Tell me why we SHOULDN'T move to Maplewood (Newark, Irvington: house, public schools)

[bluetobe]

o.k......we were pretty settled on Glen Ridge, but there is a house in Maplewood - Tuscan area, that we really like. Walking distance to train, school. It's also a convenient commute to Harrison path. Next week I will be visiting the schools in Glen Ridge & Maplewood and doing a final house search.

But, if we were to settle in Maplewood - anything we should know, warnings, praises, or otherwise? I understand that Maplewood borders some "rough" areas. Any comments on this dynamic? What about the schools - specifically Tuscan Elementary? I'm a FT Mom looking for a great PTA.

All feedback welcome. Thanks everyone!!

[Lusitan]

Maplewood is a nice town. The rough towns along some of the borders really don't affect Maplewood much more than any other town that doesn't border them - the Maplewood police do a very good job of protecting the town.

The biggest "warning" would be about property taxes, but those are high in North Jersey in general, and I think both Maplewood and Glen Ridge have high taxes so that's probably not going to be a deciding factor between the two.

I have heard that Tuscan Elementary is one of the best in town (although, I think all of them are pretty good in Maplewood), but I can't comment on the PTA.

Maplewood is a neat town. For a wealthy NJ suburb, it does try to wear some diversity on its sleeve (for whatever that's worth) and the political atmosphere is heavily Democratic. All in all, it's a friendly town.

I don't know Glen Ridge very well, but from what I know you can't go wrong in either town. Glen Ridge might be a little wealthier, but I suspect the difference is small.

Good luck!

[veuvegirl]

I don't know anything about Glen Ridge; but can tell you Maplewood is a wonderful community we absolutely love it. You can walk to everything in town and it really has an old town fell.

Tuscan is a great Elementary, and a beautiful area. The only bad thing about Maplewood is the high taxes, other than that it is an A + in my book. We boarder Irvington and Newark and honestly you don't see any of that come into the area.

[tahiti]

blue - you be lovin' those towns with stratospheric property taxes, eh?? why SHOULDN'T you move there? same reason as glen ridge - TAXES!!! LOL

[bluetobe]

Originally Posted by tahiti

blue - you be lovin' those towns with stratospheric property taxes, eh?? why SHOULDN'T you move there? same reason as glen ridge - TAXES!!! LOL

I know, I know.....but like I said before, there doesn't seem to be any way around the high COL if you want a reasonable commute and great schools.

At least they are deductible

[joe moving]

Is there a part of Maplewood that is NOT nice at all???? I don't know much about the town but have heard the phrase MapleHOOD" and didn't think that was a compliment?

[Obrero]

IMO Glen Ridge is a far better bet than Maplewood; especially if you are going to use the public schools.

[veuvegirl]

Maplehood is more of a joke than anything else. All parts of Maplewood are nice. Many people don't like the areas that boarder Irvington and Newark.

[Busch Boy]

I heard Columbia High wasn't doing too good these days, but I'm not sure about that.

[JamesBoyer]

I don't know to much about Glen Ridge, but Maplewood is a fairly good bet. There is a sense of community, the schools are good, law enforcement is good, public transport to NYC is great. Maplewood has the same issues as most all Essex County towns, The taxes are way to high.

You should also be considering Summit in Union County, and Chatham in Morris County, have all the advantages of Maplewood, just 2 stops further out on the train, but the taxes are considerably lower.