Montclair & Montclair Schools (Bloomfield, Nutley: crime, theater, elementary schools)

[kj3669]

My wife and I are thinking of moving to Montclair...not being from the area, we are curious about the town as well as the school system.

We have heard stories of crime in certain areas. Overall, would you say its a safe town? Having lived in NYC for many years, I'm thinking that as long as one uses their head, they will be fine. Is that the case?

Also...we have heard conflicting stories of the schools...some say they are great. Others say they're not so good and that there are safety issues in the middle and high schools.

Can anyone provide an inside scoop?

Thanks

[EEEPNJ]

Hey, there is a lot of info on this forum about Montclair, I really reccommend you do a search and you'l find plenty.

I have to tell you, overall, I love Montclair. It's a pretty town with more than one downtown district (Bloomfield Ave, Watchung Ave, and Valley). Nice little shops & restaurants, although the recent economic pinch does show more vacancies here too..it's not immune. It tends to be a more open minded town. Think of your college professors... people with $ but more liberal and bohemian. There are several theater groups. Some very nice Churches that, again, are less conservative than in other areas. It's SO pretty and you have resources from Montclair State University (my ol' college!) right there. It has a lot going for it.

But there are sections of town that are not the safest. They are not exactly horrible, but they are sketchy. The schools are ok. The elementary schools vary by school.. I would reccommend checking greatschools.net or schooldigger.com and you can see variables in the schools. The HS is ok. There are some nice private schools in the area (Montclair Cooperative/Montclair Kimberly..) but they come with hefty price tags. Speaking of hefty price tags, Montclairs taxes tend to be up there.

Despite all this, I still really love Montclair.

You may want ot consider some neighboring towns... then you can get the benefits of Montclair without actually living there. Some local towns that are nice are Cedar Grove, Verona, West Caldwell. There are sections of Bloomfield that border Montclair that are very nice as is Nutley.

Where are you coming from and why are you looking at Montclair in particular? Give us some ideas and we can give you more feedback.

Good luck!