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.
I know there are a lot of threads about this topic, but I thought I would post to see if any new information comes my way.
Here's the situation: my wife and I bought an apartment 4 years ago in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since that time, price per sq. ft. has almost doubled in Williamsburg. We welcomed a baby boy into the world 2 months ago, so for obvious reasons we are looking to trade in our tiny studio loft in Williamsburg for a house with a yard. We plan on having another child, but not in the near future, so it only makes sense to get the ball rolling sooner than later. We know that we're not going to find a replacement for Williamsburg or even a suburban version of it, but we would definitely like to find something somewhere in the middle. We want the slower, spread-out lifestyle that suburbia offers, but would like more walkable centers if possible with good restaurants, bars, some possible music culture and good shopping options. We're hoping to sell our apartment and find a rental in a NJ town to check out the area before buying. My wife will be working full time and I will be primary caretaker for our son, and running my business from home, so commute time is key for my wife.
We looked at Westchester, but we ruled it out for several reasons, hence why I'm posting the NJ forum. Some towns that we have looked at in NJ: Montclair, Glen Ridge, Maplewood, Rutherford.
Wish List:
-Some amount of culture or proximity to - bars, restaurants, music
-Commute time to SoHo (Wife's office) 1 hour or less (a tad more than an hour is fine..)
-Good solid schools
-Housing stock in the 500-600K range
-Safe
So.. Any input on the towns that I mentioned? What adjacent towns are cheaper, but still accessible to say Montclair (or other towns with above criteria), but property taxes are more affordable, decent commute and the schools are good? Any towns that I'm missing? Any other factors to consider? Really appreciate any insight.
We moved from Washington Heights to South Orange in February. The 'core places' that fit what you're saying would be Montclair or South Orange/Maplewood. There are various adjacent towns which can be cheaper (West Orange, etc.) but you'll lose some of the character you're looking for.
We moved from Washington Heights to South Orange in February. The 'core places' that fit what you're saying would be Montclair or South Orange/Maplewood. There are various adjacent towns which can be cheaper (West Orange, etc.) but you'll lose some of the character you're looking for.
If you live in the Gregory Section right on the South Orange border your right by downtown South Orange and have the same character. The commute to Soho would be less then an hour. With a 500k-600k budget you can pretty much look in any town you mentioned.
Keep in mind that a door-to-door commute to SoHo of an hour (definitely not less) is probably only realistic in Maplewood/South Orange or Glen Ridge. And that's if the trains are running on time (not sure when your wife would need to leave for work in the a.m. but as I understand it there's a lot of congestion during morning rush out and trains are often delayed). Upper Montclair you're probably talking more like an hour and 15 mins. Rutherford, while a short train ride, necessitates a transfer at Secaucus, so I'm not sure how that would play out time-wise or how annoying it would be to your wife. Might also be an hour-ish depending on how far you live from the train station. I've done loads of research on this myself (we're looking to move to NJ from Park Slope) and the suburban towns that offer a decent school district with some kind of downtown that are an hour door-to-door commute are few and far between (hence the reason buying real estate in these areas is so nuts). You might also want to check out Millburn -- the South Mountain and Wyoming sections are more affordable than Short Hills and Millburn has its own little downtown and it's adjacent to Maplewood village as well. In fact, the Maplewood jitney picks up residents in Wyoming and takes them to the Maplewood train station. It's pricier than Montclair and Maplewood but the taxes are quite a bit lower, too since it's in Union County, not Essex.
Another thing to point out is that most all of these towns have waiting lists that are like years long for commuter parking at rail stations. So you'll want to focus your search on a house close enough to walk or bike or in a town that offers a jitney. Maplewood and GR both do. Montclair does not. Not sure about Rutherford. Unless you want to drop off your wife and pick her up every day -- not something I'd be willing to do with a baby or toddler but you might be more charitable than me
^ Millburn is in Essex County, not Union. Also, UC taxes are not much better than EC taxes. Sure some towns have "low" taxes but the nicest, most "worth it" to live in towns do not. UC has among the highest property taxes in the state and country. Millburn does have high property taxes. I think around 20,000 a year on average, at least as of a couple years ago.
Montclair Heights. Very small, precious part of Clifton, which associates with Upper Montclair. Passaic/Clifton Taxes. Train service from Montclair Heights, Little Falls and Glen Ridge. Near Montclair State College. Spend a day out there with a Clifton Based realtor (Montclair/Upper Montclair realtors are too full of themselves) and tell them you want to see listing in Montclair Heights.
My Recommendation:
Verona: Great Schools but you need to research commuting (I can't imagine its horrible) pricey housing stock
Cedar Grove: Similar to Verona but no real downtown per se, but good amenities for family (pool, tennis courts, etc), schools aren't as good as Verona but not horrific either, somewhat more affordable than Verona (house cost)
Little Falls: Downtown and better transit option than the first two (train or bus), more walkable with restaurants and bars but by no means on the Montclair scale either. Schools are about on par with Cedar Grove, housing is more affordable (on average) compared to Cedar Grove and Verona
^ Millburn is in Essex County, not Union. Also, UC taxes are not much better than EC taxes. Sure some towns have "low" taxes but the nicest, most "worth it" to live in towns do not. UC has among the highest property taxes in the state and country. Millburn does have high property taxes. I think around 20,000 a year on average, at least as of a couple years ago.
You're right, my B, Millburn is in Essex, not Union BUT the property taxes there ARE in fact noticeably better than Montclair (which is absurd IMO), Maplewood and Glen Ridge. Just hop on Zillow and take a look at the tax histories for the sold houses. It's not difficult to see that in homes of similar price range you'd be paying thousands of dollars more per year for taxes on a house in Maplewood than you would in Millburn (for example I just looked at two homes, both sold in the $550-$600K range, about 1,500 square feet and the property taxes for the house in Maplewood were $4,000 more per year than the house in Millburn!). The averages are misleading because Millburn also includes Short Hills, which throws off the average because the home prices there are so high and the tax rate is actually higher, too, than it is in Millburn section. You really need to look at individual properties.
You may get a bit more for your money in Maplewood (not a ton more) but considering the fact that property taxes will only ever go up, you're better off spending slightly more for a home with a lower tax bill. I hate when people (mostly realtors) give advice on these forums irrespective of taxes -- in a lot of these towns it has a huge, huge effect on what your effective monthly house payment is. Not to mention, Millburn is consistently ranked one of the best school districts in the state... Maplewood? Not so much. Not a BAD school, just not on par with Millburn. If it were me and I had kids (which I do), I wouldn't find the egregious property tax bill such a bitter pill to swallow if I knew my kids were receiving one of the best public school educations in the state (and basically the country since New Jersey has among the best public schools in the country).
Don't take my word for it, though, just look up the tax records for properties that you're interested in. My husband and I have been house hunting all over Northern NJ and while we love the communities of Montclair and Maplewood/South Orange, we both found the out-of-control property taxes in those towns a really difficult thing to come to terms with given that the school districts don't rank anywhere close to those in Millburn and Glen Ridge. That being said, if diversity is something you value and you're keen on exposing your kids to people and situations outside of what's found in these more sheltered and privileged "pressure-cooker" schools, then Maplewood and Montclair are probably great fits. I'm from Pennsylvania and Montclair and Maplewood schools are still leagues ahead of the public school I graduated from and I turned out ok (I think).
You're right, my B, Millburn is in Essex, not Union BUT the property taxes there ARE in fact noticeably better than Montclair (which is absurd IMO), Maplewood and Glen Ridge. Just hop on Zillow and take a look at the tax histories for the sold houses. It's not difficult to see that in homes of similar price range you'd be paying thousands of dollars more per year for taxes on a house in Maplewood than you would in Millburn (for example I just looked at two homes, both sold in the $550-$600K range, about 1,500 square feet and the property taxes for the house in Maplewood were $4,000 more per year than the house in Millburn!). The averages are misleading because Millburn also includes Short Hills, which throws off the average because the home prices there are so high and the tax rate is actually higher, too, than it is in Millburn section. You really need to look at individual properties.
You may get a bit more for your money in Maplewood (not a ton more) but considering the fact that property taxes will only ever go up, you're better off spending slightly more for a home with a lower tax bill. I hate when people (mostly realtors) give advice on these forums irrespective of taxes -- in a lot of these towns it has a huge, huge effect on what your effective monthly house payment is. Not to mention, Millburn is consistently ranked one of the best school districts in the state... Maplewood? Not so much. Not a BAD school, just not on par with Millburn. If it were me and I had kids (which I do), I wouldn't find the egregious property tax bill such a bitter pill to swallow if I knew my kids were receiving one of the best public school educations in the state (and basically the country since New Jersey has among the best public schools in the country).
Don't take my word for it, though, just look up the tax records for properties that you're interested in. My husband and I have been house hunting all over Northern NJ and while we love the communities of Montclair and Maplewood/South Orange, we both found the out-of-control property taxes in those towns a really difficult thing to come to terms with given that the school districts don't rank anywhere close to those in Millburn and Glen Ridge. That being said, if diversity is something you value and you're keen on exposing your kids to people and situations outside of what's found in these more sheltered and privileged "pressure-cooker" schools, then Maplewood and Montclair are probably great fits. I'm from Pennsylvania and Montclair and Maplewood schools are still leagues ahead of the public school I graduated from and I turned out ok (I think).
Yeah, I don't think the insane taxes are necessarily worth it unless you can benefit from the school. It's why so many people move out of North Jersey once their kids graduate high school. Some go down the shore, some move South or Southwest.
As long as one can afford the taxes/town, and aren't in over your head, I say go for the more expensive towns, because it is true that they generally have better schools.
No one has mentioned this yet, but you should consider Westfield or Cranford.
Hubby and I had very similar requirements when we were looking to move to the suburbs- we only looked at towns located along the train line and we really wanted to find a town with a nice downtown area.
He works in midtown and the commute in the morning is a bit unpredictable. The bus is good but sometimes hits traffic in the AM. In the evening the bus gets him home in 35 minutes. Cranford is the first stop right off the highway. The train is not bad but you have to transfer in Newark. There are direct trains running during off-peak hours and hopefully they will add more direct service in years to come. We were able to get a commuter parking spot within 6 months of living in town.
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.
