Info regarding possibly moving to Point Pleasant Boro (Union, Long Branch: 2014, renters)
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I presently live in Union county and I'm wanting to move with my family (wife and 2 kids - 11yrs & 8yrs) closer to the shore as I grew up there (West Long Branch) and I miss the easier access to the beach, surfing, etc. I also prefer the slightly more laidback nature of the shore compared to Union county and North Jersey if I'm being honest. Commuting to NYC and the usual North Jersey towns is not a concern, for what it's worth, however I do have friends and family in the northern parts of the Shore, as well as up where I live now, so I don't want to go much further south than Point Pleasant which is part of how I started looking there in the first place.
Anyway, as I mentioned, this all brought me to looking at PP Boro... I grew up taking weekend trips down to PP Beach, I even worked on the boardwalk one summer when I was a teenager, so I'm generally familiar with that section, but I never really ventured over to Boro because I had no need to and as such I don't really know much about it. I've read plenty of good things about PP Boro on the usual sites (Patch, Niche, best places to live, etc), but I've also read some troubling things, especially from searching on this forum... I've come across several posts that talk about Boro being brought down by bad influences coming from Brick, drug problems amongst the teenage set (more than usual, I mean, and with harder drugs), the town going downhill, etc. The problem is these negative comments were all a couple years old at best, some dating back to 2011-2014, so I don't know how valid they are today.
So, can anyone share some present day insight into PP Boro? Is it a good place to move with a family? The school ratings seem decent, pretty close to where we live now, but is the reality of the schools in line with ratings? Or am I just barking up the wrong tree and I should stop thinking about it? Since I'm sure I'll be asked, my budget, by choice, is $550k max though I'm trying to see what I can find between $400-$450k as I'd like to save money on housing, and my requirements for a house are quite modest (3bed/1.5bath, 1300sft or so) and I don't mind having to do updates, some repairs, etc. I just don't want any tear-downs or homes with major issues, like foundation problems.
Finally, to put it out there early... I really don't think PP Beach is an option as I do not want to live in a town that has such a huge floodplain with such high flood ratings (Boro, as per FEMA, has far more minimal risk zones while Beach is almost entirely AE, V, and VE... ouch). Additionally, I can't stand the notion of potentially living on a street where 9 of 10 houses are summer rentals because the renters can be loud and disrespectful, generally not giving a damn that people actually live there year round. I'm sure Boro has plenty of rentals as well, but it seems like most neighborhoods are more populated by full time residents, though I could be wrong.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, I greatly appreciate any info anyone can provide!
Have you looked a few miles further North in Manasquan? Maybe even Wall NJ?
Hi there. Yeah, I did check our Manasquan however my self imposed max budget of $550k doesn't go too far up there based on my searching and the notion of possibly cutting housing costs is pretty much out of the question. I haven't checked out Wall itself too much, but I'll give it a look.
I lived in the Bay Head Shores area of PP Boro for about 15 years. 5 minutes to the beach, many lagoon houses and a great school Nellie Bennett. Bay Head Shores has a awesome beach club on the bay with many activities. Good high school and middle school, close to Bay Head train station. Nice small town feeling, police involved with community. Any other questions feel free to ask.
I lived in the Bay Head Shores area of PP Boro for about 15 years. 5 minutes to the beach, many lagoon houses and a great school Nellie Bennett. Bay Head Shores has a awesome beach club on the bay with many activities. Good high school and middle school, close to Bay Head train station. Nice small town feeling, police involved with community. Any other questions feel free to ask.
That's good to hear. How long ago did you live there (you said "lived" so I'm assuming you moved)? If you're still there, or were there up until recently, did you notice any decline in the town that gives/gave you concern? As I mentioned in my original post I read some things about bad influences spilling over into PP Boro and that it wasn't trending in a good direction, but those posts weren't necessarily recent and seem to run counter to the various "best places to live" lists I've seen, so if you have more recent experience I'd love to hear what you think.
I was there yesterday at the beach club. I think it's holding its own or actually improving. It's certainly not run down or heading in that direction from what I see or hear. I'm friends with the mayor and many police officers.
I was there yesterday at the beach club. I think it's holding its own or actually improving. It's certainly not run down or heading in that direction from what I see or hear. I'm friends with the mayor and many police officers.
Awesome, thank you for the information, I appreciate it.
I went to some open houses a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity. Everything seems quite nice and of course the realtors were all about how "perfect and wonderful" PP Boro is, but that's their job and all. What really struck me was just how much further my money would go... A couple of the houses I looked at were, by my standards, quite nice for $450-$530k and where I live now an equal house would easily be nearing $700k and have 3x the taxes.
Anyway, it was a good trip and was nice to see what I could get. That said, I wanted to give this one more chance on the front page to see if anyone else might stumble across it and give some feedback on the town/area.
Point Pleasant Boro schools aren't that great. Point Pleasant beach schools are a lot better. Bay Head students are also actually districted to Point Pleasant Beach. I find Boro people to be lower class and housing takes longer to sell in that town. For a shore house I would say that is fine but I wouldn't live there full time. Personally, I wouldn't buy there. Look in Manasquan, Wall, Brielle, or even a bit more north up in Monmouth County which you will still be within close proximity to the beach yet easier access to the parkway that makes it better for commuting to north Jersey. Keep looking in other areas that are overall more desirable filled with better quality people, more to do, and way better schools. The Point Pleasant Boro area has a lot of mixed rift raff and not many jobs opportunies down there and it took forever for my cousin to sell her beauitful new construction house there. In addition there is always a lot of summer traffic in Point. If you have children put them in a better school district where they will meet like minded people. Also, you will get much more land and property elsewhere such as a larger yard and more spread out space compared to Point Pleasant Boro where you will be right ontop of your neighbors which is pretty similar to living in union county. Overall, it's your decision however that is just my input and since you have a $550k budget you aren't limited to moving to the Boro there are so many other options.
Last edited by possibleyou; 09-26-2019 at 08:08 AM..
Point Pleasant Boro schools aren't that great. Point Pleasant beach schools are a lot better. Bay Head students are also actually districted to Point Pleasant Beach. I find Boro people to be lower class and housing takes longer to sell in that town. For a shore house I would say that is fine but I wouldn't live there full time. Personally, I wouldn't buy there. Look in Manasquan, Wall, Brielle, or even a bit more north up in Monmouth County which you will still be within close proximity to the beach yet easier access to the parkway that makes it better for commuting to north Jersey. Keep looking in other areas that are overall more desirable filled with better quality people, more to do, and way better schools. The Point Pleasant Boro area has a lot of mixed rift raff and not many jobs opportunies down there and it took forever for my cousin to sell her beauitful new construction house there. In addition there is always a lot of summer traffic in Point. If you have children put them in a better school district where they will meet like minded people. Also, you will get much more land and property elsewhere such as a larger yard and more spread out space compared to Point Pleasant Boro where you will be right ontop of your neighbors which is pretty similar to living in union county. Overall, it's your decision however that is just my input and since you have a $550k budget you aren't limited to moving to the Boro there are so many other options.
I appreciate the input, however I'd like to ask if you can expand on the school comment. The Ocean Road school seems to be the lowest rated, but the rest seem to be on par with Manasquan, PP Beach, Wall, etc as per Great Schools, Niche, etc. Those are just numbers on paper, so to speak, so I'd be curious to hear why you feel PP Boro schools aren't all that great.
I'm not trying to argue, I'm just curious to hear what it is that makes you say the schools aren't very good. As I mentioned above, these review and aggregation sites are numbers on paper so I'm always keen to hear real world examples/information on why a school district isn't great.
Also, what about the people makes them lower class, in your opinion?
I'm not locked in on PP Boro as the only destination, but a lot of these other towns are significantly more expensive in the real world (house + higher taxes, not to mention flood insurance in some that have a larger flood footprint). The top of my preferred budget is around the starting point in some, and the houses that show up in that range are limited in quantity which means they probably go the route of down payment competitions and bidding wars, both of which I've done in the past and don't want to do again.
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