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Before any comments that Union is the hood, I know that already.
My question is how bad is the Union City? Roving gangs? Extreme poverty?
Is it safe as say Queens,NY?
We plan to rent, then buy. We want to get a feel for living in Hudson County. Based on reasonably priced housing stock, Unin City and North Bergen seem to be a good alternative, to over priced Queens,NY. We need that quick commute to midtown.
Union City is overall a safe place to live, mostly Latin immigrants who speak Spanish but are family oriented and I would say as safe or safer then Queens. A bigger issue is that Union City is very congested and parking ect is tight, and people drive very aggressively over there.
Above poster is accurate. Street parking is a pain and living near the border can run you into trouble with the anal Weehawken parking maids should you accidentally park on that city turf. The plus side is your midtown commute will be quick. I'm not sure about the north end of town (above 30th st) but from the south NJ transit 123 bus runs along Palisades Ave and and 125 along Kennedy Blvd, both going direct to midtown.
I grew up in North Bergen and have lived the last 4+ years in Union City.
Objectively speaking, the crime stats say Union City has higher property and violent crime rates than the average for NJ, but lower than the average across the country. I don't think this would come to a surprise to anyone being such a low-income, densely populated city.
Subjectively speaking, I've never experienced violent crime in either Union City or North Bergen. I don't even recall people in my circle saying they've experienced it. I don't feel unsafe walking the streets of UC at any time. The worst that has happened was I accidentally left my car unlocked and some items were stolen. If I had to guess, I would say the bulk of violent crimes in Union City come in the form of bar fights. But again, that's just a guess.
To compare it to Queens is ridiculous. Queens is a much larger area with extremes. Houses in Queens can run 3 million and up and has some of the safest neighborhoods in the entire area.
To compare it to Queens is ridiculous. Queens is a much larger area with extremes. Houses in Queens can run 3 million and up and has some of the safest neighborhoods in the entire area.
Those 3m homes are not common. Closer to Long Island or in LIC, probably.
Where We currently live,its a short bus ride to the train station, (or a 15 minutes walk).we live in a quiet,fairly safe part of NW Queens. Not too far from the triboro bridge.
We have long time jobs near Times Square, so Union City would be a similiar ride to work as our current apartment. A single family home in Union City would cost us half of what we would pay in our current place.
If it were only up to me, I would be in Florida already, age makes me despise this cold weather.
The point is Queens is huge and varies greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood. 3 million is not that rare. Take a look in Forest Hills. 1 million is quite common across Queens.
If you want to compare it to Union City then pick a neighborhood not a borrow. That would be apples to apples.
Union City is not the hood. Only a racist would say that a city is the hood because it is mostly Hispanic.
Most who graduate from its schools go on to college and with a 90% graduation rate it is not bad.
Not racist if I am of Latino descent. Even the working class, or low income call it the "hood".
Good to hear about the schools. From the people I have met,know and have spoken to , its like another version of Jackson Heights,Corona,Woodside to a point. Mostly all Latino, like West NY was/is.
Any way, a quick commute with good take out , good public schools, Affordable home. Besides the way taxes work in NJ, this neighborhood looks like it may be worth it for a few years. Its either an actual house in Hudson County , or a co op in NW Queens.
Not racist if I am of Latino descent. Even the working class, or low income call it the "hood".
Wasn't "racist" to begin with. Who made the new account to say so?
I call my neighborhood the 'hood. Majority white & middle "upperclass" living in suburbia. Even a few one percenters - you know, the millionaire next door (or down the street). But you'd never know it. Unless you do.
Too many sensitive feelers set to "auto-whine" about any perceived incorrect PC term used. /eyeroll
I'm sure it depends on the particular block, but some parts of Union city are very middle class. I don't doubt that there is some extreme poverty though. In my town, we have some extreme poverty, too.
Our babysitter lives in UC, just up the viaduct from our place in hoboken in what looks like a very nice block. If you are looking at UC and North Bergen, you should also look at the JC heights, Weehawken up on the ridge, etc. It all kind of bleeds into each other.
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