Maplewood and South Orange (Newark, East Orange: sales, renting, hotel)

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by PLPD333

Kid, get real i have lived and worked in JC, and patterson, you think i would know right?

You'd think so, but tarring Jersey City with one brush as if to suggest that Paulus Hook is no different from Greenville is a bit misleading.

Most of the crime reports out of Jersey City come out of Greenville; then a substantial minority come out of some other rough patches (e.g. parts of Bergen Lafayette, some rough corners around McGinley Square, some of the projects, West Side Avenue).

Most of the really bad areas are not places that you're likely to stumble into just by taking the PATH and wandering around near the path train (you may encounter some weirdos in JSQ plaza, but the place is patrolled by police, therefore relatively safe ... )

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by Onizuka

Go back to this link. Click on Maplewood. It'll give you the breakdown of your "many kinds of crime". Then go to a towns like Millburn and Summit (to which Maplewood is regularly compared). Then take a look at the *breakdown* of the crime rates, especially the ones for violent crime. You tell me if Maplewood is as safe as Millburn or Summit.

I gave this link before, many times, in fact. It's not my problem if you guys need everything spelled out for you and you assume there's no breakdown being provided.

If "low crime" are your first, second and third priorities, then Maplewood isn't in the same league as Millburn or Summit. But it's not exactly a "high crime" area either. Violent crime rate is below the national average and close to the national median.

[lovesnj]

Onizuka is probably from Irvington or Newark and can't afford to cross the line to say aplace such as South Orange or Maplewood

[halfoffpeak]

Originally Posted by lovesnj

Onizuka is probably from Irvington or Newark and can't afford to cross the line to say aplace such as South Orange or Maplewood

Nobody can afford South Orange or Maplewood. Houses in the good areas of the towns have property taxes $15K-$30K doubled during the bubble as housing prices did. House prices may fall but property taxes are here to stay. For this reason alone the housing market there is crashing. No one with her right mind would buy in those towns with such high property taxes and mediocre schools. Those towns rose during the bubble. Naturally now they fall.

[clevedark]

The property taxes didn't rise because housing prices did! The valuation of different neighborhoods changed.

The only effect rising housing prices have on property taxes is the rate. The rate goes down when prices go up, and the rate goes up when prices go down.

[halfoffpeak]

Originally Posted by clevedark

The property taxes didn't rise because housing prices did! The valuation of different neighborhoods changed.

I said taxes rose "as prices did" not "because prices did". However, one can make the case that taxes went up with the consent of residents, who felt wealthier, than what they are now, when their house price was bubbling up. I am sure many of the residents of those towns (and other towns) regret accepting irresponsible budget increases.

[angerinthenation]

Nice towns but they are BORING as hell. For real, I'm trying to move to somewhere else.

[angerinthenation]

Originally Posted by lovesnj

Onizuka is probably from Irvington or Newark and can't afford to cross the line to say aplace such as South Orange or Maplewood

Please, you do know that there's apartments that go for cheap in Maplewood and S.O. right?

[clevedark]

Originally Posted by halfoffpeak

I said taxes rose "as prices did" not "because prices did". However, one can make the case that taxes went up with the consent of residents, who felt wealthier, than what they are now, when their house price was bubbling up. I am sure many of the residents of those towns (and other towns) regret accepting irresponsible budget increases.

The local school budgets eat up the vast majority of the town budgets. It is a joint school district comprising Maplewood and South Orange. Because it is a joint district, citizens are prohibited from voting on school budgets because of the way the votes and taxation breaks up between the two towns. It is not a question of residents "accepting" irresponsible budgets.

Besides bashing Maplewood and South Orange, what is your point, anyway?

[halfoffpeak]

Originally Posted by clevedark

Besides bashing Maplewood and South Orange, what is your point, anyway?

Do you mean to say that school budget accounts for more than 50%? Even so school budget can be limited if things don't look that good, as it did this year. Look here

Maplewood Cutting Police Officer and Firefighter Jobs - The Local - Maplewood Blog - NYTimes.com

Whatever the problem is it should have been addressed much earlier but I think that there was no need of urgency as housing prices rose.

Perhaps focusing on Maplewood Sorange is wrong, one can argue similarly for many towns in NJ. It is just that in nearby towns (Millburn, Summit, Chatham) where median income is higher taxes are much lower for the same house and better school.