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If traffic is the main down side of Fort Lee, then wouldn’t Tenafly and the nearby cities be worse? Since they are even further out and commute to NYC would be longer.
No, it's that so much traffic is in Fort Lee because it's where the busiest bridge in the world is located. The traffic that is spread out in those-further out towns that is HEADED for the bridge is coming together and converging in Fort Lee. A whole bunch of roads and highways coming together at the approaches to one bridge. In Fort Lee. Roads are cut off at rush hours to try to help the residents, but it's nearly impossible to get from one side of town to the other easily at those times.
20 - 25 miles west in Ridgewood, you go to the train station, get your coffee and bagel at the concession inside, get on the train, and read, nap, listen to music or whatever while someone else conveys you in comfort to the city.
A bit further afield
Saddle River
E. Saddle River
Ho-Ho-Kus
More further afield
Ramsey Mahwah
Good luck!
Not that familiar with the first four, but none of the bolded towns have a walkable downtown with a good selection of restaurants at all. Ramsey does have Main Street, and there are a few good restaurants there.
A bit further afield
Saddle River
E. Saddle River
Ho-Ho-Kus
More further afield
Ramsey
Mahwah
Good luck!
Heard good things about Montclair but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have good schools. At least not anywhere as good as you’ll find in Millburn/Short Hills, Ridgewood, or Tenafly areas.
No, it's that so much traffic is in Fort Lee because it's where the busiest bridge in the world is located. The traffic that is spread out in those-further out towns that is HEADED for the bridge is coming together and converging in Fort Lee. A whole bunch of roads and highways coming together at the approaches to one bridge. In Fort Lee. Roads are cut off at rush hours to try to help the residents, but it's nearly impossible to get from one side of town to the other easily at those times.
20 - 25 miles west in Ridgewood, you go to the train station, get your coffee and bagel at the concession inside, get on the train, and read, nap, listen to music or whatever while someone else conveys you in comfort to the city.
How is the commute from Ridgewood? It’s too bad they don’t have direct trains. Also what if you don’t live walking distance from the train station - is there free parking at the station?
How is the commute from Ridgewood? It’s too bad they don’t have direct trains. Also what if you don’t live walking distance from the train station - is there free parking at the station?
Direct trains to where?
Its very easy.
NJT to Secaucus to Penn or Hoboken to Path depending where you need to go in the city. Parking at rw train station is free w/ resident sticker.
"I have a budget of $7,000/month, where can I afford that is safe and has good schools"
"I have a budget of $2 million, is there anywhere with good schools and access to NYC that I can afford?"
Like, are you just here to brag about your wealth? If you're resourceful enough to afford a $2 million house, you're resourceful enough to spend 5 minutes on Google Maps and Zillow and figure out that dozens of towns in North Jersey, including all the best in terms of downtowns and schools, are at your fingertips.
To answer your question, I'd probably stick with northeast Bergen County (Tenafly, Englewood/Englewood Cliffs, Demarest, etc). Best access to NYC, nice topography (fairly hilly) with some wooded areas, good downtowns, and I assume good schools. I lived in Tenafly for 7-8 months for work. North of GW bridge and east near the river are generally your nicest towns, with Alpine (the nation's wealthiest zip code about ten years ago) the ritziest; hell, you could probably afford there too, last I checked median price was around $2 million.
Of course there are many other nice places near NYC you can afford; Ridgewood, Montclair, Short Hills, etc. Ramsey/Ho-Ho-Kus/Saddle River very nice but farther from city and not as good in the way of downtowns.
That’s not my intention at all. The reason I included the budget is because when people ask generic questions around which neighborhood people recommend, the answer is always depends on your budget. I did spend a lot of time doing online searches and even visiting some houses. It’s hard to know how you like a neighborhood until you lived there. That’s why I wanted to get perspectives from people who lived in NJ before and know these neighborhoods first hand.
"I have a budget of $7,000/month, where can I afford that is safe and has good schools"
"I have a budget of $2 million, is there anywhere with good schools and access to NYC that I can afford?"
Like, are you just here to brag about your wealth? If you're resourceful enough to afford a $2 million house, you're resourceful enough to spend 5 minutes on Google Maps and Zillow and figure out that dozens of towns in North Jersey, including all the best in terms of downtowns and schools, are at your fingertips.
To answer your question, I'd probably stick with northeast Bergen County (Tenafly, Englewood/Englewood Cliffs, Demarest, etc). Best access to NYC, nice topography (fairly hilly) with some wooded areas, good downtowns, and I assume good schools. I lived in Tenafly for 7-8 months for work. North of GW bridge and east near the river are generally your nicest towns, with Alpine (the nation's wealthiest zip code about ten years ago) the ritziest; hell, you could probably afford there too, last I checked median price was around $2 million.
Of course there are many other nice places near NYC you can afford; Ridgewood, Montclair, Short Hills, etc. Ramsey/Ho-Ho-Kus/Saddle River very nice but farther from city and not as good in the way of downtowns.
Love this post! When I was 25, I had a monthly budget of a rubber mouse and an empty can of generic cola. And that was with working 3 jobs.
It’s like the House Hunters episodes: “I catch butterflies part-time and my wife sniffs trees for a living. Our budget is 1.7 million. Can we find anything in rural Arkansas?”
I bought my first (and likely only) house at 45, for about a fifth of that budget, and you know what? I’m grateful for it…
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