Anyone know anything about the Beacon in Jersey City? (Newark: rent, condos)
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My husband and I are relocating from London, and we are considering the Beacon in Jersey City. It looks lovely, with all the amenities you could want, but I am concerned about its location.
Can anyone shed some light on it, whether its safe or not, etc?
You should be concerned about it's location- the Beacon itself is beautiful, and the amenities are great, but the area around it has a long way to go before it catches up. While it's not the worst area of Jersey City, there's nothing great about the area- a bunch of little corner bars, mom-and-pop shops, and some crummy restaurants. Most of the folks who will live there (like most of the JC highrises) will be people who regularly work 12-14 hour days, have their groceries delivered by Fresh Direct (though they probably eat out 5 days a week anyway), and only leave the building to get to the bus or PATH to get to NYC. They're not going to be strolling around the neighborhood and frequenting the local establishments. If you're OK with living like that and can afford it, it's a great alternative to Manhattan. Personally, I'd never live that way, but that just MHO.
You guys should rent first and get a feal for Hudson County. I personally prefer Hoboken over Jersey City, much smaller town and always people walking around. Good luck!
You should be concerned about it's location- the Beacon itself is beautiful, and the amenities are great, but the area around it has a long way to go before it catches up. While it's not the worst area of Jersey City, there's nothing great about the area- a bunch of little corner bars, mom-and-pop shops, and some crummy restaurants. Most of the folks who will live there (like most of the JC highrises) will be people who regularly work 12-14 hour days, have their groceries delivered by Fresh Direct (though they probably eat out 5 days a week anyway), and only leave the building to get to the bus or PATH to get to NYC. They're not going to be strolling around the neighborhood and frequenting the local establishments. If you're OK with living like that and can afford it, it's a great alternative to Manhattan. Personally, I'd never live that way, but that just MHO.
I agree for what i know they will charge to live there, it's not the best area. Summertime will bring lots of activity and not the positive kind, right around the corner is Montgomery projects,drugs, crime, noise, you name it. It's gonna take alot of work to clean that area up.
I cannot see spending all of that $$$ for a place that you would not even want to take a late night walk around.
Plain and simple....look elsewhere.
Hoboken, Cliffside Park and Edgewater have some nice places that are along the water, or have water views.
Im sorry I know Im always talking about the negative side of JC, but it blows my mind that people acctually would pay to live in the beacon. Like fishfan said why not look at edgewater or weehawken or something along those lines. For God sakes they turn just about anything into a luxury condo now in JC, that place was a hospital and is located in the middle of a crappy area with no path station for about a mile or so. I mean hey its your money all im saying is if I had enough $ to afford that place I sure as hell would invest somewhere else.
My husband and I are relocating from London, and we are considering the Beacon in Jersey City. It looks lovely, with all the amenities you could want, but I am concerned about its location.
Can anyone shed some light on it, whether its safe or not, etc?
The Beacon neighborhood is safe, and there are plenty of businesses--restaurants, grocery stores, etc. you can walk to. However, it's not the most convenient place to live in Jersey City for getting to other locations. Unless you like stressful driving and paying a fortune to park, the easiest way to get to New York would be on the Journal Square PATH trains. Now, the JS PATH is not exactly a long walk from the Beacon, but it's not exactly short either. I haven't actually timed it, but I'd guess 10-15 minutes (or more, depending on how quickly you walk). That's going to be a bear in bad weather, especially as you're not going to be used to it being as cold as it gets here (you won't have to worry about snow much--I've been here 13 years now and for most of them, it's snowed only a few days per winter, and snow hardly ever sticks here--you're far more likely to get freezing rain). There will probably be some kind of shuttle bus for The Beacon, and there are the city buses, but both will be more of a hassle for a commute than if you could just walk to the PATH.
Also, for bigger/fancier shopping areas, you'd have to either drive or take a bus to the Newport Mall (there is parking there, and free if you park in the Shoprite lot, but it can get crowded on weekends), and to places like ShopRite (a grocery store), BJs (one of those member's only "quantity" supermarkets), and Target (which has a bit of everything).
Considering all of that, as well as the price of Beacon condos, it may be a better idea for you to look at the buildings in three different places--(1) the new development going up around the Marina off of Grand Street; (2) closer to the waterfront near Exchange Place (which actually kind of merges with the new development by the Marina as you go west), and (3) closer to the waterfront near the Newport Mall. You should be able to find something similar in one of those buildings, for about the same price and with about the same amenities, but you'll be much closer to the PATH trains (either Grove St., Exchange Place or Pavonia/Newport), as well as the Ferry (if you get a place near Exchange Place), and shopping. Per the criteria of what most people use for a "safe" neighborhood on this forum, you'll also be in a safer neighborhood.
Re the other posts, Hoboken would also be nice for you, again, just stay closer to the water and the lower street numbers (1st, 2nd, etc.) if you want an easy walk to the PATH (for a relatively easy commute to Manhattan, although the Hoboken train is a bit more laborious of a train ride from midtown (not from downtown)). If you go elsewhere (well, not including Harrison and Newark, but I doubt you'd want to live there), you're going to have to commute to Manhattan some other way--it's going to take longer and be more expensive. If you're not going to be going to Manhattan a lot, that doesn't matter. If you are, even if you can afford the extra expense, the extra time and effort will get old quickly.
Per the criteria of what most people use for a "safe" neighborhood on this forum, you'll also be in a safer neighborhood.
You will also be safer if you do not move into Jersey City. Relocating from England and trying to settle into a City with one of the higher crime rates in the area is probably not what you were looking for.
You will also be safer if you do not move into Jersey City. Relocating from England and trying to settle into a City with one of the higher crime rates in the area is probably not what you were looking for.
Someone from London is kinda familiar with the idea of living in a city. It's not as if London is some bizarre city with no crime. --they're probably wanting to live in Manhattan, but they're looking for something very close by, with an easy commute to Manhattan, but with prices that aren't so ridiculous. That's why I ended up here too.
Hoboken, by the way, you'll find to be just about as expensive for what you're getting as many areas in Manhattan. If you can afford Hoboken but would like to live in Manhattan, just hunt a bit harder in Manhattan instead.
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