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I'd like some advice on whether there are any "laid back" towns in the Northern NJ area? I grew up in Livingston, NJ and I HATED IT there. I just moved to Morris Plains, NJ after seven years in San Francisco and I'm disappointed to find out that I'm just as unhappy here in NJ as I have always been. I'm thinking maybe it's just the Morris County/Essex County "keeping up with the Jones's attitude" that i'm not happy with and if i could get out of this particular area, maybe i'd find NJ to be more agreeable. (Moving out of NJ is not an option for me, my husband has a good job and my parents would be devastated to lose their one and only grandchild.) If it exists, I'd really like to find a town in the Northern New Jersey area that is somewhat relaxed, pretty, down-to-earth, family-friendly and has a center of town. Am I kidding myself? Help!!
I'd like some advice on whether there are any "laid back" towns in the Northern NJ area? I grew up in Livingston, NJ and I HATED IT there. I just moved to Morris Plains, NJ after seven years in San Francisco and I'm disappointed to find out that I'm just as unhappy here in NJ as I have always been. I'm thinking maybe it's just the Morris County/Essex County "keeping up with the Jones's attitude" that i'm not happy with and if i could get out of this particular area, maybe i'd find NJ to be more agreeable. (Moving out of NJ is not an option for me, my husband has a good job and my parents would be devastated to lose their one and only grandchild.) If it exists, I'd really like to find a town in the Northern New Jersey area that is somewhat relaxed, pretty, down-to-earth, family-friendly and has a center of town. Am I kidding myself? Help!!
Where does hubby need to commute to? Go west is my recommendation... southern sussex county or warren county. Hackettstown is a great little town.... blairstown...hope (very small)... Newton...way too many to mention. Are you looking for something similiar to SF?
Out here in Warren county, we don't except any "joneses" . Laid back blue collar hard working folk!
You may want to consider Denville. It does have a center of town. It is also has easy access to all the major highways. Not sure if that is exactly the most laid back place. You might also want to consider either Roxbury or Mt. Arlington. Unfortunately they do not have a center of town but are close to all major highways as well and give you wasy access to Lake Hopatcong.
I'd like some advice on whether there are any "laid back" towns in the Northern NJ area? I grew up in Livingston, NJ and I HATED IT there. I just moved to Morris Plains, NJ after seven years in San Francisco and I'm disappointed to find out that I'm just as unhappy here in NJ as I have always been. I'm thinking maybe it's just the Morris County/Essex County "keeping up with the Jones's attitude" that i'm not happy with and if i could get out of this particular area, maybe i'd find NJ to be more agreeable. (Moving out of NJ is not an option for me, my husband has a good job and my parents would be devastated to lose their one and only grandchild.) If it exists, I'd really like to find a town in the Northern New Jersey area that is somewhat relaxed, pretty, down-to-earth, family-friendly and has a center of town. Am I kidding myself? Help!!
pretty easy. cranford, my town, although it's not as "northern" as the towns you mention.
it's a middle class neighborhood with few snobs (can't afford it, with richer westfield next door), a very good school, affordable homes, a cute downtown (which even made it to several hollywood movies like Ashton Kutcher's Guess Who), and manageable taxes.
Laid back,
For some reason Maywood comes to mind. It's one of the chillest towns i see around this area or Bergen County.
It has a very nice downtown section with some of the best pizzerias I've been to. And it's generally near everything you need like the Garden State Mall only about 1 mile away, And very close to NYC, Shop Rite, Bakery, Tool store, Chinese Food, Churches etc.
It has Passaic street which runs through Hackensack, Maywood, and Rochelle Park that has a big line of NJ Transits that run through. It's a very easy accessible, clean, and safe town.
And if any children come on the way like grandma has been wanting, Maywood is a great place to raise a family. (High School goes to Hackensack though, which i don't think is generally a bad thing; But to a lot of people it's not so great) And at the same time, Hackensack is recognized as one of the best high schools in the country. (if you ever drive by the school it brags itself all over)
I'd like some advice on whether there are any "laid back" towns in the Northern NJ area? I grew up in Livingston, NJ and I HATED IT there. I just moved to Morris Plains, NJ after seven years in San Francisco and I'm disappointed to find out that I'm just as unhappy here in NJ as I have always been. I'm thinking maybe it's just the Morris County/Essex County "keeping up with the Jones's attitude" that i'm not happy with and if i could get out of this particular area, maybe i'd find NJ to be more agreeable. (Moving out of NJ is not an option for me, my husband has a good job and my parents would be devastated to lose their one and only grandchild.) If it exists, I'd really like to find a town in the Northern New Jersey area that is somewhat relaxed, pretty, down-to-earth, family-friendly and has a center of town. Am I kidding myself? Help!!
Dude, you should definitely post on my thread called "Anti-Morris County Thread". I totally agree with you, Morris County isn't great for us young people. Essex is pretty laid back though, that attitude really only exists in Morris and maybe in parts of Essex. I could imagine it being in Livingston, where you grew up, Livingston is a nice town, but it's similar to Morris. I find Nutley to be a really laid back town, I like it there. I like the West Essex area too, but they have money so it's probably got that attitude. People I know from the Caldwells, Roseland, Fairfield, Essex Fells, are really materialistic but I don't find their attitudes to be a problem. They're all about flashy cars though and like Ed Hardy clothing, expensive stuff.
You probably won't find what you're looking for in Sussex or Warren counties and you already said you didn't like Essex or Morris. Try Passaic, Bergen, and Hudson counties. I like the West Paterson, Totowa, Little Falls, Wayne part of Passaic. South Bergen is more working middle class people in towns like Lyndhurst, Garfield, Lodi, whereas northern Bergen is kinda upper class Upper Saddle River and Alpine<--small but a really rich town. Hudson county is very urban, so you will find a lot of different people there, families, couples, singles, asians, hispanics, blacks, whites, christians, jews, rich, and poor. People tell me in the Anti-Morris thread that I should move to Hoboken or Jersey City... they don't want me in Morris county. i don't want myself in Morris county either. I'm hoping to relocate to South Orange soon. or maybe elsehwere.
Well, I hoped this helped you out. It's good to see another young people on here. If you're under 25, you might find this all helpful, but you said you were married and you had a kid so you must be like over 30. Well at least your a decent human being
Strapani must have never visited Denville or Boonton. Boonton is a bit hick-artsy which is cool in it's own right, but if you want to see a classic downtown, check out Denville. I love the town myself, and I have a couple kids both under three. I'm 30 in a week though, so Strapani might feel I represent the older class.
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Help!!
. Laid back blue collar hard working folk!
