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Hello! My family is relocating to Northern New Jersey from San Diego,CA. I would like opinions on Hackettstown....
Schools?
Neighborhoods?
Traffic?
My husband is a field employee so he works from home one day a week and the rest he would be running around to different hospitals. We are flexible on where to live but want to live in a nice neighborhood with good schools for our 2 boys. I am a SAHM so I am interested in family friendly things. We don't want to spend more than $450,000.
Hello! My family is relocating to Northern New Jersey from San Diego,CA. I would like opinions on Hackettstown....
Schools?
Neighborhoods?
Traffic?
My husband is a field employee so he works from home one day a week and the rest he would be running around to different hospitals. We are flexible on where to live but want to live in a nice neighborhood with good schools for our 2 boys. I am a SAHM so I am interested in family friendly things. We don't want to spend more than $450,000.
Hackettstown is not considered a "good" area. It is definitely not as bad a Camden, Newark, Patterson, et als, but still due to the lower housing prices, it attracts many on the fringe of society. Plenty of petty crime, home break ins, car break ins, vandalism, public intoxication, etc. The schools are under-functioning according to the NJ Dept of Education, especially the middle school and HS. There are a number of other local communities where you can find housing in your price range with better schools and which are considered nicer.
If you are looking for good schools, you can pretty much forget about any town in Warren Co and Sussex Co, with the exception of Sparta. You should also realize that Warren and Sussex co, are really far from the NYC area, and are quite rural. Mass transit is scarce, and what little there is runs very infrequently.
To look at the state report cards see here: New Jersey Department of Education | 2012-2013 Performance Reports If you want to see the schools report cards from over the past several years, you can do so here Department of Education - DOE Archives I find it quite useful to be able to not only see the most recent report, but to also see the reports from over the past several years so that you can clearly get an idea of not only how the schools is currently performing, but what trends you see in the school's performance - is the current scores an anomaly, or part of a general trend (either improving or declining) You can also get some good information by checking out this map regarding the HS performance Interactive Map: High School SAT scores - NJ Spotlight Which shows how well the school did on standardized tests.
In order to give you truly useful info and suggestions, we really need more information from you. Please see the sticky at the top of this forum, https://www.city-data.com/forum/new-j...residents.html and provide us with your answers to the questions. Since your hubby's job covers several hospitals in the region, it would be very helpful to know which hospitals he would be visiting. (Traffic in Northern NJ is much like in the LA area, only with less freeways and more small rural roads.) I have every confidence that when you give us more information in regarding your needs desires and preferences in regards to housing and community the helpful posters of this forum will be happy to respond and share their knowledge and experience with you and offer well thought out suggestions and recommendations.
We are looking for a small town feel , family orientated and safe area.
sparta, hands down. like koala said, sparta in southern sussex county is the only town in warren/sussex with relatively good school reputation. sparta is probably the most "suburban" of NW NJ towns, but that is by sussex county standards, and many parts of sparta are quite rural. sparta has lake mohawk, library, stores, supermarkets, ice cream parlors, bagel places, etc, which many parts of sussex county do not have.
there is also a bus from sparta to nyc if you ever needed.
hackettstown has many nice businesses, supermarkets, etc..., and there is not much crime (don't quote me, but i think phillipsburg has a good amount more), but the schools have a bad rep.
what hospitals and where would help...newton, hackettstown, warren? please fill out the questions link koala gave so we can give better answers.
We are looking for a small town feel , family orientated and safe area.
Budd Lake is another option. I believe the schools are well regarded, its pretty nice looking, and they do have some shopping, restaurants, etc right in town.
sparta, hands down. like koala said, sparta in southern sussex county is the only town in warren/sussex with relatively good school reputation. sparta is probably the most "suburban" of NW NJ towns, but that is by sussex county standards, and many parts of sparta are quite rural. sparta has lake mohawk, library, stores, supermarkets, ice cream parlors, bagel places, etc, which many parts of sussex county do not have.
there is also a bus from sparta to nyc if you ever needed.
hackettstown has many nice businesses, supermarkets, etc..., and there is not much crime (don't quote me, but i think phillipsburg has a good amount more), but the schools have a bad rep.
what hospitals and where would help...newton, hackettstown, warren? please fill out the questions link koala gave so we can give better answers.
Yes there are several supermarkets close to Hackettstown, and say they are in Hackettstown, however they are actually located in Mansfield and other neighboring communities. Shop Rite, Walmart, and Weis are all located in Mansfield, there used to be an small dingy A&P but I believe that is now a liquor store, and the A&P in nearby Califon was expanded and remodeled when the store in Hackettstown was closed. So no longer is there a real grocery store in town, though the ones located nearby are an easy ~10/20 min drive away.
Slope is correct that there is more crime in Phillipsburg, but that does not mean there is not crime issues in Hackettstown. As I mentioned, it is mostly robbery, thefts, vandalism, assaults, (usually something like a fight at a booze filled party) and home/car break-ins. Here are the latest stats I could find on C/D, but the OP should be aware that those stats are from 2011, and crime rates have been climbing in town over the past several years. https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...ew-Jersey.html The stats for Hackettstown show more crime than in neighboring communities, in several cases 2x plus than in Hackettstown.
Please OP provide us with more info regarding the general area your husband's job covers, even if just the Counties, and more about the type of home you are looking for as well as what you wish for in a new community, so that we may give you truly useful suggestions! Going 25 miles in NNJ during rush can take 1.5 hours or more!
He would be going into Newark, Hoboken, Monmouth are a few big ones but in reality he would be calling on every hospital and surgery center. Since his work revolves around OR time he leaves early 5-530am and comes home as early as 2-3pm
My husband is from outside of Buffalo, NY so he likes a bit more rural feel but still a strong since of community. We like to lots of outside activities with our kids. I am a native san diegan so I know I'll have big adjustments.
We currently live in a condo in an middle to upper class neighborhood. Our schools here are pretty awful....we live near a "good" school and it's kindergarden class has 45 students so I am very conscience about schools but have the opinion it matter more on parent involvement and home life etc....
Budd Lake is another option. I believe the schools are well regarded, its pretty nice looking, and they do have some shopping, restaurants, etc right in town.
Yes, Budd Lake has some wonderful pluses, but the schools are ok/Meh/average and their trend has been downward over the past several years. For me it would not necessarily be a deal breaker, but rather a caution flag. Mt. Olive's (Budd Lake is a part of Mt. Olive Twp) taxes are also pretty high for Morris Co. with an effective tax rate of 2.869, while many of it's neighboring towns are under 2 - definitely something to consider when making a choice. Here is a NJ state site which will help you in finding the property tax rates in towns NJ Division of Taxation - General Tax Rates by County and Municipality
KoalaNJ
BTW Flanders is a section of Mt Olive as well, FYI
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