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It's the part of Maplewood that borders Irvington that would make me nervous. Personally I would not want to live in a neighborhood that borders the town with the second highest crime rate in NJ. No doubt that's why that is the cheapest section of town.
i live right next to the border of irvington and the house that i live in is valued at 350,000 dollars. that is more than what my parents paid for 14 years ago when it was 125,000. there's no crime that happens around here. btw, the part of irvington that borders maplewood is relatively safe. irvington is bad but the whole town isn't all messed up. the east you go towards newark, the worse it gets. the west you go, the safer it is. you can tell the difference between maplewood and irvington from the houses and the roads, especially the roads.
why do you city data members speak of things you know nothing about and spread a lot of misinformation is beyond me. stop trying to make my town look bad.
The only part of maplewood that I definitely would avoid, without exaggeration, is by Seth Boyden School. Armed robberies, burglaries, theft, assaults & even the occasional shooting are not unheard of. There are some bad apples living in that area. Just drive down Jacoby street on a warm summer night and you'll see idling cars and loiterers.
The police department is pretty good at suppressing crime. The crime rate in that area was even higher before the police headquarters was relocated to Springfield Avenue.
I would say Burnett Avenue is the buffer zone. West of Burnett, you probably will not encounter many issues. East of Burnett, on any of the streets off Boyden Avenue, you may have to be more vigilant.
Maplewood is a very diverse community and that is one of it's many draws, as well as it's proximity to NYC, 30-40 minute trains to Penn Station, good schools, multiple parks and more; as a result homes can be purchased from $100k to $1,500,000. The home on academy has an accepted offer and will shortly be off market, the home on Prospect-- www.798prospect.com --is a great starter home as any home in the Hilton neighborbood would be. I have been a Maplewood resident since 1997 and love it: Love to Live in Maplewood/South Orange
if you would like a tour of the town, please let me know as I just gave one to the New York Times yesterday for a forthcoming feature article.
Mark 917-797-5059
You are new, so maybe you do know that agents are not allowed to hawk their wares here, correct? No marketing, no looking for action, directly or, as you have done here, indirectly.
Old post but some input, FWIW. I grew up in "Maplehood", the lower end of Prospect St, bordering Union. It was totally safe where I was, but we were zoned for Tuscan Elementary. I would walk to and from school alone with no problems. The Seth Boyden area bordering Irvington isn't the greatest but it's not terribly unsafe either. There were a lot of rumors of gang type activity at Dehart Park. Most of my friends lived in the Maplewood and "Maplegood" area(around Ridgewood Rd) so those are the more desirable areas. I would be more concerned about the area near Newark, on the other side of Parker Ave. A friend of mine had her house broken into and they have gates and speed bumps to deter car theft. Another friend of mine actually got mugged around that area while walking home at night alone. There was also a string of break ins in the nicer homes close to the high school but they were all leaving their doors unlocked. So most of the outer edges of the town are a little rough, the Union border seems to be the safest and the Newark probably the worst.
Last edited by songswesing; 04-14-2015 at 11:58 AM..
Reason: spelling, herp derp
I moved to South Orange recently, and I haven't seen any sign of the Hilton/Seth Boyden area of Maplewood being 'bad'. Or for that matter the areas of South Orange near Newark or the Maplewood Crossings area which borders Newark/Irvington.
If you were a western Newark or Irvington resident then you'd think of those neighboring areas as the good part of your town.
There is crime that comes over from the nearby towns, but so far it seems they're more likely to drive the extra 2 minutes to Wyoming steal someone's Audi or Jaguar instead of nabbing my Mini. The border areas have cheaper property and aren't quite as fancy, but they're not the criminal breeding grounds people (especially people on here) imagine them to be.
We actually just purchased a house in South Orange, on Academy, a few blocks from the high school. We haven't officially "moved" from Brooklyn yet, as we are waiting for our oldest to finish kindergarten in June. However, just from having spent some time in SO, I have learned that some of the areas that we thought were "bad" when we were looking for a house are not bad at all. I understand there is crime, but to put it in perspective, we currently live in a crazy expensive, highly desirable part of Brownstone Brooklyn, and in the past five years, there have been two shootings near us--one, right in front of our building (the bullet left a small hole in the hood of my car), and another down the block.
We actually just purchased a house in South Orange, on Academy, a few blocks from the high school. We haven't officially "moved" from Brooklyn yet, as we are waiting for our oldest to finish kindergarten in June. However, just from having spent some time in SO, I have learned that some of the areas that we thought were "bad" when we were looking for a house are not bad at all. I understand there is crime, but to put it in perspective, we currently live in a crazy expensive, highly desirable part of Brownstone Brooklyn, and in the past five years, there have been two shootings near us--one, right in front of our building (the bullet left a small hole in the hood of my car), and another down the block.
I probably drive past that house every morning taking my son to daycare on Valley right by the high school. If it's the house I'm thinking then it looks pretty nice. You'll definitely like the town. Good luck with your future move!
I guess Maplehood refers to the part of Maplewood by Irvington. With that said I always looked at the "Maplehood" term more of a joke amoung locals because it sounds cool. I never saw it as racist.
Anyway with your budget you can get a nicer house in West Orange and it will be a nicer neighborhood then the part of Maplewood you are looking at. Slang term for West Orange is WO Town lol
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