What NJ town is for us? (Somerset, West Freehold: townhome, neighborhoods, public schools)

[speris]

My husband and I are considering NJ as our next step. We love our friend's neighborhood in Monmouth county (Freehold area)...very nice houses for a reasonable price, rolling hills, nice average lot size, etc. At this point neither of us will be commuting into NYC, though that could become a necessity in the future and we do want reasonable access for occasional visits. We have a 2 yr old, and excellent public schools are a must. Our budget is around 500K. Decent restaurants and shopping nearby is also important. What town would you put at the top of our list? TIA!

[monack]

Manalapan, Freehold, Marlboro can all be put on your list. I think that Manalapan and Marlboro schools are better, however, and will put you closer to NYC. do you want a single family home? Would you be happy in a townhome? how many bedrooms/baths, etc?

[Jillian Mason]

Freehold! I'm so biased because I grew up in Freehold. Freehold Boro has that small town feel that you are looking for. You can live in the Boro itself, on the east side of Freehold bordering Manalapan (which will put your kids in Township Schools until H.S), or in West Freehold (Freehold Township schools, including Township HS). Good luck and feel free to ask if you have any questions about the area!

[Liz555]

Middletown is also an option. Great town & wonderful access to NYC via ferry...very commutable. At least worth looking at.

[tahiti]

all of the above are good but i have to comment that i never considered that area as having "rolling hills", LOL

[HalfFull]

Some good choices already posted. With the drop in prices, your budget opens up a lot of choices. You could be looking in many parts of Morris and Somerset counties as well.

Anything else that could impact your choice and help narrow down the geography at all?

[NJHouseHunt]

All of the towns listed prior are good, I work in all of Monmouth and Ocean County, and live in Howell. As far as location they are all on the bus route to NYC, but Howell will give you easy access to 195, NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.
Schools are rated very good, and CNN/MONEY rates it in their top 100 Cities.
If you need more information on homes in any of the towns, just let me know.

John

[speris]

Thanks so much for the replies so far!

We're looking for a single family home, with at least 4 bdrms and 2 baths.

The only other things I can think of that would help us narrow it down a bit are intangibles--like the feel of the neighborhood and community. The neighborhood we're in right now in Texas (I think our last few years in flat flat TX have skewed our perspective on the rolling hills part, ha!) has a great sense of community. There's an extensive mom's group for the neighborhood that offers wonderful support, and people are involved in all aspects of the community, which I love. It's very family oriented, with lots of parents with young kids. We're also fairly liberal, and like to be near like-minded people. I don't imagine that's as much of an issue in NJ as it is here in TX, but thought I'd mention it. Anyone have thoughts on how these things might play out in the towns mentioned above?

[NJHouseHunt]

I don't think you will have any problems in the towns mentioned. The neighborhoods in these towns should be just what your looking for. Monmouth County towns seem to always make the "best places" to live.

John