Anyone make the move from NJ to Pa? (Newark, Bayonne: relocation, property taxes)

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by lookingout

I would like to get more info on areas before getting too serious. I am looking for great schools and decent property size to preferrably build a house on within a community/development. Looking for a friendly area. Milford looks like a great area-would be nice to be near the gap. Wondering if there is lots to do there. We are definitely spoiled here with the great parks system and beaches so close.

OP - Check out these areas in Warren County - NJ. Blairstown, Hope, Hackettstown, Allamuchy, Frelinghuysen, Knowlton, Hardwick, Independence, and White Twp. - they have the lowest tax rate... I think you may be surpised at the prices of the homes and taxes. GSMLS

[njisle]

Hi. I moved to PA in 1991 looking for the same things you are - more land and house for the money and a good school for the kids. At first glance things look much cheaper in PA but you will pay in many other ways. The people are not very friendly or tolerant. They want the NJ and NY tourists for the money they spend. They do not want you. Unless you can find a development that is full of NJ and NY transplants you should plan on living in isolation with your spouse and kids. Sad, but that's the way it is here. My husband and I both worked at local jobs. We didn't commute to Philly or NJ. We didn't think of our town as a bedroom community. I volunteered at a local historical society's summer fairs. My kids did good in school. Even with all that we were judged and snubbed. Let me tell you about one thing that happened to us and then you decide.
One evening we went to my son's Spanish honor society awards night at the local high school. There was a "social" in the school's cafeteria afterwards. My husband, son, and myself found our snacks and took a seat at an empty table. We smiled and said hi as the other parents, many of whom we knew for years, walked by our table and sat elsewhere. Other tables were obviously overcrowded but to them it was preferable to sitting with the "outsiders". My son's a bright kid and this didn't go unnoticed. He started kindergarten with a lot of the kids in that room, and like I said, we knew the parents for years. My husband volunteered to be a coach for them when they were in elementary school. If a seventeen year old boy is made to feel like an outsider in his own school that says a lot. You decide.
If you still want to move to PA then do tons of research and try to buy or rent in an area that is mostly transplants. Then you'd have a better chance of being accepted and your kids won't grow up being made to feel different.

[syncmaster]

Originally Posted by njisle

... try to buy or rent in an area that is mostly transplants.

This is actually true for most places you may wanna move to. It's true if you're moving to Hotlanta. It's true if you're moving to Charlotte.

And it's true if you're an immigrant from India, moving to the US. That's why they all end up in Edison!

[lookingout]

Originally Posted by njisle

Hi. I moved to PA in 1991 looking for the same things you are - more land and house for the money and a good school for the kids. At first glance things look much cheaper in PA but you will pay in many other ways. The people are not very friendly or tolerant. They want the NJ and NY tourists for the money they spend. They do not want you. Unless you can find a development that is full of NJ and NY transplants you should plan on living in isolation with your spouse and kids. Sad, but that's the way it is here. My husband and I both worked at local jobs. We didn't commute to Philly or NJ. We didn't think of our town as a bedroom community. I volunteered at a local historical society's summer fairs. My kids did good in school. Even with all that we were judged and snubbed. Let me tell you about one thing that happened to us and then you decide.
One evening we went to my son's Spanish honor society awards night at the local high school. There was a "social" in the school's cafeteria afterwards. My husband, son, and myself found our snacks and took a seat at an empty table. We smiled and said hi as the other parents, many of whom we knew for years, walked by our table and sat elsewhere. Other tables were obviously overcrowded but to them it was preferable to sitting with the "outsiders". My son's a bright kid and this didn't go unnoticed. He started kindergarten with a lot of the kids in that room, and like I said, we knew the parents for years. My husband volunteered to be a coach for them when they were in elementary school. If a seventeen year old boy is made to feel like an outsider in his own school that says a lot. You decide.
If you still want to move to PA then do tons of research and try to buy or rent in an area that is mostly transplants. Then you'd have a better chance of being accepted and your kids won't grow up being made to feel different.

Wow! Sorry to hear that. I guess the world is full of nasty people everywhere you look. It's really a shame. We thought we could get away from it, but it seems it's pretty commonplace in many communities. What part of Pa are you in?

[marye711]

That is really sad NJISLE where in PA were you? I didnt find that at all, in fact we made friends with our neighbors and some we still keep in t ouch with. My son who is a freshman also keeps in touch withh them via text or ims. If your son went to school with them since kindergarten and was being snubbed I think there is more to it than just being a transplant. Are you still there anyway?

[lookingout]

Originally Posted by marye711

That is really sad NJISLE where in PA were you? I didnt find that at all, in fact we made friends with our neighbors and some we still keep in t ouch with. My son who is a freshman also keeps in touch withh them via text or ims. If your son went to school with them since kindergarten and was being snubbed I think there is more to it than just being a transplant. Are you still there anyway?

Marye, there probably isn't more to the story-unfortunately. We had similar experiences ourselves from New Jerseyans who mostly were transplants themselves!

[marye711]

Originally Posted by lookingout

Marye, there probably isn't more to the story-unfortunately. We had similar experiences ourselves from New Jerseyans who mostly were transplants themselves!

That is really sad then, if you were in the Pocono region (which I wasnt) half those people are transplants that is why I am surprised. Are you still there?

[njisle]

We live north of Lancaster and east of Hershey. And regarding my son and his experience with the school district: there really isn't any more to it. He was different. Dark hair, not blond. Brown eyes, not blue. Some people couldn't even get past that. He knew some good times and some bad, but it made him a pretty strong person. He's a junior in college and wants to be a teacher so he can have a positive influence on young people and teach them to believe in themselves and be tolerant and respectful of others.
There's an old saying that was quoted to my husband when we first moved down here. It's "If you aint dutch you aint much". We thought the person was joking. Time has proven he wasn't.

[lookingout]

Originally Posted by marye711

That is really sad then, if you were in the Pocono region (which I wasnt) half those people are transplants that is why I am surprised. Are you still there?

I am in New Jersey-I was talking of unfortunate experiences we encountered here in NJ mostly from people that moved here from other areas before we did.

[marye711]

Originally Posted by lookingout

I am in New Jersey-I was talking of unfortunate experiences we encountered here in NJ mostly from people that moved here from other areas before we did.

Where are you now??????