Millburn (Montclair, Hoboken, Orange: homes, top schools, colleges)

[Cat05]

Is one of the places we are considering moving. Has anyone been there? What can you tell me about it? I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts.

[pattiv]

Millburn is a very nice area, but expensive.
I grew up in Maplewood, next town over.

The school systems are good, but property taxes pretty high.
Check out New Providence as well.

[Cat05]

I'm in particular looking for good schools, which is how I found a mention of Millburn. I'll take a look at New Providence as well, thanks, but I'm willing to deal with high taxes in order to get good schools. I'm currently in Hoboken with high property taxes and bad schools, so this would be a step up

[pattiv]

Great- Their schools are rated one of the best.[New Providence]
Its also a lovely area.
My brother has lived there for 15 years, and loves it.[ 3 kids in school]
Good luck with your search!

[formerNYC]

We looked into Millburn, but found the homes a bit too expensive. However, the property taxes are lower than they are in Maplewood or South Orange (which we ended up moving to), and the schools are very good. They have a good number of stores in town too, although mostly upscale and pricey. The commute is great (about 35 minutes), and you'll probably get a seat on the train pretty easily as well, since you're getting on earlier than the heavy commuting towns of Maplewood and South Orange. The rush for any available seat is the only downside to our commute.

[lizzyr]

Millburn schools get very good marks and the tests scores are high. The dirty secret that they won't tell you is this comes with a price. The kids are very stressed out and the competition to get into the top colleges is high. If you kid is not National Merit scholar material, I would suggest you look else where, as middle range kids don't get significant attention.

There is also lots of money in Millburn/Short Hills and the display of designer clothes and talk of expensive vacations is very common.

If this is how you want to raise you child, you child will get a good education. If not, consider Maplewood.

[Riccijoe]

Millburn is a great town to live in. Top schools, vibrant downtown, train station to NYC.

[Riccijoe]

Summit and Westfield are also great towns

[Cat05]

Okay, well Millburn, Summit, Westfield and New Providence are already on our list as possibilities, so we'll check on them at some point. Maplewood is one I'll look at again, thanks.

I'm not wild about the conspicous consumption lifestyle. I don't want my daughter to think that she can't be happy or successful in life without an SUV and summers in Paris, or whatever the status symbols are these days. So that's a real downside for Millburn. Ridgewood too, from what I hear but I haven't been to either place yet myself.

[ira]

Hi Cat05,

Its me.

We'll be moving to Ridgewood within the next couple of months so I'll let you know how it is. I absolutely agree with you about Millburn. It is very much like that - who has what, who went where, etc. And the proximity of Short-Hills Mall doesn't help either . A lot of old money. Would be too much pressure for us and for the kids.

I didn't get the same vibe in Ridgewood but I could be wrong. Take a look at Montclair - from what I hear its more diverse and less "stuck-up" than some of the other towns.