Moving To Mercer County (Newark, Edison: sale, lease, new home)

[kv78]

Thanks for all the responses. i don't have an issue with diversity, the people whom I have spoken to have said it does not seem to as big a mix as you describe and that it is very much trending more towards Indian. We have made only 1 house hunting trip and our personal experience is that there was no one else at any open house that was not Indian or outside in the developments. this was primarily the estates at princeton junction. Maybe its just a particular area.

Thanks for the tip on Robbinsville being slightly better than Hamilton. Other than the schools being below West Windsor is there any other negative attributes of Robbinsville. We have not been there yet but I do see many new construction options.

Thanks

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by kv78

Thanks for all the responses. i don't have an issue with diversity, the people whom I have spoken to have said it does not seem to as big a mix as you describe and that it is very much trending more towards Indian. We have made only 1 house hunting trip and our personal experience is that there was no one else at any open house that was not Indian or outside in the developments. this was primarily the estates at princeton junction. Maybe its just a particular area.

I gotta say, you did hit the Indian jackpot there. For some reason, Indians are the predominant ethnic group or groups in that development.

Thanks for the tip on Robbinsville being slightly better than Hamilton. Other than the schools being below West Windsor is there any other negative attributes of Robbinsville. We have not been there yet but I do see many new construction options.

Thanks

I honestly don't know enough about Robbinsville to tell you about any negatives. I know the negatives of Hamilton and Hopewell and other communities, but nothing about that one.

[luckyshoes]

Here's how I rank the school districts, JMO
Princeton
Montgomery (see below)
WWP
Hopewell/Robbinsville (Pennington is part of Hopewell school district I think)
Hamilton

If you've ruled out WWP, then you should look at Hopewell and Robbinsville. I saw your budget below, I would skip Hamilton if your budget is that high.

Another town to consider is Montgomery (north of Princeton, borders Hopewell). I don't know how the commute is from Hopewell and Montgomery though, you might find it's better from Robbinsville depending on where you need to go. That's a big factor.

Good luck!

[kv78]

Thanks very much! Ok so maybe I need to keep driving around West Windsor to some other developments.

Thanks for the opinion on school ratings. Is it fair to say that Robbinsville and Hamilton are better than average in the state? Since you seem to have some knowledge of that area are there any obvious negatives of Robbinsville/Hamilton. If so please let me know! We want some (not tons but a nice size yard) land (since right now we have NONE in California), good community feel, lots to be involved in ( I will be staying home).

Thanks!

[luckyshoes]

Originally Posted by kv78

Thanks very much! Ok so maybe I need to keep driving around West Windsor to some other developments.

Thanks for the opinion on school ratings. Is it fair to say that Robbinsville and Hamilton are better than average in the state? Since you seem to have some knowledge of that area are there any obvious negatives of Robbinsville/Hamilton. If so please let me know! We want some (not tons but a nice size yard) land (since right now we have NONE in California), good community feel, lots to be involved in ( I will be staying home).

Thanks!

If your budget is 7-800K, I would skip Hamilton entirely.

From what you want in a house, I would say take a close look at Robbinsville. There are some new developments (Combs Farms and Cubberly Meadows) as well as some older homes (10 years old or so) on nice lots in your price range on a half acre or so. It's a nice, quiet town, great place to raise kids. Robbinsville just built a new high school and is an up-and-coming town. The only issue is that there is some school overcrowding at the lower elementary level right now due to the new housing in the area. The location is good too, it's such an easy ride over to the shore which is great. West Windsor is nice too, but you'll get more for your money in Robbinsville, and I actually think that Robbinsville has some benefits over WWP anyway.

[jerseyj]

Originally Posted by kv78

Thanks very much! Ok so maybe I need to keep driving around West Windsor to some other developments.

Thanks for the opinion on school ratings. Is it fair to say that Robbinsville and Hamilton are better than average in the state? Since you seem to have some knowledge of that area are there any obvious negatives of Robbinsville/Hamilton. If so please let me know! We want some (not tons but a nice size yard) land (since right now we have NONE in California), good community feel, lots to be involved in ( I will be staying home).

Thanks!

As far as school rankings, for what it's worth, NJ monthly rankings (2008) are fairly consistant with other rankings of the High Schools in this area.

Out of 316 NJ HS districts-
Princeton - 6
Hopewell (Pennington) -39
Hamilton East (steinert) -199
Hamilton North (Nottingham) -260
Hamilton West (Watson) -262
Robbinsville just graduated their first senior class, so the rankings are not out.
Although all preliminary reports look like Robbinsville will be quite competitive.
Top New Jersey High Schools 2008 -- njmonthly.com - The Best of Jersey

Also, because Cranbury is so small they send their kids to Princeton HS.
WW-P rank 19 and 21.

I know just what you are going through!
It is such a tough and confusing decision!
Good Luck!

[KL72]

It sounds like Robbinsville is where you want to be. It's an up and coming township now with the new communities (Combs Farm and Cubberly Meadows) largely made up of white, young professionals with younger children (toddler / elementry age). The Hamilton train station is about a 12 minute drive from the newer communities in Robbinsville, which will get you into Manhatten 60 minutes later on the express.

Look into Cubberly Meadows since the builder only has about 10 out of 110 contracts on the lots sold. He's giving away really good deals especially on the Oxford ($674k list about 3700+ sq ft) and Cambridge models (~$800+ list 4500 - 5500 square feet). The community has a minimum of half acre lots, some backed to woods and protected spaces. None of the houses are finished yet in this community, but I've met a good number of the families moving into them and they are all young professionals with young children. Many commute into Jersey city or NYC. These houses will gain in value significantly down the road as where they are positioned in the township is ideal. Hallmark Homes is the builder (the same builder who did Saran Woods in the 90s also in Robbinsville, which has doubled in value since then).

There is also the Washington Town Center community (400 or so homes I think) that are all about 5 years old. These are smaller homes (2000-3000 sq ft), smaller lots (.15 acre or so) with a focus on frontyard living instead of backyard living. The community was built to cater to folks who like to have their kids play in the front of the houses with others kids, so they built playsets all throughout the community. There are also small boutiques and restaurants on the edge of the community that really adds a lot of appeal to Robbinsville and gives it more of an upper class, urban feel to it. Again, basically a community of young professionals and young families. The houses and town homes go from $400k to $600k.

Good luck!

[luckyshoes]

Originally Posted by KL72

It sounds like Robbinsville is where you want to be. It's an up and coming township now with the new communities (Combs Farm and Cubberly Meadows) largely made up of white, young professionals with younger children (toddler / elementry age). The Hamilton train station is about a 12 minute drive from the newer communities in Robbinsville, which will get you into Manhatten 60 minutes later on the express.

Look into Cubberly Meadows since the builder only has about 10 out of 110 contracts on the lots sold. He's giving away really good deals especially on the Oxford ($674k list about 3700+ sq ft) and Cambridge models (~$800+ list 4500 - 5500 square feet). The community has a minimum of half acre lots, some backed to woods and protected spaces. None of the houses are finished yet in this community, but I've met a good number of the families moving into them and they are all young professionals with young children. Many commute into Jersey city or NYC. These houses will gain in value significantly down the road as where they are positioned in the township is ideal. Hallmark Homes is the builder (the same builder who did Saran Woods in the 90s also in Robbinsville, which has doubled in value since then).

There is also the Washington Town Center community (400 or so homes I think) that are all about 5 years old. These are smaller homes (2000-3000 sq ft), smaller lots (.15 acre or so) with a focus on frontyard living instead of backyard living. The community was built to cater to folks who like to have their kids play in the front of the houses with others kids, so they built playsets all throughout the community. There are also small boutiques and restaurants on the edge of the community that really adds a lot of appeal to Robbinsville and gives it more of an upper class, urban feel to it. Again, basically a community of young professionals and young families. The houses and town homes go from $400k to $600k.

Good luck!

I agree, I would try to get a one of those larger new homes in Combs Farms or Cubberly Meadows if you are going to go to Robbinsville and your budget is that high. They are in a good location, close to everything, shops, schools, etc.

[Lucky Lady123]

Check out Robbinsville. I use to live there years ago and have nothing bad to say about it. There are different developments you can check out as well as townhouses and I think you might find it to your liking.

[timneh5]

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