I've lived in Bergen County NJ since 1974. Grew up in ELmwood Park, lived in Lodi for 6 years and moved to Norwood 15 years ago.Quite a few years ago I was a truck driver that had a route along the RT 287/Rt202 corridor through Flemington, Princeton area.
I've always loved the spaciousness of the Princton area and it does have some beautiful towns around it. You will always find that "College" town feel in the area especially from an Ivy League school like Princeton College, but I will chime in with the Pros of the Northern Bergen County area.
I will give you the real details as just about to buy a new home in Ridgewood. I've been actively looking at homes in the area for 2 months and deals are to be had. Most homes in the $450,000 to $500,000 range on a 150 x 150 lot are paying taxes anywhere between $7,000 - $10,000
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The best town to live in from a tax purpose is Mahwah, Mahwah has the lowest tax rate in Northern Bergen County, due to the many Industrial Parks that are on the outskirts of town.
As far as schools go, most of the towns in the area of Allendale have Regional High Schools that they share with 2 or more towns. Allendale is part of the Northern Highlands Regional High School which shares its High School with Upper Saddle River, Ho-Ho-Kus, and Saddle River towns. Most of the Schools in the "Hills" region are very good, as well as the "Valley" region which are the towns that are east of Allendale like, Hillsdale, Old Tappan, Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood, Woodcliff Lake, Parkridge, Norwood, Haworth, Demarest,.......
In the 2008 ranking of New Jersey High Schools in the top 10, 4 were Bergen County High Schools. with only one from Mercer which was Princeton ranked #6. Northern Highlands was ranked #8 and the Northern Valley(Demarest) Ranked 9th
A list of the top high schools in New Jersey by rank-www.njmonthly.com
Everyone of these towns in the "Valley" region are a 10-15 minute drive from Allendale.
Allendale is about 45 minutes from Midtown NYC without any major traffic delays by car, You could hop on the NJ Transit Train that runs through Allendale and be at Penn Station in Mid town NYC in 65 minutes for about
$6-7.00 round trip.
You are minutes away from every store you can imagine in the town of Paramus which has 5 main malls and countless retailors along Rt17 and Rt 4.
Now the following is my opinion but I strongly feel, if you choose Bergen County, stay North of Rt 4. Once you go south of Rt4 it tends to be a more urban than suburban vibe.
It all depends on what you are looking for besides living in a home, If you are looking for a quality home, with a quality school system and want to be near all the action that NYC provides, then Allendale and the area would be the choice.
Good Luck and let us know what you decide on!