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I have no idea how my husband would get to NY, I think Hawthorne has a very small lot for commuters. How hard is it for out of towners to park in other stations?
What do you mean by the schools being politically correct?
Thanks, lots of great info and things to consider.
I have no idea how my husband would get to NY, I think Hawthorne has a very small lot for commuters. How hard is it for out of towners to park in other stations?
parking for out-of-towners at nj transit train stations varies from town to town and station to station.
there are a handful of stations that are free and have no limitations - first come, first serve for anyone. off the top of my head, the plauderville, delawanna, and lyndhurst stations are three examples of this.
there are also stations where you have to pay a small fee (usually $2-$3 per day or a set monthly fee) or feed the meters, but there are no town residency requirements (the majority of stations fall under this category). metropark is an example of this.
then there are stations that require permits for parking - or at the very least, set aside X number of spaces for permit holders who are town residents, with the rest of the spaces open to whomever. edison is an example of a station where all spaces require a permit and where there's a long waiting list.
i'm not sure which type of station hawthorne is, but based on this, it seems that a certain number of spots may be reserved for town residents and the rest first come, first serve. back in the day it was free to park there, but i don't know if that is still the case.
if your husband leaves early enough to grab a parking space at this station, driving to hawthorne would be a very feasible option. not sure how quickly the spaces at the plauderville (which is on the garfield/saddle brook border) or delawanna (which is right off of rt. 21 in clifton) stations fill up, but you might want to check them out. lyndhurst is also a viable option. your husband would have to drive 20-30 minutes to get to these stations, but the commute from that point forward would be pretty short, so he may want to consider it.
otherwise, your husband can just take a bus to the city. personally, i'd rather drive to a rail station and then take the train, but that's just me.
fwiw, the new (different) train line to hawthorne that i mentioned in my previouis post (the one that might get extended to wyckoff) appears to be happening - at the least the hackensack-to-hawthorne section. any extension to wyckoff and beyond is still up in the air, but this is a positive development:
Residents get scoop on light rail line (http://www.northjersey.com/news/Residents_get_scoop_on_light_rail_line.html - broken link) Passaic-Bergen Rail Line
Wyckoff has a bus that leaves one of the church parking lots in town for NYC. There's a small fee for residents.
The Wyckof township committee is made up of long-time cronies who have run the town for decades. The recent demolition of 600 trees around the Boulder Run Stop & Shop area was their demise last November when a Democrat was elected to the Township Committee. The Sicomac area that you mention is a section of town that was owned by the Gallencamp family. It was a dairy only 20 years ago. The Gallencamps sold the property and there are several McMansions being built. Residents in the area are upset, and several homes are not yet occupied. Another area of controversy in town was the Ravine. This was a pristine, one-of-a-kind area that is now being developed with 6 large homes by Barrister Farms (aka Mr. Melanese). Read more about Wyckoff at [url=http://www.FriendsOfWyckoff.org]Friends of Wyckoff: For the Garden Town in the Garden State[/url].
I grew up in Wyckoff and unless the residents replace two seats in the township committee this November, we will see more unnecessary development. Unfortunately, the TC members (sans the newly elected Brian Scanlan) are all connected to lawyers who work for developers or are lawyers themselves who work for developers.
The school system is great, although the Board of Ed just voted to fire all the long-time custodians to hire an outside firm, whose record shows some of their hirees were arrested for rape.
Susanna, welcome to the forum and Wykoff is a terrific town. I'll play devils advocate here. If someone owns that land and pays taxes on it shouldn't they be able to build if they meet township codes. And no I'm not pro development.
We are looking to move to Bergen county (husband commutes to NY) from Long Island. I have been reading lots of great things about Wyckoff. Problem is, don't know anything about it! I know they don't have a train station and they have a very small "downtown." My husband really likes Ridgewood, Glen Rock, HoHokus. I don't like what I have been reading about Ridgewood (intense parents, snobs, etc.) Wyckoff seems to be a nice town with down to earth people and a good school system.
What is the layout of the town i.e. neighborhoods. When I search mls.com some homes are listed in the "Sicomac" section.
Thanks!
Wyckoff IS a nice town. I'm 50, and I can remember when it was still semi-rural, and it's still pretty quiet. You've got some snobbery in Wyckoff also, but it's not nearly as bad as Ridgewood!
Even if you lived in Ridgewood, your chances of getting a parking permit at the train station are pretty slim so you need a way to get there anyway. I catch a bus out of Midland Park that passes the train station. With your monthly rail ticket the ride is free. A few other bus-to-train people on my bus are from Wyckoff because Wyckoff surrounds Midland Park on two sides so it's an easy walk for them. There's also the 752 Oakland to Hackensack bus that has fewer buses, but it runs through Wyckoff and takes you to the train. Wyckoff does have a few great restaurants and it's a family-oriented town.
The area up Sicomac Avenue is one of those areas that is only maybe 40 years out of farmland (I think the last farm on Sicomac was just sold last year or so). Big yards, lots of trees.
Glen Rock is pretty snobby, possibly as much as or even worse than Ridgewood. HoHoKus is a nice town, but very small. They don't have their own high school--they go to Ridgewood.
Even if you lived in Ridgewood, your chances of getting a parking permit at the train station are pretty slim so you need a way to get there anyway.
Glen Rock is pretty snobby, possibly as much as or even worse than Ridgewood. HoHoKus is a nice town, but very small. They don't have their own high school--they go to Ridgewood.
If you live in Ridgewood, getting parking permit is NOT a problem...it takes 5 min and it's free. Finding parking at the train station is a different story. Most 12-hour parking spots are gone by about 7 am.
Ho-ho-kus kids go to Northern Highlands HS in Allendale not Ridgewood High.
If you live in Ridgewood, getting parking permit is NOT a problem...it takes 5 min and it's free. Finding parking at the train station is a different story. Most 12-hour parking spots are gone by about 7 am.
I thought the permits were given for the number of spots, sorry. At any rate, parking's not good.
Ho-ho-kus kids go to Northern Highlands HS in Allendale not Ridgewood High.
HA, I didn't know that. Thanks. I thought they reverted to Ridgewood after they ended their 20-year stint in Midland Park.
If you live in Ridgewood, getting parking permit is NOT a problem...it takes 5 min and it's free. Finding parking at the train station is a different story. Most 12-hour parking spots are gone by about 7 am.
I thought the permits were given for the number of spots, sorry. At any rate, parking's not good.
Ho-ho-kus kids go to Northern Highlands HS in Allendale not Ridgewood High.
HA, I didn't know that. Thanks. I thought they reverted to Ridgewood after they ended their 20-year stint in Midland Park.
I am glad they didn't - we already have 1,700 students in HS, lol
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