Towns of saddle brook or lyndhurst (cliquey, neighborhoods, middle school)

[pbergen]

lyndhurst and saddle brook are fairly similar. saddle brook is a slightly longer commute to nyc and is also a little bit wealthier than lyndhurst. demographics are similar in both towns - mostly blue collar, working-to-middle class whites with a very large italian-american presence and a moderate (about 10%) but slowly increasing latino population. the af-am presence is tiny in both towns and the asian population is modest but slowly growing.

one thing that's markedly different about saddle brook is that the whole town is flat, unlike lyndhurst, which is hilly in some parts. saddle brook has flooding problems in some areas (esp. near the saddle river) so that's something to look out for. in lyndhurst flooding isn't really a problem unless you live at the bottom of the hill near riverside ave or schuyler ave, although even there it's not as pronounced as in saddle brook.

schools in both towns are just ok - not good by bergen county standards, but not awful. i'd probably give the edge to saddle brook, esp. for elementary schools, but others can speak more authoritatively on this.

both towns have excellent highway and mass transit links and are close to everything. lyndhurst has 2 nj transit train stations along the main line as well as bus lines, not to mention it's right off of rt. 3, nj turnpike, rt. 17, and rt. 21, so the commute into nyc and elsewhere is very convenient. saddle brook has the plauderville station along nj transit's bergen county line, not to mention bus lines and great access to rt. 80, rt. 46, garden state parkway, etc. both towns have parking at their train stations, too, which is nice.

overall, i think both towns are just ok - you could do a lot better if you're willing to spend a little more (e.g. rutherford, wood-ridge, hasbrouck heights) or look in less expensive counties than bergen (clifton, little falls, nutley, bloomfield, etc). if you're set on lyndhurst or saddle brook i'd give the slight edge to lyndhurst simply b/c it's closer to nyc, but then again i don't have kids so the schools don't matter to me. if schools are more important right now, go with saddle brook, but keep in mind that there are much better school districts in bergen county, esp. for high school.

[Ciao9999]

Saddle Brook is suburban sprawl. No community or downtown. Lyndhurst is much more of a town. It has the trains to NY, feels more like a community.

[GJM]

I will say when living in Saddle Brook, it did feel like a community, it felt more like a community then any other town I lived in, maybe because it was a smaller town.

They have parades in town, a fair at the church, Santa on the fire truck, sports for kids -

In regards to the downtown, there isn't one, but I personally don't see the big deal about that, it is just something that isn't important to me. You are close to plenty of shopping. In Saddle Brook, you still have restaurants if you want to pick up something, ice cream, Italian Food, Dunkin Donuts, Chiness Food, Bagels and so on.

[Ciao9999]

Originally Posted by GJM

I will say when living in Saddle Brook, it did feel like a community, it felt more like a community then any other town I lived in, maybe because it was a smaller town.

They have parades in town, a fair at the church, Santa on the fire truck, sports for kids -

In regards to the downtown, there isn't one, but I personally don't see the big deal about that, it is just something that isn't important to me. You are close to plenty of shopping. In Saddle Brook, you still have restaurants if you want to pick up something, ice cream, Italian Food, Dunkin Donuts, Chiness Food, Bagels and so on.

For me, the sprawl is an issue. I grew up in a town with a traditional setup. As a kid we could bike everywhere, downtown, school, the parks, without dodging highways with 6 lanes of traffic. As teens we could take the train to NY. We were able to learn a bit more about the world, instead of living trapped in a subdivision, chauffered by our mommy everywhere. And not for nothing, don't you think the moms would enjoy a break from driving their kids everywhere?

That's my thing with Saddle Brook, it's very automobile dependant. And with gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, it's time to re-think driving everywhere.

[johnfrisco]

Saddle Brook sucks compared with Lyndhurst.

[GJM]

Well, there are NO subdivisiions in Saddle Brook! If you live in the area off of Saddle River Road you can bike to the huge park without going over the highway, you can bike to school without going over the highway, you can bike to the main street that has some shopping on it.

My husband and son would bike all the time to the park and ride their bikes, we would walk to the chruch that has a carnival every year. We could walk even to the library.

And even if you wanted to drive to the mall - it will take you 5 minutes, you don't even have to get on the highway to get there.

Not sure if you have been there - but there are NO subdivsions in Saddle Brook. Plus all the food places I mention, you can ride a bike to depending on where you lived. There is one small section of Saddle Brook that is on the other side of Rt. 46 -

[kungfulou]

DO NOT MOVE OR LIVE IN SADDLE CROCK

I am a product of the school system, the streets and the people.
Talk to the police force, they'll tell you "everything south of Market St. is going to crap"
Elementary schools are good but the high school is a joke and a disaster.
The high school has fraternities and sororities (just like college) that institute hazing, hell night, non stop picking, bullying and harassment of anyone not involved in their cliques.
Taxes are outrageous there, don’t let anyone fool you. I watch what my parents and their neighbors are going through. Condos everywhere, whatever open land they had is gone and the township and developers have plans to knock over ALL the old factories on 5th street and will replace them with condos. There is going to be a MASSIVE influx of people causing even more traffic than there is now and that says A LOT.

[GJM]

Taxes are far from outrageous, I think $5200 per year is pretty decent for a house in Bergen Cty. My son was only in elementary school, but our neighbors had kids in the HS and they never had any problems.

Would you rather have an empty factory sitting on property or condos. And where isn't there alot of traffice in NJ!

[lammius]

Originally Posted by kungfulou

The high school has fraternities and sororities (just like college) that institute hazing, hell night, non stop picking, bullying and harassment of anyone not involved in their cliques.

Yep, sounds like high school.

Originally Posted by kungfulou

Taxes are outrageous there, don’t let anyone fool you. I watch what my parents and their neighbors are going through.

Outrageous, yes, but still lower than Essex County towns.

[mandmrossi]

I grew up in Lyndhurst and have been a resident there for 36 years.
The town has shifted to becoming a commuter town, however, investments are always being made. The prices of homes and rents are reasonable and the public and private schools are pretty good.

The town access to all major highways. Rt 17, Rt 3 and Rt 21. Bus routes into the city are numerous and there are many places to shop and eat.

All around, not a bad place to be if you want to be around all things that are quite convienient.

Regards,
Mike