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I think we want to focus on
Westfield, Summit, Chatham, Madison
Would greatly appreciate info on those
Welcome!
I'd suggest you use the search feature to read up on the towns you mention, which happen to among the most posted about on this site. All meet your criteria, with very good schools and nice downtoens of varying size.
Yes WWP is a great school district, however as I read the train schedule, the train goes to Secaucus, where he'd have to switch to another train to get to Newark, and it will take him ~1.5 hours from leaving the station in PJ to arrive in Newark. Having a 3 hr commute daily would leave very little time for Daddy to spend time during the week with the kids, or to enjoy the new home.
the train stops at newark penn station. beside new york and trenton, newark in one of the main stops on that line. no transfer is needed.
the train stops at newark penn station. beside new york and trenton, newark in one of the main stops on that line. no transfer is needed.
Just for clarification, the train route I was talking about is to Broad Street Station, not Newark Penn. So the actual commute time would be dependent on which station the OP's hubby works near.
Just for clarification, the train route I was talking about is to Broad Street Station, not Newark Penn. So the actual commute time would be dependent on which station the OP's hubby works near.
KoalaNJ
just so you know, some employers give shuttles from both stations. and your njt monthly pass includes light rail, which runs between newark broad street and bloomfield, nj stopping at newark penn, washington park and nj pac and more.
Thank you Slope- Unfortunatly none of those appeal to our taste. The problem is we custom built our current home and thus we know what we are leaving but we want something “special†that really appeals to our taste.
Well, if you've got the cash you can do it again. Not so many empty lots, but no shortage of teardowns.
I think we want to focus on
Westfield, Summit, Chatham, Madison
Would greatly appreciate info on those
Do what we did - go to WF and stop random people and ask them about their town. Pick different age ranges. Go this weekend. Hit a couple of open houses. Take your children to the park afterwards. Start polling Moms and Dads. You'll see. There's just something about WF.
Chatham and Madison are also nice but the traffic on rt. 124 going to Newark is laughable, even on Saturdays. If your hubby will be taking the train to Newark, is his job within walking distance to Newark-penn station or Newark-broad street? If he's walking distance to penn station, go with WF.
All four of these towns carry a "name" town surcharge, but WF is bigger and there's more to choose from.
I give credit to this poster who is a HS student championing his/her town, however, property taxes are 25% higher in MW, and there is some crime there, especially in some parts.
The one poll (NJ Monthly) in which MW was 47 and WF was 49 was simply one poll and that's a negligible difference. These polls should be read in ranges - going up and down a few points each year is negligible. Then again, they are fun and I cannot throw stones. Here's an old post:
(MW is much further down, but that's ok - it seems like it served you well!)
If you take out the magnet schools which have the luxury of rejecting students, the top schools are Haddonfield, Princeton, Millburn, Chatham, Rumson and Westfield.
Summit, Ridgewood, Cranford Madison are a little lower on the list, but still did well.
To the students of Westfield high school: I'd like to thank you for your hard work and SAT prep - which should help my house appreciate or at least holds its value nicely.
I give credit to this poster who is a HS student championing his/her town, however, property taxes are 25% higher in MW, and there is some crime there, especially in some parts.
The one poll (NJ Monthly) in which MW was 47 and WF was 49 was simply one poll and that's a negligible difference. These polls should be read in ranges - going up and down a few points each year is negligible. Then again, they are fun and I cannot throw stones. Here's an old post:
(MW is much further down, but that's ok - it seems like it served you well!)
If you take out the magnet schools which have the luxury of rejecting students, the top schools are Haddonfield, Princeton, Millburn, Chatham, Rumson and Westfield.
Summit, Ridgewood, Cranford Madison are a little lower on the list, but still did well.
To the students of Westfield high school: I'd like to thank you for your hard work and SAT prep - which should help my house appreciate or at least holds its value nicely.
south orange and maplewood have many problems, and would I choose to live in westfield, yes. there are many options in our area. i think chatham or madison would be very could in this case.
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