Is Paterson, NJ dangerous? (Newark, Jersey City: for rent, how much, school districts)

[drpoundsign]

some of the nicer and even lower middle class (Lodi) comes to mind cities in NJ are populated by the "generals" and "Colonels" of crime who do not allow the enlisted men such as crackheads to go there and make trouble. A Capo lives in Brick Township who owns Radiological centers in North Jersey. I'm a doctor and my former partner worked with this guy and his bodyguards.

[tfireburn36]

I grew up in Paterson, and all my life. Get over it, almost every town has its' rough sections.

[Arsenic]

Originally Posted by JackedInPrinceton

But its not even close.. Trenton is way tougher. I know statistics dont mean everything but just check em out.. Trenton has waaaay higher crime rates and about only half the population, come on.

FYI, population is a factor when determining crime rate. If Paterson and Trenton both have the same number of crimes committed, Trenton's crime rate will be higher because it has a smaller population. Trenton's much higher crime rate does not mean it is much worse (Paterson is only a hair safer than Trenton anyway).

However, Paterson and Trenton's land areas are similar in size and Paterson only has a lower crime rate because it has a very high population density (especially due to the Hispanic population whom have many kids). If crime rate was measured in crimes committed per land area, Paterson would probably be the same as Trenton.

[Liz555]

Well, I lost a friend back in 1995 who got shot in the head at about 9PM on a Paterson street corner...he had just had his 1st baby with his wife....he was a very good young man that I'm told wound up at the wrong place at the wrong time....it was a very sad situation. BUT....I have been recently showing homes in P-town & the former poster is right...there ARE some nice, hold out neighborhoods...check out the neighborhood of Chamberlain Avenue (or street I cannot recall) BUT...this whole little neighborhood is so nice, I didn't even realize we were still in P-town....

[Ciao9999]

Originally Posted by YO ITZZ JASONN

Is Paterson, NJ dangerous? My friend lives in Wayne (It's a really nice, suburban town that is very close to Paterson) and he says that he goes there all the time with his friends to hang out and that the area isn't dangerous at all. Is he right? When I drived by Paterson, it looked kind of dangerous to me ... is it bad???

As with any city, it depends where you are in Paterson.

I like going to South Paterson to the Arab, Turkish and Lebanese markets and restaurants. It's a little run down, parking is scare. But I've never had a problem, and the food is authentic. I'm surprised the city doesn't market the area as a tourist destination.

Also, there are lots of Hispanic immigrants, hard working people who are the salt of the earth who work for pennies.

Yes, you have the public assistance crowd in the projects, but hey, find me a city that doesn't!

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by Ciao9999

As with any city, it depends where you are in Paterson.

I like going to South Paterson to the Arab, Turkish and Lebanese markets and restaurants. It's a little run down, parking is scare. But I've never had a problem, and the food is authentic. I'm surprised the city doesn't market the area as a tourist destination.

Also, there are lots of Hispanic immigrants, hard working people who are the salt of the earth who work for pennies.

Yes, you have the public assistance crowd in the projects, but hey, find me a city that doesn't!

It's funny you mentioned it. I passed by the Alabama projects today and they are a ghost town! The first four floors on every building are closed off with cinder blocks and/or wooden boards. The whole area is fenced off as well. I wonder when they are going to be imploded?

[June1]

Paterson is a large city. There are a couple of nice areas- the Totowa Section of Paterson and also the Garret Heights area on Garret Mountain. There's another area, I don't know the name, with some lovely large, older Victorian homes. However, there are some terrible, dangerous areas of this city as well. Check with friends or the police about what areas are unsafe to drive thru at night.

[June1]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Patterson is extremely dangerous. But as bad as any area is, if one lives there and walks the streets, one develops a sense of safety and comfort zone. In other words if you have a familiar routine walking the same sidewalk every day then you will feel less threatened when you walk outside.

No matter, unless you have an Elephant rifle by your side, dont get out of the car there. Those poor people hear gun fire and dont even flinch. They dont even hit the deck. They are immune to gun fire.

No offense or anything, but obviously you're not from around here. You didn't even spell the name of the city right! Also, I drive thru here all the time, I have no idea what you're talking about. I've rarely even seen the police or a car even pulled over.

[Newarkbomb]

Paterson... HAH i think my molm only got mugged once in her life and it was on paterson

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by June1

Paterson is a large city. There are a couple of nice areas- the Totowa Section of Paterson and also the Garret Heights area on Garret Mountain. There's another area, I don't know the name, with some lovely large, older Victorian homes. However, there are some terrible, dangerous areas of this city as well. Check with friends or the police about what areas are unsafe to drive thru at night.

June1 - I agree with a lot of your observations, but with a few caveats. The Totowa section of Paterson still looks nice, but for how long? Many of the new residents are adding illegal rooms to the houses in this area by dividing up a basement into bedrooms and renting them out - most likely to illegal immigrants. This is one of the reasons I moved away. My neighbors across the street did this, with the result that there were 4 or 5 extra cars on the street. They would park an old van in front of my house. When I was a kid there wouldn't be any cars parked on the street! Cars were neated parked in the driveway and the parking in front of your house would be reserved for friends who would only be there for a few hours. This gave the area a "well-kept and open look" that has since disappeared. If you call the housing authority about all of these illegal housing modifications, not much will be done. Years ago, they'd make people rip out all these basement and attic modifications, but now, nothing is done to remedy this. The housing inspectors must be living well in the suburbs on all the bribe money they are receiving!!!

I used to believe that Paterson might be "gentrified" in some way. Eastside Park, which is probably already in the throes of this to a large extent, will remain a nice place to live for gay couples who buy those huge houses and restore them to their former glory. But for a young middle-class couple, planning a family, given the quality of the schools, it would be a daunting prospect in almost any area of Paterson. Schools are such an important consideration for most people in deciding where to live. Paterson schools just don't make the grade for any middle-class person that might consider moving there. If you have to factor in the costs of private schooling, even with the lower real estate prices, it doesn't make very good economic sense. You'd be better off buying a house in Totowa Boro or West Paterson and paying more for the house to take advantage of the better school systems those towns offer.

Unless energy prices rise to the point, where the economics of city re-vitalization would force suburbanites to move to cities with good public transportation to areas of employment (NYC), Paterson as well as the rest of NJ's cities will just continue to be "holding pens" of New Jersey's poor.