How's Ocean Grove?

[SweepTheLeg]

Originally Posted by puparella

Hi, I too am considering moving to Ocean Grove. I visited the area yesterday and loved it. I felt like I was in a fairytale with gingerbread houses and dollhouses, hehe. Anyways, after reading this thread I am a bit concerned about the boarding houses. Do they attract a lot of weirdos and undesirables you would not want in your town? I was also concerned about the surrounding areas. How is the crime rate in Ocean Grove? Are there a lot of robberies, etc?

I'll put it this way - Ocean Grove is one of the nicest areas on the northern Jersey Shore.

[siri]

The first year or 2 I lived in Ocean Grove it DID feel like a fairy tale... My husband and I used to sit on a bench in the auditorium park, eating delicious ice cream, see little kids leaning their bikes against trees to run in for cones, and we swore it was still 1959 and Donna Reed was about to walk right by.

Well, I hate to have to say this, but times changed....and pretty fast.

The dream was over.... mostly.

It's not about the "weirdos and undesirables" living in the boarding houses. In fact, over the past several years, it feels like there are fewer of them. When you live there, you get to know who almost all of them are, and I promise you, they are very harmless.

For us, the "undesirables" were big noisy families, many ruder than the previous rude ones, who started to chip away at the town's charm, and frankly, OG started to lose the special qualities that distinguished it from the other NJ shore towns, which was horrifying for those of us who held it so dear.

I don't mean to paint such a tragic picture, though. We still go there often for the day or to spend the night, and always find the distinctive serenity the town offers. Let me put it this way: we sometimes eat lunch in Bradley Beach or Belmar, but we always head back to OG to sit on the beach. It DOES feel different -- calmer -- partly because (in the summer) there's no food being sold on the boardwalk, like it is in most other shore towns. Also, no bike riding on the boardwalk EVER during the summer (though some do in defiance!) and you can't get on the beach til 12:30 pm on Sundays -- which -- if you're a renter only there on the weekends, is a bummer, especially on Sundays when it's a gorgeous sunny morning, and then the clouds and winds roll in just when you hit the sand.

So, all in all, even though times have changed, it's still the place I would wholeheartedly recommend for renting at the NJ shore.

You can stroll down Main Avenue, go into the wonderful cheese store, sit at a cafe, or just window-gaze, and you're somewhere special, I have to say. And shockingly so close to New York City. Sometimes I felt like I was 1/2 the world away.

I don't think crime has risen terribly much, although I do know when I lived there, I heard about a few robberies in houses mostly on the periphery of town, meaning the far north (bordering Asbury Park) and the south end, which is pretty quiet and in many ways feels like a separate town. I've NEVER heard about muggings or anything. But you can always check out the Asbury Park Press and other local papers (the Coaster online) and search for OG news to get a more recent picture of what's going on.

But forget about buying anything there unless you're super wealthy. For about 300K you buy a one bed, on bath cottage. Not sure if prices will ever come down to reality there.

If I haven't said too much already, and if you have any more questions I can maybe help you with, feel free to PM me.

[Diane Giam]

Tht is the one Beach Area I enjoyed visiting when I lived in NJ. There were not big crowds, and their were charming restaurants and shops. It was easy to park there. Before I moved I did my last tour of NJ Beach Areas and I still enjoyed walking around Ocean Grove.

Diane G

[VeradoDan]

As far as things to do near OG, it's right next to Asbury Park where there are a good number of bars and nightlife options. I wouldn't walk home through AP, but it's a two minute drive at most. As far as the religious stuff, there are still some remnants of it, but there is actually a pretty sizable gay community growing. So, times certainly do change.