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Where are you moving from in the UK? Do you like where you are? If I have an idea of where you're coming from, perhaps I can tell you what you'd like in NJ (I'm British).
Where are you moving from in the UK? Do you like where you are? If I have an idea of where you're coming from, perhaps I can tell you what you'd like in NJ (I'm British).
Hi,
We are from Braintree (near Chelmsford) in Essex. Yes, we do like it here, although its a bit of a pain for Jeff to commute into the city from here as he has to drive to Witham or Chelmsford first to catch the train. Where did you originate from and are you glad you made the move?
I'm actually Welsh - born and raised in Cardiff, South Wales. I lived in London for five years before I came here in 1988 and I'm really glad that I made the move. We live just outside of Princeton - which I fell in love with as it felt so "British". My husband commutes to NYC from Princeton Junction and it takes about an hour. I think you should check out Princeton - it's lovely! Oh, and we've lived in Union County - (Summit, Westfield,) and we MUCH prefer it down here. Hope this helps.
Did you find it difficult leaving the rest of your family at the time? Have you ever felt the urge to come "home"?
Why do you prefer Princeton to somewhere like Westfield, the likes of which we have been strongly recommended?
Thanks for your help by the way!
I had a different situation - my parents were already living in this county - albeit in Florida. I was 24 and had had enough of London living and wanted to settle closer to my parents. I found it hard at first to understand the way of life, but once you realize that life is so much easier and cheaper here, you start to settle in and make a life for yourself. Plus, living so close to Newark, it's really easy to just hop on a plane and go home!! I absolutely adore Westfield - I worked there for nearly six years and we lived there for a couple of those years. It has a really lovely downtown and you can literally park the car and do everything that you need to do in town - from grocery shopping, to banking - everything! We moved because of space issues. The houses in Westfield are charming and old and don't have much land. Also, my husband commutes to NYC and found it a pain to take the train and switch at Newark. He likes to get on the train and stay put until he arrives at his destination. I miss Westfield, but I absolutely love it down here because it feels more open - it somehow seems easier to breathe!!! Princeton, being home to the university has a bustling downtown. You have a really interesting mix of students, moms with strollers and professor types. Westfield just seems to have stroller moms!! - which is fine if you're a stroller mom! Although I work in Princeton, we don't actually live in Princeton, but there are surrounding towns - i.e., West Windsor, Cranbury, Hopewell, Pennington, Lawrenceville, Robbinsville - all of which are lovely and of course, it depends on whether you have school aged children where you end up, because some of the school districts are better than others.
I could go on and on an on, but if you'd like, write me a private message and we can communicate that way? I'd be so happy to help.....
Please search for my Post titled: "Comprehensive Look at NJ". It might help you understand the State & how its broken down. If you can get your hands on a map of NJ and highlight the interstate highways (I-80, I-280, I-287, I-78, I-95, etc.), it should help you break the state down into more manageable pieces. Obviously, you'll be using these interstates to get to your work sites.
Your focus (if you want the logistics between Jersey City & Parsippany) is around I-280 & I-287 corridors. Rule of Thumb is the farther west you live, the more rural you live, the nicer the community development. The exception to the rule are farming towns that recently had a building boom (they have no center of town). Don't take your commuting time too lightly. Clogged highways can double your commuting time. Interstate Interchanges are typically clogged. But always make sure you allow for side road times (i.e. slower speeds, stop signs, traffic lights, slow pokes in front of you). Example: It takes me 20min just to get to the interstate highway & 10min on the interstate - to get to work.
Caldwell, Essex Fells, Livingston, Verona, West Orange, are clustered (sort-of) between I-280 & I-80. Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Mendham, Morristown (Small city) are all towns along I-287. Along I-78 are the really exclusive towns of Chatham, Short Hills, Madison, Millburn. All these towns are top notch & fairly exclusive. Sorry I can't speak for schools & taxes, but you might be able to google their specific municipal websites to get a better idea.
Also, you might want to consider commuting to Jersey City by rail/train instead of driving in rush hour traffic both ways. I believe all towns I mentioned have a train station in their town. Parsippany - no such luck - you have to drive there.
I live in Union and absolutely love it. It is ranked the 22nd safest place in the US. http://www.uniontownship.com/ It has excellent modes of transportation. The Garden State Parkway, routes 78 & 22. It is a stones throw from Millburn without the sky high taxes. The town is going thru a boom in terms of homeowners actually tearing down or building on their homes. I actually live on the Springfield/Union border and love my town. Loads of shopping. A rail station less than 4 years old. Plenty of parking at the staion. Union is about 10 miles from Newark but milesssssss away from the crime. I feel completly safe there. I leave my back door open for my cat to come and go in the backyard. All in all I am happy with this town.
I also love Denville - it's off route 80. It is much more rural and has mountains. We also have a house there and we call it the country. The down town although small is maintained nicely. It also has a rail station but further out from the city. Sparta is lovely and more rural than Denville and much farther from the city than Denville.
Hello,
Glen Rock and Ridgewood are both in Bergen County.
However, I would recommend taking a look at Allendale, NJ and Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. They are also in Bergen County but are probably better alternatives to Glen Rock and Ridgewood.
We are likely to be moving to NJ from the UK this summer and would like some advice on a good NJ community to settle in. We will initially rent and have a budget of around $4,000 - $4,500 per month.
Our most important criteria are:-
Good schools (our kids are 13 and 10)
Very low crime rate
Friendly neighborhood
Reasonable commute to Jersey City (1 hour or less)
Ideally good commute to Parsippany (second office) - happy to drive for this
Lastly good local restaurants etc
Towns that we have seen so far (either through recommendation or searching) that we like are:-
North Caldwell & Essex Fells
Basking Ridge
Bergen (Ridgewood or Glen Rock)
Thank you in advance for your help
Jeff & Kay
Westfield is a must see for you
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Moving from UK to NJ
Denville/Union
