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Hi, I'm thinking about moving to GR (currently living in NYC), does anyone if the area inside the triangle Brookside Park/Bloomfield Cemetery/Mountainside Hospital is a nice area?
Is it convenient for NYC commute?
Also how is the current RE situation in GR, does the 400ks buy a nice house? Do you see the prices coming up or down?
Any insights to all or any of these questions are greatly apprecitated!
That is a very nice triangle you have described (Ridgewood Drive, etc). The NYC commute is fantastic, you can walk to either train station and the midtown express will get you in the city in no time.
As for the real estate in the area, I am sure it has come down, by how much I don't know. The thing you have to beware of in Glen Ridge is taxes- they are BRUTAL by NJ standards. Also, I think, even with this downturn in the market, finding a house in the $400s might be tough to impossible, especially in the triangle you are looking at.
Hi, thanks for the info, in fact the park name is Brookside (by Google) and it is by Bay Ave and Broad, so the triangle is much smaller, anyway I assume that everything you said would apply to the smaller area.
Again, thanks!
The triangle you are referring to is not as nice as the section of Glen Ridge that is closer to Brookdale. It is more affordable there though, and you might be able to find a house there in the 400s. Yes, taxes are high, so it's probably only worth buying there if you would use the Glen Ridge schools. Otherwise, you could find the same type of houses as in that area, up or across Broad St. in Bloomfield, and pay lower taxes. Commuting to the city from there would be either walking to Bay St. or Glen Ridge train station or taking a DeCamp bus which goes up Broad St.
Hi, thanks for the info, in fact the park name is Brookside (by Google) and it is by Bay Ave and Broad, so the triangle is much smaller, anyway I assume that everything you said would apply to the smaller area.
Again, thanks!
Ok, there is a small park on the corner of Bay and Broad. I never knew that it was called Brookside. It has a baseball field, a little stream dividing the park with a bridge to go over the water, and a tiny playground, etc. Lots of dogwalkers there. My dog hated going over the wooden bridge. Anyway, that's in Bloomfield, not Glen Ridge.
Glen Ridge is iffy. I've seem some dumps behind Bloomfield hs, off of Belleville Ave. I've also seem some dumps west of Mountainside. Anything west of Mountainside...be weary...very weary. Anything close to Grove St, don't even waste your time. Having said that, Ridgewood Ave is very nice and has first-rate homes there. Things can change street by street though, so you'd really have to go look at specific houses on specific streets. Glen Ridge is very small and the nice parts are getting smaller and smaller.
An issue to consider is the resale value. The area of Montclair to the west of Glen Ridge sucks. Big time. The area of Bloomfield that is to the east of where you're looking is mediocre at best. That is kind of the default line for Bloomfield. North of that area is nice, south...sketchy. Perhaps you should look more north in Glen Ridge, closer to Watchung Ave. Since Glen Ridge is so expensive, you really want to consider how the community is going to look in the future with rough areas all around it. How much longer will the schools lasts? The best things about Glen Ridge is the schools and close train stations. For the same amount of money you could move a mile east and buy a place in Nutley, a tried and true community that has good schools and isn't going anywhere. It has stability, and resale value. Also, watch out for Bloomfield. It's a nice area, especially around Brookdale, but the southern parts suck and the school district is horrific. It can be very tempting to buy a home in Brookdale since it is so nice and close to transportation, but it will be difficult to resell to families because the schools are so bad and private schooling is a must.
The property taxes are brutal, but Glen Ridge is very nice throughout. The triangle of Mountainside/Brookdale Park/Bloomfield Cemetery includes most of the North Side of town, and there really aren't any iffy areas there. The South End is actually very nice too. Mattjd clearly doesn't have a clue - Nutley is a nice town, but it can't hold a candle to Glen Ridge - and what he said about the nice parts of Glen Ridge getting smaller is just plain wrong, it's the iffy parts that are disappearing.
The areas that can be a bit iffy (and really that's mostly just in comparison) are in the center of town and in some of the border blocks - there are so few I can list them for you (YMMV):
CENTER OF TOWN:
Edgewood
Hillside (just the block N of Bloomfield Ave)
High Street (just the block S of Belleville)
Belleville Ave
Highland Ave (just the block S of Belleville)
Glen Ridge Avenue (not the same as Glen Ridge Parkway)
Bloomfield Ave
BORDER BLOCKS:
Willow
Brooklawn
Glen Park
Midland (just the block S of Carteret)
Ridgewood (just the block S of Carteret)
Clark (just the block between Thomas & Bloomfield)
Thomas
Marston
Lincoln (just the few houses W of Douglas)
Woodland (just the few houses W of Douglas)
Baldwin (just the few houses W of Highland)
Bay Street (not the same as Bay Avenue)
All of these added together probably don't add up to 100 homes. Even then, most of them are nice, and all of these areas have been steadily improving in value. Anything not listed is not even remotely iffy.
If you want NO diversity and closed minded people than Glen Ridge is perfect for you. I would rather live in Montclair, Caldwell, West Caldwell than in Glen Ridge and Nutley anytime. My child is an honor student in Bloomfield High School and she loves it. On the other hand her best friend moved to Glen Ridge and has a horrific time in High School. You have to live up to their excpections. Screw that.. I think they are their own planet and USA is around them ..
The area of Montclair to the west of Glen Ridge sucks. .
That area is a lot better now than it used to be. There is a lot of new construction going on, and there are still pockets of decent areas in the south side of Montclair.
Glen Ridge has become much more popular in the past few years with young couples who will be using the schools and who commute to New York. Many young couples I work with who first bought in Bloomfield when they came out from the city have been choosing Glen Ridge for a second, larger home with a bigger yard. The most recent Glen Ridge tax assessment was actually quite kind to homes in the 400 - 600 range near Linden School in the south. That, combined with the fact that Glen Ridge property owners got a bit more realistic about what the market was like actually created competition in that price range all through last year.
Compared to Montclair (and you really have to do this by price range -- it isn't across the board) a 590 house with 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, on a side street in Glen Ridge with taxes of 14000 is a larger house than the same house plunked into Montclair.
If you need the train to NYC, Glen Ridge Bloomfield and Montclair are your best bet and historically, you've always gotten more house in Bloomfield.
Weekend train service to NYC starts in November from all three !!
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Thanks a lot!
