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Hi, we are looking to move out to Ridgewood ( I know - it is a great town, with great schools), but we are looking for a larger lot size. Could you please share the pros and cons of both towns? We are a young family and our kids would be attending the public schools - any idea if they have gifted and talented programs? Anybody who moved from Ridgewood to either of these towns - perhaps they could share their experience. We won’t be getting the close knit community in either of the towns and we both wfh - so commute is not an issue, but any pros and cons - anything that might help us make the decision is appreciated!! Thanks all
If you both WFH...do you need proximity to the city? If not, I would look farther west/south to get more bang for your buck. And potentially a close knit community.
I grew up in the area and witnessed the changes in NW Bergen County over the past fifty years. I like Upper Saddle River better, and I'll tell you why.
USR grew into its "upscale country" vibe over time as a matter of course in a more natural manner. Both towns still had small farms in the '60s and '70s with a few remaining even into the 80s, but Upper Saddle River over time became more residential while still retaining the flavor of what it once had been, a small country town, without trying to be something it wasn't. USR wasn't contrived to be that way, but Franklin Lakes was.
Franklin Lakes had some some initial years of 1960s bi-level developments geared toward middle-class Leave-it-to-Beaver families, but then in the late 70s and early 1980s, along came developers who strove to design Franklin Lakes into what USR had become on its own.
I remember the gaga-ing over the "Urban Farms" development (Farrah Fawcett Majors lived there for a time back at the height of her fame) and how expensive the houses were at the time, which was shocking for the sleepy little town of Franklin Lakes. See this article from 1984:
The tale is in the trees. You can't fake old-growth trees, and while you drive through USR on winding roads that were probably originally Indian trails and deer paths, you will get the sensation that you are still in a rural, wooded area, even if the houses around you have three-car garages and snow-melt systems under their driveways.
Whereas by the 80s when the new developments in Franklin Lakes were erected, developers mowed down all the trees in the woods and built houses on bare lots, adding a few spindly newer trees as a finishing touch, trees that the owners would never live to see reach the heights of the natural trees in USR.
This is the difference I see in the two towns, and my preference would be for the grace of the older community and its less-contrived wannabe environment, but that's just me.
I grew up in the area and witnessed the changes in NW Bergen County over the past fifty years. I like Upper Saddle River better, and I'll tell you why.
USR grew into its "upscale country" vibe over time as a matter of course in a more natural manner. Both towns still had small farms in the '60s and '70s with a few remaining even into the 80s, but Upper Saddle River over time became more residential while still retaining the flavor of what it once had been, a small country town, without trying to be something it wasn't. USR wasn't contrived to be that way, but Franklin Lakes was.
Franklin Lakes had some some initial years of 1960s bi-level developments geared toward middle-class Leave-it-to-Beaver families, but then in the late 70s and early 1980s, along came developers who strove to design Franklin Lakes into what USR had become on its own.
I remember the gaga-ing over the "Urban Farms" development (Farrah Fawcett Majors lived there for a time back at the height of her fame) and how expensive the houses were at the time, which was shocking for the sleepy little town of Franklin Lakes. See this article from 1984:
The tale is in the trees. You can't fake old-growth trees, and while you drive through USR on winding roads that were probably originally Indian trails and deer paths, you will get the sensation that you are still in a rural, wooded area, even if the houses around you have three-car garages and snow-melt systems under their driveways.
Whereas by the 80s when the new developments in Franklin Lakes were erected, developers mowed down all the trees in the woods and built houses on bare lots, adding a few spindly newer trees as a finishing touch, trees that the owners would never live to see reach the heights of the natural trees in USR.
This is the difference I see in the two towns, and my preference would be for the grace of the older community and its less-contrived wannabe environment, but that's just me.
I rarely comment on these types of things but I spend a great deal of time up and around there for sports and know enough about all the towns. If you've narrowed it down to these two - and you've excluded Allendale and the rest - USR wins for the same reasons MQ mentions. Schools included, very clique-y at FL. I would never choose to live in Franklin Lakes of ALL the towns up there. Geographically-speaking, and access to shopping USR wins as well. More scenic too. Tough combo to come by.
I grew up in the area and witnessed the changes in NW Bergen County over the past fifty years. I like Upper Saddle River better, and I'll tell you why.
USR grew into its "upscale country" vibe over time as a matter of course in a more natural manner. Both towns still had small farms in the '60s and '70s with a few remaining even into the 80s, but Upper Saddle River over time became more residential while still retaining the flavor of what it once had been, a small country town, without trying to be something it wasn't. USR wasn't contrived to be that way, but Franklin Lakes was.
Franklin Lakes had some some initial years of 1960s bi-level developments geared toward middle-class Leave-it-to-Beaver families, but then in the late 70s and early 1980s, along came developers who strove to design Franklin Lakes into what USR had become on its own.
I remember the gaga-ing over the "Urban Farms" development (Farrah Fawcett Majors lived there for a time back at the height of her fame) and how expensive the houses were at the time, which was shocking for the sleepy little town of Franklin Lakes. See this article from 1984:
The tale is in the trees. You can't fake old-growth trees, and while you drive through USR on winding roads that were probably originally Indian trails and deer paths, you will get the sensation that you are still in a rural, wooded area, even if the houses around you have three-car garages and snow-melt systems under their driveways.
Whereas by the 80s when the new developments in Franklin Lakes were erected, developers mowed down all the trees in the woods and built houses on bare lots, adding a few spindly newer trees as a finishing touch, trees that the owners would never live to see reach the heights of the natural trees in USR.
This is the difference I see in the two towns, and my preference would be for the grace of the older community and its less-contrived wannabe environment, but that's just me.
I don't mean any offense because this is a well-thought out post, but it's funny to me because Upper Saddle River developed as a wannabe Saddle River. Saddle River is still much more exclusive than Upper Saddle River and nicer because of its two-acre minimum lot size. If OP could afford it, I would recommend SR over USR for a larger lot.
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