Mark woods section Matawan (crime, homes, neighborhood)

[Dr. Jeremy]

Hi friends. My wife and I (and our 5 month old) are considering moving to the Mark Woods section of Matawan. I'm not from the area, and in my search, can't really get a feel for the area or the town. Would someone be able to tell me if it's a good area. Is there lots of crime in Matawan? How are the schools? Ravine Drive School? Is it family friendly?

Thank you so much for any input.

Jeremy

[madbach]

Matawan is a pretty nice, if a bit boring middle class town. The cost of housing is somewhat reasonable since you have a pretty long commute into NYC. There is a train station but I've heard the permit waiting list is very long. I'm not familiar with Marc Woods itself, but it is just one of the sections in Matawan and they all pretty much seem the same to me to be honest, split level homes built in the 1960's. I would consider it family friendly, it is not very walkable though and there is no real downtown, just a lot of strip malls on Rte 9 and 34, but some people like that.


I think the area is pretty safe, and I've heard the schools are pretty good if not elite- but good schools in Jersey are better than the best schools in most states.


If you don't mind an annoying commute to midtown and a rough trip to downtown Manhattan, then it isn't a bad place to go. The next town down is Holmdel, which is is nicer but even further and more expensive, but there is more to do.

[Dr. Jeremy]

Thanks so much for the info, Madbach. We're actually not commuting into Manhattan, but instead exit 138 off parkway. So, the commute won't be so bad. I really was trying to get a sense of the town, safety, schools, etc, and you certainly gave me more insight than I previously had.

Thanks again.

[GSPBlues]

Had a friend who lived up there. Family vibes, leafy surrounds, and pretty unpretentious middle class. Good access to just about everything and definitely one of the better (and last) deals in Monmouth County. From what I remember the schools are still pretty decent, and the downtown is small and neat and likely more stuff on the way.
The surrounding area in Aberdeen is adding a lot of housing stock which shouldn't affect your neighborhood too much. There's a mixed use development going in at the train station, another mixed use development at an old factory site just over the Parkway, and a couple of new developments in Aberdeen right next to the Y. Might be more slightly traffic around this next year, but hopefully more business too.