Fort Lee, Hackensack or Rahway (Hoboken: apartment, to rent, school)

[Freroht]

Quick unscientific survey here. Based on my price range and taste I am learning to move to one of these cities. Which one do you prefer, ie think is better based off safety, downtown amenities (is it walkable? Bars, food), car friendliness

I am going to work in midtown New York.

[stradivarius]

I would endorse Fort Lee for many reasons, but I'm biased because when I lived there, it fit my own needs quite well. In terms of just the criteria you mentioned, the town is also good, maybe except for "car friendliness"...not sure exactly what you're looking for, but typically, around downtown is metered parking (and the meter maids are very vicious), and if you live in town, you have your own driveway (if you live in a single-family house),or are given one or two spots (if you live in a 2/3-family) or you would pay for a parking spot (if you live in a high-rise).

(Just make sure to stay out when they have unannounced lane closures at the GWB during the first week of school that also unfortunately coincides with a 9/11 anniversary...)

Okay, seriously, how important is diversity? What type of diversity are you looking for? I ask because all three towns you mentioned may have diversity but in different ways.

[ALackOfCreativity]

For the same apartment at the same price and assuming you have parking as part of or as an add-on to rent, Fort Lee no questions asked. More convenient to the city and walk-alone-at-3 a.m.-without-a-care-in-the-world safe. Both it and Hackensack are good for food (both restaurants and groceries) and car friendly (although Hackensack is a bit more so since you don't have to avoid the roads that get bridge traffic; not enough to swing the decision though). Can't really speak to what it's like in Rahway never having been but it's further away and I've never heard anything that remarkable about it.

The problem of course is that "the same apartment at the same price" is an abstraction and in practice Fort Lee will be more expensive than an equivalent place in Hackensack or if not come with some other major downside (co-op with very renting-unfriendly board policies, too close to the Bridge, etc.) so it boils down to the usual trade-off between saving money, living in a nicer location, or living in a nicer apartment.

As an aside, except for Hoboken and the like the bar/equivalent scene in NJ is very weak pretty much everywhere since young people generally go to NYC (or if they are part of the Hoboken social scene, there) to socialize on the weekends. If this is critical to you, find a roommate and move into the city.