How is highland park, nj ? (Edison, New Brunswick: sale, rent, buying a home)

[Kee Ra]

I visited Highland Park yesterday it seems very good because it had a great main street and community also there was a rich parts too. I heard schools are not that good, but i;m planning to send my child to private.

Without considering schools, is HP is good deal?

[judithexit]

Originally Posted by Kee Ra

I visited Highland Park yesterday it seems very good because it had a great main street and community also there was a rich parts too. I heard schools are not that good, but i;m planning to send my child to private.

Without considering schools, is HP is good deal?

My friends brother lives there and he said that is a nice little town .
he said he likes it there and it is quiet .

[Fairfax Mom]

Quiet area, nice downtown - a big conservative Jewish town - I forget the name of the people that dress in black with hats and have skinny hair forelocks

[lammius]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

Quiet area, nice downtown - a big conservative Jewish town - I forget the name of the people that dress in black with hats and have skinny hair forelocks

Haisidic Jews, like this guy?


You really won't find many/any Haisids in HP. Go to Williamsburg, or Kiryas Joel or Monsey in NY. In Highland Park there are various sects of orthodox or modern orthodox Jews, who dress more like this:



...or who don't wear any distinguishing clothing/accessories at all.

Highland Park is a nice little town. I lived there for two years while in school at Rutgers and loved it. Almost anything you need is in walking distance, rent isn't very high, and you can purchase a nice house pretty reasonably there. You can walk or bike over to New Brunswick to take advantage of nightlife, restaurants, and the train there. I don't know about the schools. The high school is a beautiful building. There are two large riverfront parks, Donaldson Park and Johnson Park. Johnson Park is huge, and if you cross the Landing Lane Bridge, it connects to the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath and a 56 mile-long jogging/biking/walking trail. There are events like the annual Arts Festival, Unity Fest, and Memorial Day parade. My favorite Highland Park event is Garage Sale Weekend in October!

[snowmobiler8]

Highland Park is highly overrated. I unfortunately own a home here, and I will tell you that it is a nasty little town, and it lacks goods and services for working or professional people. Avoid buying a home here. If you must live in Central Jersey try a more sophisticated town like Metuchen or Princeton.

[lammius]

Y'know, I went to Highland Park on Saturday for the first time since 2006. It has changed quite a bit. So many of the old mom and pop businesses that made the town unique have closed. The dress shops, photographer, a gift shop, all gone. Empty storefronts are no good! The borough had an ambitious redevelopment plan that seems to have gone nowhere (although they did convert an old hardware store to something really great... a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robins!!! woohoo!! vomit). Corner Confectionary (a borough landmark) closed too!!! The fondue place closed. I couldn't believe how many businesses have closed since the last time I was there. There's a new Papa Johns though!!! vomit again!

[snowmobiler8]

Yes, Highland Park's main avenue is chock full of all that is bad to ingest punctuated periodically with ugly gas stations. The message is smoke, drink, eat, get your nails done, gas up the car, drive around, and start all over again!! It wouldn't be so bad if there were an equal number of other shops to offset the silly ones. The town does not support even one good bookstore; there is no card shop, and there is no good newspaper/magazine kiosk. That's pretty dull for a so-called college town. In 1996 there was a big push for re-development, as there is now. This doesn't work. The Avenue simply reflects the wants and desires of the people who live here. And, the town leadership is ineffective. They should focus on keeping property values up and assuring that the community is desirable for homeowners. This means confronting less glamorous issues such as garbage, noise and rundown properties which are all plentiful here. Providing people with a clean, quiet, healthy community is the way in which you attract residents who will then support a bustling commercial avenue.

[Muller86]

I must say that after visiting this site I am appalled at what has been said about my town. Every comment has been made about Highland Park in the past two or three years, but what about before that? I grew up in Highland Park, I went through Highland Park School systems and loved every minute of being there. How can anyone say that Highland Park is a bad place to send your kids to school when more than half of my graduating class went to Ivy League schools? Maybe Highland Park has lost its character, which is so disappointing to me, as it is where I spent so much of my life, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Of course anyone can make a decision on where to send their children, but Highland Park offers variety, diversity and a chance to be who you want to be growing up. I love Highland Park, despite the terrible changes it has incurred. I am so sorry to read that this is what people think of it now.

[john_starks]

the corner confectionary is the bomb! i used to go every other night to satisfy my sweet tooth. all in all, i liked it a lot. its a nice town with a lot of amenities. the only turn-offs were traffic and the overwhelming rutgers culture.

[mikieguns]

it's a nice little town, I live in HP now temporarily. Having easy access to the little main street and then New Brunswick's main street right down the road is not bad. Plus you are are close both New Brunswick and Edison train stations as well as the major highways of route 1, 18, 130, 287, turnpike. it's very centrally located, near good hospitals (i.e. St Peters, UMDMJ) and schools (Rutgers, etc). Seems pretty safe too. I like that the houses off the main street are not completely surburbabized - they are more city "like", being relatively close to each other, but still have the benefit of small lots and backyard. Plus each house is different from the next so you don't have that cookie cutter thing going on. Plenty of parks and sidewalks too. It's not bad here!