Best towns in Atlantic County for young family (Atlantic City, Hammonton: houses, to buy)

[SellyC]

Hi all,

My husband just got a job in Atlantic County. He will be splitting his time between Atlantic City and Galloway. We are coming from North Bergen, NJ (which we despise- very congested, commuter town, no real sense of community. I digress)

We are looking to buy our first home. Unsure of exactly what our budget will be

A little bit about us:
We have a 9 month old daughter and would like to continue to grow our family. My mother will most likely be moving with us as well. We are Catholic and would love to find a close knit community of like minded people. We also love the beach.

Things that are important to us: family oriented, downtown area, outdoor activities

Thank you!

[Leps12]

I’m taking a guess the hubby is working for Stockton University. The best schools in the Atlantic County area would be for you to live in are Linwood and Port Republic, which are not great but are at least good. However, they feed into lesser quality high schools. You may want to consider Catholic school then if you can afford it, which opens up options to live elsewhere.

FYI North Bergen will probably have more sense of community than anywhere in Atlantic County. Hammonton maybe has a little of it, but that’s it. Ventnor and Margate to a degree, but the dominant culture there is more Jewish, and also it’s mostly seasonal summer residents who live elsewhere for the majority of the year.

[Karakara]

I grew up on Atlantic Country island, and still own a home in the area. The towns of Margate and Longport would work well for you. Excellent elementary and middle school, class sizes very small. Longport sends its kids to Margate. By the time your kids would be in high school you will be able to choose going to Ocean city HS, instead of Atlantic City. Taxes are much cheaper in these two towns than where the other poster suggested. Margate has many cute houses 2-5 blocks back from the beach with are affordable. The JCC there is used by all types of people, day camps, pools, tennis, etc. There is still a Catholic church as well as one in Ventnor. Lots of restaurants that are open all year. You would be part of a real community as the parents are active. The library is beautiful and has a great childrens room, as well as nice activities for kids. My grand daughters attend when they visit from New York City and love it. The playgrounds are not wonderful, but you have the beach. And, the Ocean city rides for small children, and Storybook land. You can get discount tickets in the winter before the season.
Hope this helps.

[ocnjgirl]

You don't necessarily have to live at the shore. You can get much more home for your money on the mainland. I live in Monroe Twp and it's only a 25 minute drive to Galloway. I would suggest Hammonton to give a look too. It still retains it's designation as "The most Italian town in NJ" so will have a decent Catholic population. It has an old but cute downtown, and many beautiful farmhouses with land as well as newer construction and new construction.



Galloway itself is more affordable than Linwood and some other towns will be, but there's no downtown area and I don't know that it's a large Catholic population. Margate is more Jewish, and be aware your kids would have to go to Atlantic City High School from Margate. Margate and Longport especially are hugely expensive with high property taxes. Longport is pretty deserted in the off season.



You might also look in the Mays Landing area.



Beach towns to me depend what your budget is. A single family home in any of the beach towns in going to be half a million or more, and that won't be near the beach. Most of the towns a single family will be much more than that.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Best to ask in the south Jersey subforum.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Best to ask in the south Jersey subforum.

Leps and ocnj are the ones who would answer.