Fair lawn vs. Livingston/Short Hills (Union, Millburn: for sale, houses, neighborhoods)

[ismolyan]

Hello,

We are looking to relocate from NYC to NJ and looking at the Livingston/Short Hills and Fair Lawn areas. Any opinions re distinctions between these two, any info would help - especially about shools in these areas. Looks like we can get more for our money in Fair Lawn but I wonder if the schools are of similar quality in these two locations.

Thank you!

[brookdaleresident]

While I don't know a lot about Fairlawn, I don't think you can compare it to the other towns. Livingston and SH(Millburn) have top notch schools, mostly expensive homes and high taxes. Can't go wrong with either, imo. I'm sure someone will weigh in on Fairlawn.

[ira]

Originally Posted by ismolyan

Hello,

We are looking to relocate from NYC to NJ and looking at the Livingston/Short Hills and Fair Lawn areas. Any opinions re distinctions between these two, any info would help - especially about shools in these areas. Looks like we can get more for our money in Fair Lawn but I wonder if the schools are of similar quality in these two locations.

Thank you!

Short Hills is probably 5 times more upscale/expensive than Livingston or Fair Lawn. You can't really put them in the same category. Livingston and Fair Lawn are more comparable to each other. Both have very good school systems although some might argue that Livingston shools are better. Both towns have high % of Russian/Jewish population, if that matters to you. Commute to the city is MUCH better from Fair Lawn than from Livingston. In terms of housing, you will definitely get more for your money in Fair Lawn.

[Gravy Boat]

In Fair Lawn, the Radburn section is super nice - the rest is nice but not as. The schools are very good.

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by ira

Short Hills is probably 5 times more upscale/expensive than Livingston or Fair Lawn. You can't really put them in the same category. Livingston and Fair Lawn are more comparable to each other. Both have very good school systems although some might argue that Livingston shools are better. Both towns have high % of Russian/Jewish population, if that matters to you. Commute to the city is MUCH better from Fair Lawn than from Livingston. In terms of housing, you will definitely get more for your money in Fair Lawn.

The above sounds like the statement of someone who only has a superficial knowledge of the area. Short Hills is actually part of Millburn Township although the postal address reads "Short Hills". There is a certain cache that comes from having this postal address, so if you are the type of person who is concerned with such things you may want to keep that fact in mind. It is the more upscale and expensive part of Millburn but they are all part of the Millburn school system.

Most of Livingston is comparably priced to the non-Short Hills part of Millburn. There are areas of Livingston that are comparably priced to the Short Hills area of Millburn. These areas are Belair ('90s), Belair Woods (New Construction), Governor's Hill (new construction), parts of Riker Hill (70's-new), Chestnut Hill (80's-new). Houses in these areas are 2mil-4mil.

Livingston has about a 1/3 larger population than Milburn, and has a few older areas with smaller lots that dramatically bring down the median house price of the town as a whole, while Short Hills covers such a large area of Millburn that the median home price is much higher. Again, these are for the towns as a whole. When you break them down into areas, the prices are similar for similar areas. For the most part, in Livingston houses are grouped together by style and price range, where as in Short Hills there are a lot of tear downs. So you may have a ranch in between two McMansions, artificially raising the price of the ranch.

One advantage Livingston has over Millburn is that it does not border any "questionable" neighborhoods as Millburn does. Millburn's big advantage is a midtown direct train vs the bus in Livingston. Milburns schools are ranked slightly better than Livingston, but if you look at the actual numbers, it's not enough of a difference to really matter. They both have high property taxes, but Millburn is higher.

I dont know much about Fair Lawn, but socioeconomically it is probably on the bottom of your 3 town list.

[brookdaleresident]

eskmd, thanks for the great explanation. Totally agree; very accurate.

[Giantone]

Try Chatham,just as nice not as congested and good schools.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by eskmd

One advantage Livingston has over Millburn is that it does not border any "questionable" neighborhoods as Millburn does.

Like where

[AnesthesiaMD]

At the risk of taking a lot of flak from people who live there, I had Union in mind when I typed this.

[ira]

Originally Posted by eskmd

The above sounds like the statement of someone who only has a superficial knowledge of the area. Short Hills is actually part of Millburn Township although the postal address reads "Short Hills". There is a certain cache that comes from having this postal address, so if you are the type of person who is concerned with such things you may want to keep that fact in mind. It is the more upscale and expensive part of Millburn but they are all part of the Millburn school system.

Most of Livingston is comparably priced to the non-Short Hills part of Millburn. There are areas of Livingston that are comparably priced to the Short Hills area of Millburn. These areas are Belair ('90s), Belair Woods (New Construction), Governor's Hill (new construction), parts of Riker Hill (70's-new), Chestnut Hill (80's-new). Houses in these areas are 2mil-4mil.

Livingston has about a 1/3 larger population than Milburn, and has a few older areas with smaller lots that dramatically bring down the median house price of the town as a whole, while Short Hills covers such a large area of Millburn that the median home price is much higher. Again, these are for the towns as a whole. When you break them down into areas, the prices are similar for similar areas. For the most part, in Livingston houses are grouped together by style and price range, where as in Short Hills there are a lot of tear downs. So you may have a ranch in between two McMansions, artificially raising the price of the ranch.

One advantage Livingston has over Millburn is that it does not border any "questionable" neighborhoods as Millburn does. Millburn's big advantage is a midtown direct train vs the bus in Livingston. Milburns schools are ranked slightly better than Livingston, but if you look at the actual numbers, it's not enough of a difference to really matter. They both have high property taxes, but Millburn is higher.

I dont know much about Fair Lawn, but socioeconomically it is probably on the bottom of your 3 town list.

I actually have a fairly good knowledge of the area. While Livingston has some expensive houses, you cannot possibly compare it Short Hills (wealth-wise). According to realtor.com, of all properties available for sale right now, 15% are priced at 1mil+ in Livingston, while in Short Hills this number goes to 70%. The median rpice in Livingston is approximately $600K and the median price in Short Hills is $1.5 mil. These numbers speak for themselves.