Information on Hawthorne and North Haledon (Paterson, Passaic: houses, safe neighborhoods, to buy)

[nycgirl77]

My fiancee and I are planning to buy a single family home in NJ within a couple of months. We would like to stay within northern NJ. We really like Bergen county but know that homes are expensive and taxes are high. I was wondering what people think of hawthorne and north haledon. Are these safe neighborhoods, good shopping, transportation to nyc and how are the property taxes in these towns. Our budget is that of 400k. If anyone can recommend affordable bergen county towns that would be great as well.

[macpat55]

Originally Posted by nycgirl77

My fiancee and I are planning to buy a single family home in NJ within a couple of months. We would like to stay within northern NJ. We really like Bergen county but know that homes are expensive and taxes are high. I was wondering what people think of hawthorne and north haledon. Are these safe neighborhoods, good shopping, transportation to nyc and how are the property taxes in these towns. Our budget is that of 400k. If anyone can recommend affordable bergen county towns that would be great as well.

Both are nice towns. Hawthorn has trains to Hoboken with a switch at Secaucus for Penn station. North Haledon is more expensive than Hawthorn and does not have mass transit except near the Border of Haledon which is local only to Paterson and Wayne. another subject is the Rail parking in Hawthorn is very limited unless you are a resident and get there very early. Hawthorn has some shops and very little in North Haledon although it has a supermarket. Nearby Fair lawn has more stores and Glen Rock and Midland Park and Wayne has decent amount and you are not far from Ridgewood, Willowbrook Mall and Paramus malls.
For schools Hawthorne has better schools. North Haledon sends kids to Manchester Region which also serves Haldon and Prospect Park which is not as good as Hawthorn.
Taxes would be higher in North Haledon than in Hawthorn.

[nycgirl77]

Thanks for the info macpat55. Would you recommend Hawthorne over towns in bergen county?

[joe moving]

macpat the school thing is some great insight. I did not know that N Haledon kids go to school with Haledon and Prospect Park.

nycgirl, have you checked Midland Park? Much nicer than both towns IMO (where we lived... used to live in Hawthorne), but also no train station.

What are you looking for in terms of number of bedrooms, etc.

[nycgirl77]

We are looking for a 3 bdrms, 2 bath home. We dont have children yet but would like to live in a family friendly neighborhood. We really like bergen county but are concerned with higher property taxes. We were considering towns in bergen county such as maywood, hasbrouck heights, teaneck, bergenfield, oakland, ridgefield park, fair lawn. We need to live in a area that has nyc transportation. Just wanted opinions on these towns. I know that bergen county is more desirable than passaic county.
Are there floods in hawthorne?

[macpat55]

Originally Posted by joe moving

macpat the school thing is some great insight. I did not know that N Haledon kids go to school with Haledon and Prospect Park.

nycgirl, have you checked Midland Park? Much nicer than both towns IMO (where we lived... used to live in Hawthorne), but also no train station.

What are you looking for in terms of number of bedrooms, etc.

Well The K-8 schools are in North Haldon which should be fine but for High school Manchester Regional isn't so great these days.

[stevemorse]

I would recommed Hawthorne over tons of Bergen County towns! For example, Lodi, Garfield, Moonachie,Woodridge,Teaneck, Wallington and Fair Lawn. I think Hawthone is even better in MY OPINION than North Haldon. Now by Diamand Bridge and end of Goffle is not as nice as lets say off Lafayette but overall its a cute and nice town!!! Houses are capes and craftsman old but with a little work and insulation you may have found alittle gem!!! Good choice, nice town, great Library, good little deli, great location!! Go for it!

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by nycgirl77

We are looking for a 3 bdrms, 2 bath home. We dont have children yet but would like to live in a family friendly neighborhood. We really like bergen county but are concerned with higher property taxes. We were considering towns in bergen county such as maywood, hasbrouck heights, teaneck, bergenfield, oakland, ridgefield park, fair lawn. We need to live in a area that has nyc transportation. Just wanted opinions on these towns. I know that bergen county is more desirable than passaic county.
Are there floods in hawthorne?

Hawthorne is just as nice as the towns you mentioned if not nicer!

[joe moving]

I think Oakland is fine...

Hawthorne is a little ghetto for lack of better word. Just for example, there was a murder on our street when we lived there - WTH. No news covered it that I could see. There is parking allowed on the street overnight in Hawthorne, sounds petty but not something I am a fan of.

We didn't find Hawthorne taxes reallyto be cheaper than Midland Park...

Try Midland Park also, and Wyckoff. 400k you can find a beater, I mean fixer upper 3br/1.5 or 2 bath in a nice town.

[boroughboy1]

Hawthorne is not "ghetto" . we moved from NYC almost two years ago, and I have not seen any so called "element". I think it is a great town with the potential to get even better. We looked in Ridgewood and G Rock, but for the money and taxes decided Hawthorne was a much better value.

What you have in Hawthorne is a nice mix of blue and white collar people. If you like older colonial style homes with tons of charm then you will love many of the homes in Hawthorne. There are parks, a train station, a Movie theatre, an improving town center with some new restaurants( see links below), and more changes to come( a new superintendent of schools) . You are close to 208, and without traffic over the GW in 20 minutes.

www.citycreamery.com
www.bottagra.com


Do not be swayed by others opinions- take a look for yourself. Bergen C may have the cachet, but Passaic county has some nice areas as well.

By the way , was there not a recent murder in Ramsey( Bergen country) and sadly in Glen rock (one of the top school systems in state), a young man committed suicide last year. Most towns have their isolated incidents, even the more "upscale"

good luck in your search.