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Why not Manhattan? If your not to far from Penn the Bridgewater would probably be just as close.
Hi, my spouse will be driving to Bridgewater, so we want to be somewhere easier (and cheaper) to keep a car than NYC. Crossing the river daily would add a lot of time to his commute, and we lived in Manhattan for years and years...not interested anymore except a quiet part of the UES/UWS. Got used to the pace and space in Chicago.
Thanks!!! This post is super helpful. I think my OP mentioned the kids - one (due very soon) will just be 4-6 months when we plan to move, the other about 3. So right now just interested in pre schools and space to walk/play with kids. Nice public schools are always a plus, but I'll worry about that if this position works out (my husband moves around a lot) and we decide to buy somewhere. I currently work from home, but if I relocated to the NY area I'd be expected to do some face time at our NYC office. My company is also up for sale, so I could be job hunting next summer and will need the access to the city JC/Hoboken provides. We really find the location of my spouse's position in Bridgewater frustrating but not much we can do....
Did some searching on some of the rental buildings mentioned, seems $4400 or so will get you 3 beds in JC, more like $6200 in Hoboken (more than I wanted to spend). Ideally we'd rent from an owner in a condo, so that might be a bit of work.
Interesting on the Asian residents in JC. My colleague, who was Indian, at a company I worked in when we lived in NY lived there and I know there were A LOT of Indians where she was (pavonia?). We don't really care but I do prefer something a bit more diverse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annikan
I lived in JC (border of Newport and Exchange) before and now live in Hoboken. And we have two kids, so I can weigh in here. It really depends on the type of neighborhood you want to live in. Different neighborhoods of JC have very different "feels" since it's a large city. It's also much bigger overall compared to Hoboken, and even .5 a mile makes a difference when you are walking with a double stroller or with slow-walking toddlers in tow. I randomly mapped where we used to live in JC to the Gymboree on Grove street--it's 1.2 miles one way. That's not a long distance, but on a hot day or snowy day or rainy day--kind of a beating. You could walk to the light rail
You don't say how old your kids are and what you are looking for in terms of childcare/schools/ etc, but that will likely really be a big factor here.
Here are just some of my thoughts:
-Overall family friendly--Hoboken has the edge. Everything is closer together, there are *tons* of child friendly classes, lessons, preschools, daycares, free programs. The Hoboken family scene is a big income generator. JC is up and coming, but they have fewer classes and indoor play places *right now*. Just judging from what my friend that lives in Grove St says.
-Overall restaurant scene--JC has the edge. Luckily for people in Hoboken, it's easy uber ride away for date nights.
-Parks-- tie. We go to Newport Green and Hamilton park in JC when we want (via light rail or driving), but we also have access to half a dozen amazing parks in Hoboken all within .6 of a mile from our house. I have 3 parks/playgrounds within 3 blocks of my house in Hoboken.
-Public schools-- tie. I'm only comparing waterfront JC to Hoboken. JC has 1 feeder school pattern that beats anything Hoboken has currently in terms of raw test scores. But Hoboken has more easily accessible high-quality FREE pre-school for Pre-k 3 and Pre-k 4. But easily accessible, I mean, the NY Times has written articles about JC's crazy process of pre-k enrollment that causes families to literally camp out on the street to be first in line for spots. Hoboken has a lottery, but they fill something like 525 seats out of 750 applicants, without the camping out aspect. You just fill out some forms. I have friends with kids in every single pre-k3-5 campus in town and all of us are very pleased with the public pre-school programs in town.
-Private schools-- tie. They both have catholic schools, Montessori schools, Stevens progressive school operates in each town. For private, you can live in either town and still attend school in the other town anyway.
-Commute to NYC--Tie; Commute to Bridgewater--Tie. At least from what Google Maps tells me.
Overall "feel". Newport and Exchange place are mostly high rises. Hoboken only has high rise living along the waterfront and the edges (zoning laws require everything else to be 6 stories or less). Newport specifically has a very high percentage of east and south Asian residents. Also, the streets are almost totally dead after work hours on weeknights and weekends. My husband is Asian, and he preferred to be in a more "mixed" place, not all of one particular ethnicity. Hoboken skews more white american, specifically Jewish and Catholic (I am neither of those), but has a good mix of everyone. My particular building is a great, diverse mix. When we lived in JC, I was one of the few of the thousand residents in our high rise that wasn't some type of Asian. That's not a problem for me at all, but other people may want a building more diverse.
Personally, my preferences for family living in JC would be: Van Vorst in the C. Bradford elementary school borders, followed by Hamilton Park, Grove Street, Exchange Place, and Newport last. In Hoboken, it doesn't much matter if you live downtown, midtown, or uptown--it's all very close to each other.
Supermarkets--Hoboken has the edge.
I would recommend touring both places so you can get a feel for them. They are also really close to each other, so you can enjoy the benefits of both cities living in either one.
Are schools a concern at all? If so, stay out of both Jersey City and Hoboken.
Not at this point. We plan to rent a while and then figure it out. Honestly on the east coast it always seems to me like the hike in property taxes for a top school district is similiar to tuition at a (non elite) private school.
If downtown, you might also consider Harrison or Newark (Ironbound). Both of these areas have gotten really nice in the last few years, they have PATH service right into WTC, and they could make your husband's commute a little bit easier than driving from JC or Hoboken.
If you have a 3 year old, then I would concentrate on Hoboken for now. Just because of the free Pre-k aspect. Kids can start when they are 3 (if there is space). Until there is space, you can get a nanny or check out the private daycares/pre-schools. Join the Hoboken Mommies group on FB_-they are a wealth of information about apartments, pre-schools, classes, nannies, restaurants, commuting, you name it.
You can definitely find cheaper 3 bedrooms than 6k a month. It depends on what amenities you are looking for, and generally speaking, the further from the water the cheaper the rent. So a 3 bedroom in a high rise on River drive might be over 6k, but a 3 bedroom in a mid-rise 5 blocks back will be 4-5.5k.
None of the above, both school districts suck because there are too many dreamers in those school districts. If you do, you'll be forced to go Private all the way to college.
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