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.
Wife and I live in Essex County and we aren't big fans of the area. To make a long story short, a relative of ours owns a house in Neptune City that is in need of a little TLC. They would give us a very nice deal and we were thinking of buying the house.
I am pretty familiar with the area from past visits, but don't know much about the school system, the town services, the demographics, etc.
My first impression of the town (Neptune City) is that it is a little rough around the edges, but overall an OK blue collar town. Folks in the neighborhood seem close knit from what ive seen.
Im a bit concerned about the bordering town of Neptune Township, as it does seems a bit sketchy in some areas.
We do not have any kids yet but plan on trying within the next year or two.
You can look at school stats at Good Schools and other sites. You can find information about cities and towns --demographics, crime-- right here on City-Data.
I haven't been to Neptune in decades. It wasn't pretty then, either.
My much older brother was a foreign language teacher at the high school one year. He got a few dollars knocked off of his college loans for teaching in a distressed area. His pay was so low that he could only afford to rent a room.
I grew up in a borderline sketchy neighborhood. By that, I mean that there were a fair amount of solid blue collar families, some wonderful grannies, independent shop owners. It really took me years to process the rest of the residents.
Most adults can deal with living in a less than stellar neighborhood, but I wouldn't want to raise a child in one.
Thanks or the reply. I have a feeling if we did decide to live there and ended up having kids, private school might be an option.
I think that if you do end up moving there, you will definitely want/need to send your kids to private school. Neptune is one of the Abbott districts, and to say they are under-functioning is an understatement. Here is a link to their latest NJ Dep of Ed performance reports: New Jersey Department of Education | 2012-2013 Performance Reports Every school is pretty much failing to educate the kids, there is a rather high drop-out rate for NJ, a third of graduates of the school fail HSPA, it consistently ranks in the very bottom of the NJ Monthly's rankings of schools,(283 of 321) and the list of poor performance goes on. Not only does the school fair so poorly when compared to all schools in NJ, but when compared to it's peers (other NJ districts with the same demographics) Neptune's performance "significantly lags" So it is performing worse than other Abbott districts.
I also would have concerns regarding crime and safety in Neptune. The crime rate is high, (though not quite as high as Asbury Park) with most crime being robbery, theft, vandalism, muggings, etc,- violent crime is bad, but to a lesser extent.
I think that if you do end up moving there, you will definitely want/need to send your kids to private school. Neptune is one of the Abbott districts, and to say they are under-functioning is an understatement. Here is a link to their latest NJ Dep of Ed performance reports: New Jersey Department of Education | 2012-2013 Performance Reports Every school is pretty much failing to educate the kids, there is a rather high drop-out rate for NJ, a third of graduates of the school fail HSPA, it consistently ranks in the very bottom of the NJ Monthly's rankings of schools,(283 of 321) and the list of poor performance goes on. Not only does the school fair so poorly when compared to all schools in NJ, but when compared to it's peers (other NJ districts with the same demographics) Neptune's performance "significantly lags" So it is performing worse than other Abbott districts.
I also would have concerns regarding crime and safety in Neptune. The crime rate is high, (though not quite as high as Asbury Park) with most crime being robbery, theft, vandalism, muggings, etc,- violent crime is bad, but to a lesser extent.
HTH
KoalaNJ
Thank you. I didnt know the school performance was so dismal. I found out that Neptune City has a different K thru 8 problem than Neptune Township (Woodrow Wilson School). However, both Neptune City and Neptune Township share a high school (in Neptune township). The high school sounds pretty, bad but maybe the K thru 8 (in neptune city) is a different story? I guess I should do a little research. Luckily there seems to be a handful of private schools in the area.
Not too concerned about crime, as the particular neighborhood we would be in is pretty quiet and near the Bradley Beach border.
Thank you. I didnt know the school performance was so dismal. I found out that Neptune City has a different K thru 8 problem than Neptune Township (Woodrow Wilson School). However, both Neptune City and Neptune Township share a high school (in Neptune township). The high school sounds pretty, bad but maybe the K thru 8 (in neptune city) is a different story? I guess I should do a little research. Luckily there seems to be a handful of private schools in the area.
Not too concerned about crime, as the particular neighborhood we would be in is pretty quiet and near the Bradley Beach border.
The NJ DoE performance report for all the schools, including the elementary school in the city (Woodrow Wilson) are on that site. http://www.state.nj.us/education/pr/.../253500060.pdf By looking at that school's performance report, while it does perform ever so slightly better than the elementary schools in the Twp, it still is terrible. It is performing in the 32% percentile when compared to it's peers. So nearly 70% of the other Abbott Districts out perform the school - meaning it is still in the bottom of the bottom.
Between the horrible schools and crime issues, no wonder you can purchase a decent sized SF home in the town for 150K, and fixer-uppers for so little (some listed for 60k).
Well, im not sure id agree about Neptune City having a "crime issue". I have spent many summer weekends there in recent years. While its a bit run-down in spots, I never really felt "unsafe".
Now Neptune Township is a different story. I wouldn't want to live there.
The reason I am putting so much thought into this is because its an opportunity for my wife and I to own our own home. We are blue collar workers who make modest salaries and really cant afford real estate in the vast majority of the state. Im really sick of renting.
In terms of quality of life Neptune City is fine if you are not an elitist. I live here with my family as does my sister with her family because it is very affordable, close to the beach and river. People on my street keep their homes very nice and are good neighbors. I am an educated person and prefer to live by down to earth people where I can save on property taxes and be able to maintain my home. I ride my bike most days and go to the beach regularly and live way below my means.
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.
No help at all
