subject of a protracted battle with Englewood Cliffs in the 80s/90s) this is not to say that the neighborhoods below the tracks are not nice, some of them are really nice with beautiful and well-kept old houses.
What's good? It's leafy, it's green, lots of history for a small town. I would move back (if I could afford private schools) but I'm not really sure it's what you're looking for.
As someone else suggested, Rutherford might be worth a look (and it's on the train line which E-wood is not.) Westwood might also fit the bill; maybe even Ramsey. I've always liked Leonia, but I agree it's going to become Pal Park North.
3 bedrooms YES
Friendly neighborhood/ sense of community YES
Enough liberals that we don't feel like fish out of water. YES
Would love a walkable downtown w/ interesting shops. YES
Arts SHOPS
Good parks/ pool etc YES (parkne block off, swim club: two blocks off)
This is my house in Westwood. I am 23 years of age now and my parents are retiring. But I've been here all my life. My cousins live right across the street. My parents, uncle, aunt, and cousins all work in New York City. My uncle and cousin who work downtown, take the bus in. It takes an hour. If you drive, it takes about 35-45 minutes. You would take Palisade Parkway to GW Bridge. If you take the bus, you would have to drop your car off at the bus stop because the closest bus stop is about a 3-4 minute drive from my house.
OP wants a community where everyone knows their name. Unfortunately, like everywhere because of cell phones, internet, and technology, people just isolate themselves. North Jersey is crowded and live there just to be near the city for work. It's a bedroom state. They work and then go home to sleep.
You have to make your own community. People won't come to your house to welcome you to the neighborhood. You have to go to their houses.
I live in Fort Lee. I talk to my duplex neighbor sometimes and my other neighbor before they moved. But other than that, I don't really interact with anyone else. But people aren't mean, just they won't go the extra mile to meet people. It's a nice town with a downtown, but it is very crowded. People are on top of each other here.
There are no stats on that type of community. Maybe in the more rural areas far west of the city near Pennsylvania, you might get that.
Edgy, thank you for that honest assessment. I really appreciate it.
This is making me think that even though Montclair and places like Maplewood aren't really farther from the city, they do seem to have more of a sense of community. Or at least that's what I've been able to glean. You can't tell until you live there of course and we're done w/ renting to find out. So maybe FredJung, we may not have to move far out to find that. Just pay ridiculous taxes.
Places like Westwood, knicksfan, while I'm not ruling them out would be OK if one of us actually commuted daily for a whole day in the city but we need more in and out for 2-4 hours at a time. It looks more like an hour and a half both ways and that seems like a lot. At least the times we'd be going which wouldn't be rush hours.
Thanks very much for your thoughts. I really appreciate it
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ne block off, swim club: two blocks off)
