Pennington stony brook elementary school, NJ (Princeton, Princeton Junction: attorney, work, townhome)

[yeounjin]

Hi,

I just moved in NJ (Princeton area) from MD, living in a teporary housing. I'm looking for a house. Although Montgomery and West Windsor offer great school systems and diversity (I'm an asian), my heart set on Pennington.
I think it's a nice place for my son (10 yrs old) to grow up with lots of friends. Actually I'm thinking about the new developed area, surronding of the pennington borough near I95; it belongs to Hopewell valley township. This area has a brand new elementary school called Stony Brook ES. Is there any one knows this area?
It's hard to decide since I'm a totally new in NJ.
I'll appreciate any kinds of information of ups and downs for this area.

[Viralmd]

Pennington is LOVELY. VERY pricey, however.

[jerseyj]

Pennington is a wonderful town and the Hopewell School District is good. You might want to check out GreatSchools.net and you can compare Montgomery, West Windsor and the Penningtons schools on different levels.
Good luck with your decision!

[vannevka]

another site to check out is schooldigger.com.

[yeounjin]

Thank you for the comments.
I just signed on the contract for the pennington home!
It's really lovely area, and the school is so nice. I can feel I will be happy here.

[yeounjin]

My contract in pennington did not go through, too bad. I turned it down when my attorney brought up "oil pipe easement" issue. I'm so sad that I loved that house so much and I have to keep looking.
I found a town house in Princeton Junction. This townhome community is called windsor wood. Is there anyone who knows this sub-division? I was interested in but many of them in this division are close to the railroad, but this specific one is not.

Appreciate it in advance.

[jerseyj]

yeounjin- sorry your Pennington deal fell through, that had to be very disappointing.
I'm wondering if you meant Windsor Ponds subdivision (instead of Windsor Woods)??? Windsor Ponds is off of Village Rd across from Mercer County Park, the development does back up to the tracks.
If this is the one you mean, of course, the further away from the tracks you are, the more muffled the train noise.

[yeounjin]

Thanks Jerseyj
Yes, That is Windsor Ponds. Right next to the mercer oaks golf course.
I went there several times around noon, pretty quiet. But I will check out how it goes at night. Both of windsor ponds and Pennington (actually hopewell twp) are within 5 miles from my work, but quite different. I found another SF house in Pennington near the same stoney brook ES (near I95), but the condition was too bad to make an offer.

[jerseyj]

yeounjin, The tracks run, pretty much, through West Windsor, we all hear the trains. I guess it depends on what you can tolerate. We are a mile from the tracks and the train noise quickly became a comfort. It is strange to us when the trains aren't running.
On the other hand, we have friends whose rear yard, literally, backs to the tracks, when we are there the noise, to us, is quite loud, yet, they pay it no mind.
At noon the area (Windsor Ponds) is very quiet, you might want to check out the early morning/evening noise and decide if it is doable.

I golf at the Mercer Oaks Courses, love that park!
Good luck with your search!

[yeounjin]

Jerseyj,
I just returned from the windsor ponds to check out the noise at 10:30pm (It was quiet...well, I stayed ~20 min b/c my son got bored), and I can't help but laugh when I figured out that my current place (a temporary housing at Avalon Run East) is even closer to the track (the same track). I did not know I was close to it.
Tomorrow, I will check one new listing at the Brandon Farm (Pennington), and will decide which one to offer. I checked that golf course too....lovely! It was nearly walking distance from the windsor ponds. I checked the school and library too. Not very close but not a problem.
My agent is little biased to pennington probably because she is living in Pennington town. She believes single family home at Brandon Farm would be much better for my son than town house at West Windsor (they are same price range). But I saw a lot of school age kids at the Windsor ponds today, my son seems to be happy. Well, I believe I can't go wrong in either places......
Thanks for the input! Very helpful.