Help me convince my husband to give Wyckoff a chance! (Ridgewood: renting, house)

[Will's mom]

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!

[Marc Paolella]

Hi WM!

It comes down to personal preference when you narrow it down to Ridgewood, Wyckoff, Glen Rock, and Ho-Ho-Kus. Each of these areas will give you a great suburban experience. Yes, Ridgewood has a snob reputation, but it takes 2 to tango. Someone can behave like a snob, but if you take offense at a person with poor character, it's on you as much as them. There are plenty of nice people and snobs throughout all the affluent towns of Bergen County. None of the towns you mention is without snobbery. So I would forget about that "problem" because it really isn't one. You will associate with people who you like and respect, and you will find plenty of them in each of these towns.

So now it comes down to a "village" experiance vs a suburban experience. Ridgewood and Glen Rock are more developed and give you more of the town feeling. Wyckoff and Ho-Ho-Kus are more dispersed suburban landscapes. If you like a more lively atmosphere, it's Ridgewood and Glen Rock. if you like a more peaceful and bucolic experience, it's Wyckoff or Ho-Ho-Kus.

Now as far as searching for listings, forget MLS.com. The most complete source for listing data is the MLS system that services Bergen County, the New Jersey MLS, or NJMLS for short. Go directly to their public website and you will find the most complete coverage of available properties in Bergen County. The site is: www.njmls.com

Good luck and I'm sure you will enjoy living in whatever town you select!

-Marc

[MaverickDD]

IMHO, there is not a lot of difference between the people in Ridgewood and Wyckoff. Both communities have their quota of intense parents and snobs, but that's like horse manure -- all over the place -- not just in Ridgewood and Wyckoff. (You even find that at the opposite end of the socieconomic spectrum.) Likewise, both towns have their share of exceptionally fine people -- conscientious parents who want the best for their kids. Be aware that in both communities, the schools tend to be politically correct.

Do the communities match your socioeconomic expectations? Do most of the people in the communities share your views on the important things we regularly interact on -- money, politics, religion, education, sports, family, parenting, etc.? Those are the things I'd suggest that you consider when looking for your right town to relocate to.

My experience is that you may find a lesser level of "intense" people in some of Morris County's prime towns. IMO, there are some equally fine neighborhoods in Morris County and the "side of the tracks" mentality is less prevalent than in parts of Bergen.

Regardless, you may enjoy living in the towns you've mentioned in Bergen as well as many towns in Morris so I recommend that you don't let the "people factor" dissuade you from either. I hope this helps in your decision making process.

[joe moving]

I agree I don't actually see that much difference between Ridgewood and Wyckoff. I think they are both very fine towns but not too too different in that you will find the intense parents there. We are in Midland Park, (grew up in Ridgewood) and hope that Midland Park will be less intense based on the fact that it is a more working class town (speaking of PC that probably is not very PC... and not sure if that will be understood correctly but oh well) ??

How is he going to get to NY from Wyckoff-bus?

[NJ Chutzpah]

if you are gonna live in Bergen County north of Rte 4 you may as well stay in Bong Guyland

If you are looking for a shorter commute than try bergen county south of rte 4

but if you do not mind being around snobs, there are other affluent towns much closer to the GWB like Tenafly, englewood cliffs, cresskill

What is your price range?

[Collegeguy12]

Go with Ho Ho Kus...it's such a great place and has a train station (which I do not think Wyckoff does). Wyckoff has a much more rural feel and is much larger and spread out than the other towns you have mentioned, so it depends on personal preference. It generally offers more property, so is a big yard important? All the towns mentioned are basically the same when it comes to people, just like most of northern Bergen County-schools will be very competitive and some people are snobby. All four towns you mentioned have excellent school systems, and none are really much better or worse than the others I so strongly recommend staying north of Rte 4 though because the quality of schools is MUCH higher than those south of Rte 4.

[NJ Chutzpah]

are they really higher?

I mean south of Rte 4 is not poor by any means, and the parents there value education as much as anybody north of Rte 4

what makes those schools so much better?

[Newarkbomb]

Wyckoff is a nice town, its simaler to Mahwah in a way.. which would be more easier to convince someone into

I just think Mahwahs landscape is more beautiful than wyckoff, i know there close but mahwah is way bigger. Mahwah has many parks, lakes and it has a nice little downtown section.

[pbergen]

some great points by marc paolella and a few others here. there is not going to be that much of a difference between these four towns - they all have their fair share of snobs and/or ostentatious types, while others are more easy-going, friendly, and don't have as much of a "keeping up with the joneses" mentality. just go with the town where you can get the nicest house or property for your money.

i didn't grow up in any of these four towns, but i did meet many kids my age from these communities once i entered high school due to SAT prep classes, school dances, sporting events, etc. most of the kids from these towns were pretty cool, with a few idiots mixed in just like anywhere. some were middle class (it seemed like there were more middle class and even working class residents in these towns back in the '80s and early '90s) while others were affluent.

generally speaking, i didn't sense a whole lot of overt snobbery even though i hailed from the so-called "worse" part of the county (i.e. south of route 4). some of these kids actually lived in very modest homes and didn't have all of the fanciest clothes or cars, but again, this was more than 10 years ago. others lived in swanky homes, had nice cars in the driveway, and dressed extremely well for high schoolers; it was obvious that they came from materialistic families.

while i never felt that anyone looked down on me, i also realized for the first time that my family was "only" middle class and that there were many people in the county, especially in the northern towns, who had some serious wealth. it didn't really bother me, but i did feel slightly self-conscious at times when we hung out with some of the richer kids. i mean, they didn't brag about their family's wealth, but it was readily apparent that they were on a different "level", for lack of a better word. so this may be an issue for some people in these towns.

BUT - and i can't stress this enough - you'll encounter this in any wealthy community, whether it's in bergen, essex, morris, somerset, westchester, nassau, etc. rich is rich and there are always going to be showy types no matter where you go; i for one don't buy the argument that different areas of nj with similar incomes as ridgewood/ho-ho-kus/wyckoff/glen rock (such as parts of morris or somerset counties) are markedly less snobby. in fact, some of the biggest snobs i've ever met were from chatham, basking ridge, essex fells, short hills, scarsdale, great neck, old westbury, etc. it's just a "rich town thing" and the price of living in an affluent community. of course, the safety, great schools, and high quality of life are worth the trade-off. as others have mentioned, you just have to find your niche in the community (i.e. find like-minded parents who aren't ultra intense or showy) and hope that your kids do the same.

for what it's worth, one of my close friends from ridgewood, who attended ridgewood high, lived in a modest cape cod in the so-called "average" part of town. her family was middle class and extremely down-to-earth, and while she was fairly popular and hung out with both wealthy and middle income peers, it seemed that her close circle of friends came from families of similar means. while i can't say for sure that middle class kids in wealthy towns are more likely to gravitate toward the same, some have suggested to me that that's the case.

one other thing -
ridgewood may have the nicest downtown of the four, but i don't think that should be a primary factor in choosing where to live unless you plan on purchasing a house within walking distance of the central business district. otherwise, you're going to be driving there anyway, as ridgewood is a fairly large town with some very hilly areas. what this means is that you could conceivably live in any of the other three towns and drive to ridgewood's downtown area quickly and easily, since you'd probably be doing it anyway even if you lived in ridgewood.

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by Will's mom

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!

i realized that i didn't really answer some of your specific questions about wyckoff. here are some thoughts:

like others have mentioned, wyckoff has a little bit of a rural feel in some parts, as there are a couple of small farms left plus a handful of newer residential subdivisions that were built on top of former farmland. but the town is definitely suburban, and not nearly as ostentatious as, say, franklin lakes to the west. there's a mix of small cape cods, medium-sized tudors, colonials, and modern split levels, and large mcmansions. most of the town's streets are heavily shaded with mature trees, and there is a small but perfectly decent town center. for the most part, though, the town is more spread out than ridgewood or glen rock.

the sicomac section of wyckoff is located in the southern part of town (south of route 208) and close to the border with north haledon and hawthorne. there are a lot of modest but very well-maintained cape cods in that area, and as it's a wealthier town, you're never too far away from some new, larger homes.

right now the only way to get to nyc from wyckoff is to take a bus or drive to the hawthorne train station, which isn't too far away. i'm not sure about the parking situation there, but i once worked with a guy who lived in franklin lakes and drove to the hawthorne station every day via route 208. he said the commute wasn't too bad. at that time the station's parking lot was free and didn't require a permit, but i don't know if that's still the case.

btw, wyckoff used to have passenger rail service until the 1960s or so. the tracks were never removed and there has been speculation that nj transit may restore service through midland park, wyckoff, franklin lakes, and oakland at some point in the future. the thing is, there's no timetable for that, so i wouldn't count on it happening anytime in the next 5 or 6 years. first of all, nj transit needs to decide if it wants to restore service along the proposed "cross county line", which would run from north bergen to hawthorne via hackensack and paterson. if that were to happen, the line could easily be extended to midland park, wyckoff, and beyond. but again, it's not something your husband would be able to utilize anytime soon.