South Orange vs. West Orange (Washington: foreclosure, condo, mortgage)

[doerayme]

Originally Posted by FreshFresh

I thought that was for only senior citizens. What are the requirements to ride that mini bus?

No requirements...just show up at the stop (ours is a block from the house) and they pick you up vice versa when you are at the train station except you just need to know which one to get on as there are a couple of West Orange jitneys that drop off in different sections of town.

[Caro257]

Originally Posted by veuvegirl

There are no 'bad parts' of South Orange. Part of South Orange boarders Newark, some people freak about this.

I would too. Newark is scary lol

I just moved to WO (by Eagle Rock and Mt. Pleasant) It's nice quiet safe, close to shopping and restaurants, close to Verona Park (5 min drive with the paddle boats and other fun things to do), there is an express bus to the city - costly but convinient (over 6.00 one way).

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by goonsquad

Get started! I wanna hear it. I've only been there the once. They have nice dart boards. Spill it

Well.... let's just say the owner (you may have noticed her she wears a mumu) treats her customers terribly. If you walk in with kids, she will refuse to seat you in the dining room saying they are 'full'. If you are wearing a hat, she screams at you, if you are of a certain color she'll treat you poorly.

There have been several of my friends that have been kicked out because she was in a bad mood. There have been stories upon stories about the way she treats people. It's hard to sum up!!!

[goonsquad]

Originally Posted by veuvegirl

Well.... let's just say the owner (you may have noticed her she wears a mumu) treats her customers terribly. If you walk in with kids, she will refuse to seat you in the dining room saying they are 'full'. If you are wearing a hat, she screams at you, if you are of a certain color she'll treat you poorly.

There have been several of my friends that have been kicked out because she was in a bad mood. There have been stories upon stories about the way she treats people. It's hard to sum up!!!

Well that's no good! I don't doubt your story one bit but am a little surprised to hear it. South Orange has a pretty even mix of black and white and I know a lot of black folks go there (based on my now 2 times having been there). I'd think that rude/biased behavior like that wouldn't go unnoticed for long. Is it possible she's just a c-word to everyone? I think I may have met her husband. There was an older fellow who sold my friend some hops.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by goonsquad

Well that's no good! I don't doubt your story one bit but am a little surprised to hear it. South Orange has a pretty even mix of black and white and I know a lot of black folks go there (based on my now 2 times having been there). I'd think that rude/biased behavior like that wouldn't go unnoticed for long. Is it possible she's just a c-word to everyone? I think I may have met her husband. There was an older fellow who sold my friend some hops.

She is rude to a lot of people. It is amazing how many bad stories I have heard from friends, friends of friends etc. But there are a handful of people that have never witnessed it and always have a great time. So who knows?

I just know my experience, ate there once the food was mediocre at best and the owner in her mumu screaming at the top of her lungs at a guy who had stepped outside to use his cell phone. She ranted and raved until his entire table got up and left. I will never step foot in the place again.

[samunoz1]

I've owned my place in WO for about 5 years now. My taxes went up nearly a thousand dollars every year. The demographics have been changing rapidly since the housing bubble burst. There are 4 foreclosures on my block with some of the house sitting empty on my deadend street. I've had to call the cops several times on drug dealing riff raff trying to setup shop on my street.

My words advice are:
1. You'll want to live up the Hill. Think Essex Green or higher.
2. Taxes are KILLER!
3. They keep a nasty lady at the WO Board of Education that verbally assualted me when I registered my nephew (my sister lives with me) for Kindergarten.
4. The mounting foreclosures indicates that demographics are going to change for the worst.
5. All the fun activities, nice shops and restaurants are in SO, Maplewood and Montclair.
6. Stay away from area near the Edison Museum things get shady fast.

[ansky]

Originally Posted by samunoz1

The demographics have been changing rapidly since the housing bubble burst. There are 4 foreclosures on my block with some of the house sitting empty on my deadend street.

On the contrary, there were 3 houses for sale on my street this year and both sold in less than a month. The 4 foreclosures you speak of were probably houses that were way overpriced to begin with and now were hit hard by the economy. Foreclosures are everywhere, and not unique to WO. We love living in WO. The people here are friendlier than anywhere else I have ever lived. I would not consider any part of WO to be "shady", nor have I ever felt unsafe in any part of town.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by samunoz1

I've owned my place in WO for about 5 years now. My taxes went up nearly a thousand dollars every year. The demographics have been changing rapidly since the housing bubble burst. There are 4 foreclosures on my block with some of the house sitting empty on my deadend street. I've had to call the cops several times on drug dealing riff raff trying to setup shop on my street.

My words advice are:
1. You'll want to live up the Hill. Think Essex Green or higher.
2. Taxes are KILLER!
3. They keep a nasty lady at the WO Board of Education that verbally assualted me when I registered my nephew (my sister lives with me) for Kindergarten.
4. The mounting foreclosures indicates that demographics are going to change for the worst.
5. All the fun activities, nice shops and restaurants are in SO, Maplewood and Montclair.
6. Stay away from area near the Edison Museum things get shady fast.

Interesting ... I'm thinking of buying in WO. We initially were looking in South Orange, but WO seemed to offer more house for the money, and a more quiet woodsy look and feel. On the downside, you give up the nice downtown.

I've heard the "West Orange is declining" song a few times here. So I did go to the trouble to do some research on this.

Regarding demographics, based on what I checked (1990 vs 2000 census) it seems the ethnic mix is changing, the mix of incomes doesn't seem to have changed a whole lot (actually, seem to be increasing across the board). The public schools appear to be getting worse.

Crime has been going down steadily for the last several years, according to data posted on CD.

For now, I'm looking in Gregory (mostly West of Gregory Avenue) and St Cloud.

My gut feeling is that the town will hold up pretty well through a downturn. Besides Hazel, it doesn't really border any "bad" areas (even the part of Orange against Hazel is the less bad part of Orange), and the hills are always going to be a magnet for upscale housing. Property values are quite solid historically, so if you buy today, you are not buying in a place where property values were under 200k in the early 2000s (as is the case with most of the sub 400k inventory in S. Orange)

[samunoz1]

I bought in West Orange based on city-data. I would recommend visiting the area you are considering on a warm spring/summer day and more so close to dusk. If you feel comfortable with what you see on the street then its all good.

[mrstress324]

We bought in West orange 5 years ago. I would recommend it to someone looking to raise a family. there are a lot of kids playing outside on my block, the neighbors are great. It is very quiet, we do not have fences up on our block so kids walk through our yard all the time. i think we need a better downtown , but with the 250 million being invested it should not be long. Taxes are a little high, but if you are spending 500k on a house what is a $1000 more or less going to do for you??