Which part of Bergen County is better, North Bergen County or South Bergen County?

[formerhudson]

Most of what is stated above is true in some respects. I grew up in Hudson County and after law school got married and moved to Rutherford. We had our first child there in a two-family that we subsequently kept and rented for investment. We loved (and still love) the town. Yes taxes are relatively high due to previous municipal mismangement, but the downtown has fantastic restaurants of all types, a great library and restored train station that make it very pleasing to the eye. Couple that with very nearby highways (17, 3, Garden State parkway and NJ Turnpike) and a train line that brings you MUCH closer to NYC than northern Bergen (which I do of course agree is ritzier and wealthier). I always liked the mix of blue collar and professional in Rutherford. The only complaint we ever had was the aircraft noise from nearby Teteboro airport, which was annoying but tolerable once you get used to it. Note that Rutherford is known as the "Borough of Trees" which means you'd better like (1.) squirrels and (2.) raking leaves. But I would recommend it heartily.

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by NEWJERSEY1

^^actually northern bergen isn't really diverse at all ... except for maybe ridgewood, paramus (idk if that's considered north), and tenafly. where i live (pascack valley area), it's pretty much all cacausian (spelling) .... rarely any asians, blacks, or hispanic.

Closter, Dumont, Northvale, Norwood, Tenafly have huge asian populations. Even towns in the Pascack Valley have a lot of asians.

Also, there are MANY hispanics in these areas, but many of them are light-skinned or "white" and have no accents because they are second- or third-generation (or more). Many of them are presumed to be Italian.

[NEWJERSEY1]

^No Pascack Valley does not have a lot of asians or hispanics although some towns in the Northern Valley do. A girl who goes to Park Ridge High told me there's only like five asians and five hispanics in her whole school out of like 500. That's not diverse.

[zhelder]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I have told people I grew up in Midland Park and they assumed I had money. Hellooooo, I am over 50. They didn't start to hack down all the woods and build houses on every available lot until about 30 years or so ago and then the wannabes moved in and started demanding sidewalks and curbs and traffic lights and having landscapers cut their grass. It was a blue-collar town full of plumbers and electricians, with lots of wooded areas and even a farm or two.

Now it's known as "Ridgewood Lite". Still a nice town, but I wouldn't want to live there anymore.

Midland Park is really one of those towns that has climbed up quite a bit on the prestige scale over the past several years. Just like Glen Rock's prestige skyrocketed throughout the 90s.

The town that I would consider the exact midpoint of the ritz and glamor of Northern Bergen County and the more down-to-earth, blue collar southern part of the county is Fair Lawn. The town has fancy professionals in large houses in certain parts of the town, and blue-collar mechanics in smaller houses in other parts. Rutherford fits the bill too, but Rutherford isn't as centrally located as Fair Lawn. Fair Lawn is a little wealthier than Rutherford, but the two towns have comparable real estate prices and prestige levels (think the high end of the true middle-class towns).

Twenty years ago, Midland Park would have been in this group, but the town's joined the ranks of the swankier towns recently. Ditto for Westwood, Waldwick (although Waldwick's prestige factor has come down some recently), and Paramus. These are all solidly upper-middle-class towns in my book (especially Paramus).

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by NEWJERSEY1

^No Pascack Valley does not have a lot of asians or hispanics although some towns in the Northern Valley do. A girl who goes to Park Ridge High told me there's only like five asians and five hispanics in her whole school out of like 500. That's not diverse.

I live in Park Ridge, graduated Park Ridge High many years ago, and I have friends who are teachers at Park Ridge High (as well as East Brook and West Ridge elementary schools). The girl who told you that is wrong. There are much more than "five asians and five hispanics" in the whole school.

When I was in PRHS, there were 5 asians that I can think of off the top of my head in my class, alone (a class of a little over 100). Also, there were at least 5 hispanics in my class; but, as I said earlier, they were of hispanic descent but very "Americanized", if not for their last names you wouldn't know they were hispanic, and many people thought they were Italian because their names could have gone either way.

What we have never had a lot of is blacks; maybe 5 in the whole school.

And Pascack Valley doesn't have a lot of asians as the eastern part of Bergen County does, but we have a sizable asian population, it's not like it's uncommon to see asians in this part of BC.

It is definitely still predominately white in the PV area, and not VERY diverse, but it's not lily-white like the uppity sections of Morris, Hunterdon, etc. counties further west in NJ.

[PEBCAK]

Seriously whats this Prestige Factor? Or reticence on including Waldwick and Westwood as some of the best towns in Norther Bergen county? I live in Waldwick and chose Waldwick over Ridgewood and Wyckoff due to the people and great small town feel. We almost moved to Westwood, since we loved it's downtown area. But Waldwick is certainly one of the best towns for upper middle class families to raise their kids.

Wyckoff- Too impersonal, people were not as friendly as Waldwick.

Ridgewood- Go to a Little league game, you will learn a lot about Ridgewood there. The people are insane and uber competitive.

Westwood- More Asians, more diverse but great atmosphere.

Waldwick- Best of all worlds (Except a walkable downtown area) However there is a little renaissance and revitalization of the train station area that is improving that.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by PEBCAK

Seriously whats this Prestige Factor? Or reticence on including Waldwick and Westwood as some of the best towns in Norther Bergen county? I live in Waldwick and chose Waldwick over Ridgewood and Wyckoff due to the people and great small town feel. We almost moved to Westwood, since we loved it's downtown area. But Waldwick is certainly one of the best towns for upper middle class families to raise their kids.

Wyckoff- Too impersonal, people were not as friendly as Waldwick.

Ridgewood- Go to a Little league game, you will learn a lot about Ridgewood there. The people are insane and uber competitive.

Westwood- More Asians, more diverse but great atmosphere.

Waldwick- Best of all worlds (Except a walkable downtown area) However there is a little renaissance and revitalization of the train station area that is improving that.

Alas, I miss the Orville House.

[luckyshoes]

I think all of the towns north of Paramus are all very nice.

(not that the towns south aren't, I'm just not as familiar with them all)

[itznin]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I wouldn't have thought that of Rutherford, either, just judging by the way the houses are so tightly packed together. The town area does look nice, though. It may be that any homes with larger lots are just not visible driving through the town. Kind of surprised to see that statement.

Mainly depth not width depending on the street... but yes very close together overall.