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Hi! Looking for help finding a great town with top rated schools. Willing to spend about 1.2 million for house. Looking for a great protestant, hopefully Presbyterian, church too. Would like diversity but do not want my kids to feel like they are in the minority. I have lived that already, twice. Nice, but looking for something to make us feel a part of the community, not outsiders. From the threads I've read it looks like there are some great Catholic and/or Jewish towns. Is there somewhere that the kids will feel part of the community and not left out by not being Italian or Jewish? Of course top schools are very important, commutable to East Hanover. Thanks in advance for your input.
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I have been looking at Mountain Lakes. I had not looked at Livingston. I will definitely look into that as well as Short Hills. How do these compare with Montville, Mendham, Randolph, Chester, Madison, Chatham & Basking Ridge? I really wish I knew where to focus my efforts. Any info will help!! Thanks.
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I have been looking at Mountain Lakes. I had not looked at Livingston. I will definitely look into that as well as Short Hills. How do these compare with Montville, Mendham, Randolph, Chester, Madison, Chatham & Basking Ridge? I really wish I knew where to focus my efforts. Any info will help!! Thanks.
I would say ML, Short Hills, Mendham, Madison, Chatham, Chester and BR are pretty much all on the same plane. I can't comment on Montville, but I'd say Livingston and Randolph are just a smidge below - and I mean smidge. Almost negligable. They're all good places. Look around and pick the place you like best - none of them are a bad choice.
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I have been looking at Mountain Lakes. I had not looked at Livingston. I will definitely look into that as well as Short Hills. How do these compare with Montville, Mendham, Randolph, Chester, Madison, Chatham & Basking Ridge? I really wish I knew where to focus my efforts. Any info will help!! Thanks.
They are all great towns with good schools. Depends what you are looking for...I like small towns with very small school districts...where everybody knows each other. Madison or Mountain Lakes or Chatham would fit that bill. If I wasn't commuting to NYC I would say away from commuter towns like Chatham or Milburn. Chester and Mendham have more rural feel - is that something you want? Based on your first post (not huge Jewish population), I would not pick Livingston. Also I think Montville and Randolph towns / schools are not on a par with the others mentioned.
Thanks so much for the insight. Keep it coming, it is very much appreciated!!! Sounds like there are a lot of great choices. I like the small town, small school district descriptions for Mountain Lakes, Madison and Chatham. Sounds wonderful! Mountain Lakes seems a bit more reasonable in price. I also had not thought of "staying way" from commuter towns. Is there a reason for that?
Thanks so much for the insight. Keep it coming, it is very much appreciated!!! Sounds like there are a lot of great choices. I like the small town, small school district descriptions for Mountain Lakes, Madison and Chatham. Sounds wonderful! Mountain Lakes seems a bit more reasonable in price. I also had not thought of "staying way" from commuter towns. Is there a reason for that?
Well, price for one. You will generally pay a premium to be on the Midtown direct line. Also, I find there is a different mindset. We spent a lot of time in Millburn and when meeting people, often the first question would be, "where do you work"? Then we spent time in Chester, and Mountain Lakes and the first question always seemed to be, "Do you have kids"? I know this is a huge generalizatin but I have heard them same from others. It's just a different vibe when next to everyone goes to the city every day. I am surprised you are finding Chatham more expensive than ML though. We looked in both towns and found it the other way around. And the average house price is more expensive in ML than Chatham. Anyway, you won't go wrong with any of the towns you are looking in. Go wtih the one where you find the best house!
Thanks again for your comments. I will definitely keep all of this in mind. If there are any other differences between the towns I should know about please feel free to comment. These are wonderful insights!
One more question. Anyone know the average taxes or if there are big differences in taxes between ML, Chatham, Madision, Chester, and Mendham?
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