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My wife and I currently live in Jackson, have a nice home but we're just ready to move. Jackson is great if you have kids and if you don't you're simply you're out of luck, there's absolutely zero culture or hope for culture for a couple like us. My wife works in Trenton in a professional capacity and I'm currently moving my office from the Brusnwick area to Freehold and we're looking for a place that won't be a horrifying drive and i'd love to to see my wife's commute shrink as the traffic on 195 at night is horrifying. Recently in our search we found some amazing homes in Trenton... Areas such as Hilltonia, Cadwalder Park, a home on Richey Pl, etc. Anyway, I'm not necessarily afraid of cities but is there any spark or hope at all that Trenton sees a turn around? It looks like the areas where there are nice homes have relatively low crime stats compared to some other areas of the city where the city has just gone to the crapper (some of these areas had gone to the crapper long ago and others more recent)... We have no issue being in the minority and really do both appreciate diversity which we have absolute none of in our section of Jackson.
Anyway, any insight into it being a good investment or do we just chalk these beautiful homes up as future war zone and look for something a little urban but with more upside, such as a Bordentown?
I actually felt the same way as you - there are some beautiful homes in Trenton and I would love to have no commute (I also work in Trenton - we currently live in Hamilton so it's not like I have much of a commute to begin with). However, we felt that it was just too risky to buy in Trenton, especially since we want to have a good school system and lower property taxes. Trenton property taxes are insane for what you get in relation to other parts of Mercer County.
My husband and I are buying in Lawrence, instead, which is just north of Trenton. I have a coworker who lived in Bordentown for a couple of years and loved it. Good luck to you!
Hiltonia and Cadwalader Park have some beautiful homes. But as orangenj says check out the property taxes, they are ridiculous.
This place 12 Hilvista Blvd, Trenton, NJ 08618 is For Sale - Zillow is gorgeous but the taxes are over 10K. Right now that 10K gets you pretty much nothing in the city of Trenton. Hopefully that will improve with the new mayor, he is looking promising but that city has a long history of corruption and crime to overcome and correct.
We live in another town in Mercer, our home is as ugly as crap compared to that one but the schools are stellar and we have a train station. Our taxes are just less than the Hiltonia house taxes.
I would love to see those old Trenton neighbourhoods come back but after 25 years of wishing, it hasn't happened yet.
I would contact the neighbourhood Associations of both and talk to them about your concerns.
I would say that the odds of Trenton turning around via gentrification (as say, Jersey City did) are slim. The city is just too far away from major urban areas surrounding NYC or Philly. Yes, Trenton does have a rail line connecting it to both cities, but there are plenty of areas much closer to NYC and Philadelphia where rent is still cheap; gentrification would be more likely to hit these cities first.
Add in the fact that there are no large colleges within the city limits (as is the case with New Brunswick) and its not close to a beach or any other naturally desirable attraction (a la Asbury Park, Long Branch, etc); and the odds of a real turnaround are slim.
It is possible that Trenton could evolve into a somewhat safe city for working class families, but I really don't see it providing you with the "culture" I assume you are looking for.
And BTW, I hear you about Jackson. How about Princeton? Your wife will be doing a reverse commute, so traffic wont be too bad on route 1...
Bordentown is probably a better bet. Decent downtown, and there is some diversity (not as much as Trenton), pretty older houses in the downtown area. And close enough to Trenton for the commute.
Thanks for everyone's input, I appreciate it. Bordentown is definitely on our list, still reasonable prices, the right style home, etc. Now we just need to find a home that goes on the market. Princeton would be great but you just get so little for your money. The Trenton taxes don't bother me given what I'm getting in a home... Look at a town like Robbinsville, standard homes are creeping up towawrds $15K a year in taxes.
Thanks again all, much appreciated.
best, JP
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