Is all of the Greenville section of Jersey City bad? (Newark: crime, houses)

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by twista6002

Greeneville is the roughest part of Jersey City. High crime, gang activity, and the buildings for the most part are ugly as sin. There's a reason it's the cheapest part of JC

Yeah I know it is the worst section of JC, but from what I gather it is a pretty decent sized area so I was curios if the whole thing was bad or if it was certain sections.

[mandmrossi]

Dorian,
Having lived in teh area for 40 years, a lot has changed. Most of what was Greenville is no longer as one thinks. Its a pickers paradise for crime. I am not sure there is truly a "nice" section any longer. All have good points and bad of course no matter where you go. If there is no real need to live in JC, I would suggest outlier towns such as Kearny, North Arlington, Lyndhurst or Rutherford. All have direct transportation and are less then 8 miles to center of JC.

Good luck and let me know if you need any other info.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by Dorian

Sorry if it is getting confusing, but based on what I heard before and what this thread is currently confirming I am basically eliminating Greenville. And I was asking you similar to what I asked NJKate which was asking about other sections of JC and also some other areas I saw similar prices such as Harrison, North Bergen, and Bayonne. Again sorry for the confusion I probably should just start another thread.

In terms of decent areas that are close to the city that are cheap:

(1) around McGinley Square (e.g. Kensington avenue) etc is where I live now, and I think njkate also lived there at one stage. As njkate points out, there are some nice blocks around there between JFK and West Side. There are also a handful between JFK and Bergen -- the Duncan avenue block is a nice tree-lined street. Highland Avenue a little further up is is also quite nice. It's about 15-20 minutes walk to the PATH, and there are frequent buses during commuting hours. The main advantage of this area is that there are plenty of great shopping options (Indian grocery stores on Newark avenue, a middle-Eastern leaning C-Town that has a small but solid deli and an aisle of middle Eastern food, great access to Manhattan, close to a park). Disadvantage is that it is more urban and hence closer to pockets of crime than most of the other towns you're considering. Also, schools are terrible if that's an issue for you.

(2) Bayonne is a sleepy blue collar (largely white/Italian) town with a very industrial feel. It is not as convenient for commutes to Manhattan because you need to take a bus or light rail get to the train station. You gain substantially safety, lose some in proximity to the city. If you're into shopping at upscale groceries like whole foods etc, it probably isn't a very good choice. But crime rates are very low for a place that inexpensive (as they are in N.Bergen)

(3) As I mentioned before, North Bergen (and Union City) are blue collar towns, with large spanish speaking populations. I think there are some good city commute options from Union City.

(4) I discussed Harrison in another post.

(5) Given the places you are looking into, I think you should also seriously consider Newark. There are parts of Newark that are very rough, but there are also some parts of town that have much lower crime. The Ironbound, just East of Newark Penn Station. is one such place. The parts of town around the North end of Branchbrook park are also worth considering.

(6) Take a careful look at the market in Manhattan -- I didn't see what your budget is, but you may find something in Washington heights, Harlem or Inwood that is within reach. The downside of these areas is that parking is really tough -- if you want to keep your car, forget it. The advantage is that you have access to the subway system, convenient access to the city, and plenty of amenities withing walking distance.

[njkate]

Originally Posted by izannimda

That's a bit of hyperbole. Yea, it's not a nice area, but it's not dangerous. This may have been the case 20 years ago.

I said DICEY which means it can be a mixed bag
yeah drunken druggies on church steps are not at all intimidating

[JerseyCity201]

Originally Posted by Dorian

I have heard that Greenville is bad as a whole, but is it pretty much all bad or does it have parts that are not that bad? If there are areas inside the neighborhood that aren't that bad roughly where are they located?

The majority of Greenville is bad with a few decent pockets here and there that are still not far from the crime hot spots. The only part of Greenville which I would say is safe is Country Village, which looks like a small suburb trapped in a city.

[LynnePatrice]

Dorian,

You asked about the 200 block of liberty Avenue. That part of Jersey City Heights is the Western Slope. It's considered one of the safer parts of Jersey City overall. I live there and haven't had any problems as of yet.

It's located one block west of JFK boulevard about 10 blocks from Journal Square. Maybe it's more but it's about 10 stop lights from Journal Square.

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by LynnePatrice

Dorian,

You asked about the 200 block of liberty Avenue. That part of Jersey City Heights is the Western Slope. It's considered one of the safer parts of Jersey City overall. I live there and haven't had any problems as of yet.

It's located one block west of JFK boulevard about 10 blocks from Journal Square. Maybe it's more but it's about 10 stop lights from Journal Square.

I looked the listing up again and it is an apartment building on 215 Liberty St. I'm kinda confused because when I put in the address that is listed on the ad on google maps it takes me to 215 Liberty Ave, is there only a Liberty Ave. and the ad has a typo or is there also a Liberty St.? Is there parking at the Journal Square station? If so is it expensive and is it hard to find a spot?

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

In terms of decent areas that are close to the city that are cheap:

(1) around McGinley Square (e.g. Kensington avenue) etc is where I live now, and I think njkate also lived there at one stage. As njkate points out, there are some nice blocks around there between JFK and West Side. There are also a handful between JFK and Bergen -- the Duncan avenue block is a nice tree-lined street. Highland Avenue a little further up is is also quite nice. It's about 15-20 minutes walk to the PATH, and there are frequent buses during commuting hours. The main advantage of this area is that there are plenty of great shopping options (Indian grocery stores on Newark avenue, a middle-Eastern leaning C-Town that has a small but solid deli and an aisle of middle Eastern food, great access to Manhattan, close to a park). Disadvantage is that it is more urban and hence closer to pockets of crime than most of the other towns you're considering. Also, schools are terrible if that's an issue for you.

(2) Bayonne is a sleepy blue collar (largely white/Italian) town with a very industrial feel. It is not as convenient for commutes to Manhattan because you need to take a bus or light rail get to the train station. You gain substantially safety, lose some in proximity to the city. If you're into shopping at upscale groceries like whole foods etc, it probably isn't a very good choice. But crime rates are very low for a place that inexpensive (as they are in N.Bergen)

(3) As I mentioned before, North Bergen (and Union City) are blue collar towns, with large spanish speaking populations. I think there are some good city commute options from Union City.

(4) I discussed Harrison in another post.

(5) Given the places you are looking into, I think you should also seriously consider Newark. There are parts of Newark that are very rough, but there are also some parts of town that have much lower crime. The Ironbound, just East of Newark Penn Station. is one such place. The parts of town around the North end of Branchbrook park are also worth considering.

(6) Take a careful look at the market in Manhattan -- I didn't see what your budget is, but you may find something in Washington heights, Harlem or Inwood that is within reach. The downside of these areas is that parking is really tough -- if you want to keep your car, forget it. The advantage is that you have access to the subway system, convenient access to the city, and plenty of amenities withing walking distance.

Thanks for all the info again Elflord. I have visited a couple places in Newark for my price range and although the houses were beautiful I felt like the neighborhoods were extremely dangerous. It is crazy because I saw the one at about 11 o'clock in the morning and it looked intimidating then so I can only imagine how it would be 12 hours or so later. And I don't scare easily. But the places I looked at weren't in the areas that you are suggesting so I will keep my eyes open.

[LynnePatrice]

Originally Posted by Dorian

I looked the listing up again and it is an apartment building on 215 Liberty St. I'm kinda confused because when I put in the address that is listed on the ad on google maps it takes me to 215 Liberty Ave, is there only a Liberty Ave. and the ad has a typo or is there also a Liberty St.? Is there parking at the Journal Square station? If so is it expensive and is it hard to find a spot?

I'm not sure if their is a Liberty Street. If the zipcode is 07307 then it is where I said it is.

Regarding parking at Journal Square. There are many different options to park. You can find something reasonable. I think there are lots for $9 or $10 per day. When I pass them at around 8:30 in the morning they usually are not full yet.

But if you did live at the Liberty Avenue address you could just walk 1 block up to JFK boulevard and take the $1.50 van to Journal Square, or to Port Authority. They run all day long and every few minutes. I never had to wait more than 3 minutes, ever. It cost $1.50 to Journal Square and if you want to go the other way, to Port Authority, it cost $2.50. They start running at around 6am and they stop at 1am I believe. Depending upon what time of day you get the bus, from that address it would take aruond 10 minutes to get to JSQ. To Port Authority I would say 45 - 1 hour, depending upon traffic.

[Dorian]

Originally Posted by LynnePatrice

I'm not sure if their is a Liberty Street. If the zipcode is 07307 then it is where I said it is.

Regarding parking at Journal Square. There are many different options to park. You can find something reasonable. I think there are lots for $9 or $10 per day. When I pass them at around 8:30 in the morning they usually are not full yet.

But if you did live at the Liberty Avenue address you could just walk 1 block up to JFK boulevard and take the $1.50 van to Journal Square, or to Port Authority. They run all day long and every few minutes. I never had to wait more than 3 minutes, ever. It cost $1.50 to Journal Square and if you want to go the other way, to Port Authority, it cost $2.50. They start running at around 6am and they stop at 1am I believe. Depending upon what time of day you get the bus, from that address it would take aruond 10 minutes to get to JSQ. To Port Authority I would say 45 - 1 hour, depending upon traffic.

The zip code that is listed is 07306.