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My family and I are looking to move out of Manhattan (two adults and 2 small kids - 1yr old and 3 yr old). We want a good neighborhood, A+ schools, a jewish town, but not too religious and a fairly easy drive to the City. My husband works in Midtown, but he would be leaving NJ around 10//10:30 am. He would also be coming home around 9 or 10pm. I work remotely, and would be coming into the city one day a week. We were initially interested in Tenafly, but our broker recommended that we consider Demarest. Our budget is between $1.5 mil to $1.75 mil. My husband's father is an architect and he's willing to help us do everything at cost if we wanted to find an old house on a lot and remodel. I'm from Florida, so both towns are very "new" and "different" to me from what I grew up. My husband grew up in Long Island. I'm trying to get a better understanding of Tenafly and Demarest and what each has as pros and cons.
I am familiar with both towns. Tenafly is closer by about 10 minutes via car (20 minutes via bus) because you get on the PIP at exit 1. You can make it to midtown in 35 minutes at those time. Demarest is exit 2 and then down the hill. Less Uber $$ also. Bigger bus stop in Tenafly. This will matter when your kids start going in to the city alone.
JCC in Tenafly but plenty of Demarest are members.
Smaller high school vs larger multi town HS. Both highly ranked, equal education.
Tenafly seems slightly more economically diverse because there are more rental apartments and multi families.
I think you would be going to the new Closter Plaza more if you lived in Demarest and in to Englewood from Tenafly.
Not sure if housing prices are the same? Be aware that property taxes are very high 35-45K and will go up if you do any updating.
DM me if you want to know anything specific.
Any reason you started with those 2 towns? I would recommend checking out Paramus...very low taxes, lots of jews , many stores and malls, and close to all the highways. You can buy an amazing new house with the amount you want to spend (you wouldn't even need to spend that high) and it will only have like $15-18k in taxes, depending on the size of the house. Constant new developments happening in Paramus all the time, with the worth of the town only increasing EVEN MORE because of the change in the US tax deductions. Because of the amount of money Paramus is constantly gaining, there are no budgetary issues in the schools. The problem with Demarest is the amount of time it takes to drive from their local roads to the highway. Remember...the speed limits can be 25 mph. But that's another reason why Tenafly costs more. You should also check out Closter, they have a beautiful synagogue there https://templeemanu-el.com/ , the only towns in that region that have synagogues are Tenafly and Closter.
Tenafly is closer to the highways and NYC than Demarest. Consequently you get more (house/land) for your money in Demarest. That's the main difference. We were looking at both but ended up in Tenafly as the extra 10-15 minutes each way every day for ~20 years adds up to thousands of hours of extra commuting.
Also, Demarest is a bit more of a small town, 5k people vs 15k in Tenafly. Demarest has 1 school at each age group until it funnels into regional HS, while Tenafly has 4 elementary schools that funnel into 1 MS and 1 town HS. In your situation? I'd probably choose Demarest, assuming you find a house you like, since your husband's commute is weird hours, so the extra few minutes won't really eat into family time. For us, as I work more normal hours, the extra 10 minutes really makes a difference for how much time I spend with my family.
Also, don't even think about Paramus. One of the great things about the northern valley towns it that you can take the palisades parkway to the bridge and avoid all the route 4 traffic.
Consider a fixer upper in alpine for much much lower taxes. It's not as social but the elementary school is highly ranked, feeds in to tenafly high school and imo will retain value because of low taxes. Better to buy in the low end at in expensive community than the top of more moderate town(Paramus). Public transportation is almost zilch from alpine but you don't need it.
We moved to Glen Rock in September and I would recommend you take a look at Ridgewood and Glen Rock. We also wanted some jewish activities without being too religious + a short walk to town (good mix of restaurants) and multiple commuting options (bus and train). We have been happy with our decision.
Don't forget to check taxes as a price of 1.75 will probably be over 40k a year.
Also, Demarest is a bit more of a small town, 5k people vs 15k in Tenafly. Demarest has 1 school at each age group until it funnels into regional HS, while Tenafly has 4 elementary schools that funnel into 1 MS and 1 town HS. In your situation? I'd probably choose Demarest, assuming you find a house you like, since your husband's commute is weird hours, so the extra few minutes won't really eat into family time. For us, as I work more normal hours, the extra 10 minutes really makes a difference for how much time I spend with my family.
Also, don't even think about Paramus. One of the great things about the northern valley towns it that you can take the palisades parkway to the bridge and avoid all the route 4 traffic.
Oh please! there isn't much traffic at the later time, and the taxes are such a rip off in Tenafly etc with no end in sight. And to get to the palisades parkway, you have to take the upper level of the bridge which is always more congested and has trucks. The Palisades parkway is not immune from traffic. I suggest running a few tests on Google maps during the actual times of commuting and it will tell you how long it will take in real time
I feel like every new house in Paramus was designed by the same awful architect.
Anyway, to some people, living next to 3 highways and 5 malls is a plus. To me, it's not.
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