Paramus or Emerson? (crime, home, elementary schools)

[NEWJERSEY1]

Thinking about re-locating to one of these towns. Which town has the better environment and school system? I'm more concerned about the environment and prices rather than other stuff like a good downtown with a bit of diversity. Is Paramus noisy with all the Route car noises? I've been to both of these towns and Emerson seems more boring than Paramus although both towns have that nice suburban feeling.

[newmom2007]

I think the school systems are probably pretty equal. Paramus is a larger system than Emerson, so I would imagine that kids have more opportunities for sports, clubs, classes, etc. Paramus is a larger town than Emerson and has lower taxes because of all the business in town. That being said, you have three major highways that run through Paramus (none I believe in Emerson), and it takes forever to get around on Saturday. Saving grace is that the malls are closed on Sunday. I'd say December is pretty rough too with all the holiday shoppers. And depending on where you live, it can be noisy.

I like both towns, and each has some nicer parts of town. Oh, and one other thing I thought of. The NJ Transit train runs through Emerson. The only way to commute out of Paramus is by bus (which isn't bad, just not my favorite way to commute).

Good luck to you!

[cari2]

I would choose Paramus. The school system is much better than Emerson's and I actually like the location more. IMO the access to highways is a good thing, and once you've lived there for a little bit you know all the backroads and highway traffic isn't that much of an issue.

[dahlia]

It's hard to compare Paramus and Emerson because Paramus is among the bigger towns in Bergen County and Emerson is one of the smallest. This plays into schools because in Emerson, there are only three schools. The kids go to one for prek-2, another school for 3-6 and the jr/sr high for 7-12. As opposed to Paramus where there are a number of elementary schools and the kids are split up among those. In Emerson, everyone pretty much knows eachother. Not the case in Paramus.

As far as which school system is better, I think it's a toss up. I think kids will get a good education in either school system. However, Emerson has been ranking higher than Paramus over the last few years. I don't necessarily give a ton of weight to those rankings (I think it's the NJ Monthly Magazine rankings) but if you are looking for rankings, Emerson has been consistently higher than Paramus.

[Busch Boy]

Like many others have said, Paramus is a much bigger town (both in area and population) than Emerson. Paramus is also more diverse than Emerson. Both are great towns with good schools.

Paramus - Population: 25,737/Area: 10.5 square miles

Emerson - Population: 7,318/Area: 2.4 square miles

[NorthNJ]

Which town is better? Which has better high schools?

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by NorthNJ

Which town is better? Which has better high schools?

Both have excellent high schools, but Paramus High is a little better.

NJ Monthly ranks Paramus High School as 45/316. Emerson is ranked as 51/316.

According to City-Data, the median household income in Emerson is $81,600. In Paramus, it's $84,200. So both towns are in the same range socioeconomically.

Both are great places, they just have different atmospheres. Paramus is full of retail and suburban sprawl whereas Emerson is more of a small town. Paramus also has many major highways intersecting it. Paramus might also have more crime (particularly theft) but I think the enormous retail circuit within the town has something to do with this.

Personally, I would gladly live in either town.

[stevemorse]

this is easy, Paramus no doubt. Emerson is a little town, police are so corrupt, town is corrupt, and basically stinks. Paramus is much better of a town. By the way wonderful me grew up in Paramus, graduated Paramus High, and did quite well in life!!!!!

[pbergen]

personally i would go with paramus. i like the diversity in town, view the housing stock as being superior, and think it's a big plus having the highways pass through town. yes, traffic is bad, esp on saturdays and the holiday shopping season, but during off-hours (sundays in particular) it's a breeze to get to and from town via routes 17 and 4 and the parkway. in emerson, there are no highways so you always have to deal with kinderkamack rd or other local streets. kinderkamack gets especially crowded because the section that passes through emerson is a bottleneck that's narrower than in adjacent towns such as westwood or oradell. throw in the fact that the downtown stores are located on kinderkamack and that nj transit trains pass through on street level throughout the day (forcing traffic to come to a standstill) and you have a very slow drive through the town center. by comparison, paramus's local streets, while crowded in their own right, tend to be wider and more free-flowing due to the fact that the town is relatively newer.

if it matters to you, the housing stock in paramus is generally of the post WWII variety (1950s-1970s split levels and ranches as well as a good number of mcmansions built over the past 10 years). emerson has a lot of older housing stock mixed in with generic split levels. IMO paramus is a nicer-looking town with slightly bigger home lots and nicely manicured lawns, although as others have mentioned the income levels are roughly the same. paramus is sprawling and has no defined town center (unless you consider the malls to serve that purpose), whereas emerson is more compact and has a defined, walkable town center.

as for schools, i think they're about the same - the main difference being that the school system in paramus is much bigger.

re: noise, both towns are pretty typical for bergen county. they're neither super quiet nor super loud (unless you live right behind the strip malls on rt. 17). there's a lot of traffic on local streets but both towns also have plenty of quiet side streets and cul de sacs.

[Newarkbomb]

MAlls MAlls Malls.. i say paramus!

emerson has nothin!