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I am looking at a new possibility...I really like many of the affordable historical homes that exist in Plainfield. I saw many on realtor.com. However, I have heard many negative things about Plainfield, especially the high school. I understand other surrounding towns can be nice places to live, but what about Plainfield? I do not care about the high school since I do not have any kids. Also, I do not mind living in a city with some bad areas (as long as I am not living there), however is all of Plainfield bad? Are there any "safe" neighborhoods in Plainfield? Where exactly would they be? Are all of the historic homes (Victorian) in nice areas or are they a bit run-down? The affordability of nice large historic homes is quite attractive to me, but not if it is in a dangerous area.
I saw the other posts on Plainfield...many do not recommend Plainfield. However, if there are some reasonably nice areas, I would like to know exactly where they are. I do not want to go looking at homes in not-so-nice areas.
Very dicey, at your own risk. Some areas are better than areas. I also think there is a growing gay community there. If I'm not mistaken I think McGreevey and his partner live there.
I am looking at a new possibility...I really like many of the affordable historical homes that exist in Plainfield. I saw many on realtor.com. However, I have heard many negative things about Plainfield, especially the high school. I understand other surrounding towns can be nice places to live, but what about Plainfield? I do not care about the high school since I do not have any kids. Also, I do not mind living in a city with some bad areas (as long as I am not living there), however is all of Plainfield bad? Are there any "safe" neighborhoods in Plainfield? Where exactly would they be? Are all of the historic homes (Victorian) in nice areas or are they a bit run-down? The affordability of nice large historic homes is quite attractive to me, but not if it is in a dangerous area.
The problem you are going to have is that the word "dangerous" can be rather subjective. So, start with some research on the area, crime stats and that sort of thing. Call the police department and have a conversation with someone there. Perhaps drive through town, along the main streets, on a well lit, busy day. Get a feel for the place. Also, City-Data has a store of information on Plainfield, including annual crime statistics. (The crime stats table is about a third of the way dowen the page.) Take a look at those, maybe even pull up a city with which you are familiar and comfortable, and compare them. Get the addresses of some of those properties you saw, and drive through those neighborhoods.
There are some nice areas of Plainfield, some wonderful areas, however the west end is the area many people avoid due to drug activity. I however have never had any problems there. Plainfield has gotten much better over the last 10 years due to an influx of young hispanic families who seem to have revitalized the downtown area
First, I did see the crime statistics on Plainfield. They are not too flattering. However, such stats can be misleading since some areas can have much higher crime rates than others. As for it being subjective...yes and no. Yes, some people will feel safer in some neighborhoods that others would not. As for my perception of safe it is based on whether the average Joe would feel comfortable walking around. I was once in an area in the Bronx where my mere presense caused people to act like an alien landed! That by almost anyones standards is dicey. Some people would not even consider Manhatten safe, but most people I know are not afriad to walk around most neighborhoods. As for Harlem, I consider some areas "safe" since most city people would not be concerned about walking around during the day. However, many off-the-beaten-track sidestreets and teh Bronx are no-go areas for me.
However, where is Plainfield based on these experiences? I do not want to go into another bad area, especially when I do not know where I am going. I once drove through a bad part of Newark and had someone approach my car to sell me drugs. It was scary and I do not want to repeat it. However, I do feel comfortable in livable blue-collar towns and Manhatten. Therefore, what parts of Plainfield are "safe" based on these standards?
Plainfield has some of the best housing stock in all of northern NJ. Plainfield is a very large city, though. Look at areas that are closest to the Netherwood rail station. You will find very nice homes and absolutely beautifully landscaped lawns w/ rolling hills and winding roads around there. They like to call that particular area "Sleepy Hollow." Good luck. When we were in NJ it was always nice to visit friends and family in that area.
Sleepy Hollow in Plainfield is considered to be one of the safer neighborhoods in Plainfield with many gorgeous homes and very high property taxes. I was born in Plainfield and raised in South Plainfield. Stay away from those really beautiful homes in the West Seventh St. section. I know they are very tempting because of the fantastic architecture but you will not be safe there. One of my friend's husbands lived on the outskirts of the west end and was attacked while working in his front yard. The last time I went to Front Street in Plainfield only to walk 75' to a pizzeria and I was heckled and hassled by carloads of local thugs. I won't even drive through that town anymore (except for Sleepy Hollow and Woodland area). If I were you, I'd check out houses in Westfield. You may pay more but at least you won't get attacked while gardening and won't be afraid to walk from your car to your house. It's such a shame since this was once a beautiful town.
I grew up in Plainfield but have been away for a long time. So this information may be out of date, but my reading here on city-data seems to indicate that it's still pretty accurate: you're probably OK if you are south of Seventh St. and/or east of Park Avenue. There was also a good area in the far northwest, around Rock Ave., but it wasn't particularly historic. There's a website about the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District that someone posted here recently; not sure if the Crescent Avenue district has a website.
We’ve lived in Plainfield (Sleepy Hollow section – [url=http://www.foshnj.com]The Friends of Sleepy Hollow[/url]) for the past 3 years and love it. We were able to get more house & property for our money than in other local areas. We have a big yard with trees, ducks, hummingbirds,etc. The neighborhood is beautiful and we have lots of nice neighbors. It’s racially, socially, economically diverse. We also have tons of bloggers for some reason – you can check them out here: [url=http://pclips.blogspot.com/]C L I P S[/url]
Plainfield is like any other city – there are poorer areas and higher crime areas. But the more people talk about it as a dangerous place, the more people are discouraged from going downtown, eating at local restaurants, etc., and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course there’s crime here, but being “heckled and hassled by carloads of local thugs” is not a regular occurrence, and honestly could happen in any town.
Good luck with your search! Here are some web sites for the local historic districts:
[url=http://crescenthistoric.blogspot.com/]Welcome to Crescent Area Historic District[/url]
[url=http://vanwyckbrookshistoricdistrict.blogspot.com/]Van Wyck Brooks Historic District[/url]
[url=http://ptoday.blogspot.com/]PLAINFIELD TODAY[/url] [links to lots of local web sites]
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