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I am starting a job in Newark soon and, since DH already works near Penn Station, we are thinking seriously of relocating to NJ. Two kids, one 7 (2nd grade), and one 2 in October. We are looking for a town within 30 min drive of Newark (ideally 45-1 hour from Penn Station by train) with good schools and a welcoming community. Littlest one gets carsick easily so we'd like to have kid activity options within a short car ride (parks, kids gym, etc.). We'd like to be in a place where there are other families where both parents work and our kids won't be the only ones getting picked up by babysitters after school most days. Also good nursery school options are important to us, particularly since the littlest will likely miss the age cut off wherever we end up and have to start Pre-K and K a year later than she would in NYC. Price range would be $1M-1.5M. Have heard nice things about Summit, Chatham, Maplewood, South Orange, Montclair, and Glen Ridge, but I have no personal experiences with any of those places yet. Any help appreciated.
I live in Hoboken, and have 2 kids. I have friends who have moved in the past year to Chatham and Maplewood--both love it. I have several friends who grew up in Montclair and really like it, too. You can't really go wrong..there are differences in town diversity.
I feel like Maplewood and Montclair are more diverse and a little more "artsy". Lots of former NYCers there. Lots of young families in any of the towns you mentioned. Your price range means you can go about anywhere, so you might want to compare taxes on individual houses you are interested in and go from there. Chatham is further out and takes a bit longer---plus there's an issue with parking at the train station. My friend who moved there can't get a parking permit for the train station, so they are driving somewhere else, taking some kind of jitney to the train station, and then going into the city. Their door-to-door is more like 1.5
Hoboken is great, too. Just wanted to put that little plug in there.
If you answer some of the questions in the sticky, you will probably get better responses. With your budget, there's really no town you are priced out of. It's going to come down to what your preferences are. But yes, it sounds like the list of towns you have would be a good place to start. South Orange, Maplewood, and Montclair would probably be a good choice for you coming from Brooklyn. I would add Millburn to your list if schools are one of your top priorities.
I am starting a job in Newark soon and, since DH already works near Penn Station, we are thinking seriously of relocating to NJ. Two kids, one 7 (2nd grade), and one 2 in October. We are looking for a town within 30 min drive of Newark (ideally 45-1 hour from Penn Station by train) with good schools and a welcoming community. Littlest one gets carsick easily so we'd like to have kid activity options within a short car ride (parks, kids gym, etc.). We'd like to be in a place where there are other families where both parents work and our kids won't be the only ones getting picked up by babysitters after school most days. Also good nursery school options are important to us, particularly since the littlest will likely miss the age cut off wherever we end up and have to start Pre-K and K a year later than she would in NYC. Price range would be $1M-1.5M. Have heard nice things about Summit, Chatham, Maplewood, South Orange, Montclair, and Glen Ridge, but I have no personal experiences with any of those places yet. Any help appreciated.
Maplewood is nice town next to horrible so for me I am not a fan of Maplewood. It is a smash and grab community since it next to Irvington.
Madison (train station)
Summit (train station)
Montclair (train station)
Florham Park (no train station)
Chatham (train station)
All good choices. Summit will be the best commute and the most expensive. Madison is lovely. Very quaint downtown, family friendly, runner/biking town. Great parks and has a train station.
If you answer some of the questions in the sticky, you will probably get better responses. With your budget, there's really no town you are priced out of. It's going to come down to what your preferences are. But yes, it sounds like the list of towns you have would be a good place to start. South Orange, Maplewood, and Montclair would probably be a good choice for you coming from Brooklyn. I would add Millburn to your list if schools are one of your top priorities.
I'm embarrassed to ask this, but also new here . . . what sticky??? Thanks.
Maplewood is nice town next to horrible so for me I am not a fan of Maplewood. It is a smash and grab community since it next to Irvington.
Madison (train station)
Summit (train station)
Montclair (train station)
Florham Park (no train station)
Chatham (train station)
All good choices. Summit will be the best commute and the most expensive. Madison is lovely. Very quaint downtown, family friendly, runner/biking town. Great parks and has a train station.
As a 2 year South Orange resident I don't think characterizing Maplewood as a 'smash and grab' community is terribly accurate. It's more a don't leave your door or car unlocked kind of place. Also. with a $1.5 million budget that house is likely to be far away from Irvington/Newark or whatever else you advising to avoid. Also, taxes out here may be more insane than you expected, enough that it will make a significant impact on what sort of house fits into a budget.
The biggest question is how much you're looking for one of the post-urban generally more liberal and more diverse sort of places that are popular with former NYC residents which would be South Orange/Maplewood (the two towns operate as one 'community' for pretty much all intents and purposes) or Montclair. Without knowing any more and just hearing 'Brooklyn' then I'd say just look in those places.
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