Phillipsburg - possible move - need info (Camden, Wayne: apartment, rent)

[XZephyrX]

I am looking into buying a half of duplex in Phillipsburg, and would like some feedback on the area... I did a search on this forum, and found some information but it is a bit outdated. The house is near the Deleware River Park Area.

I am not familuar with this area what so ever. I have lived in Wayne for the past 15 years, but will need to move because of an impending divorce. I cannot afford to live in this area - unless it's the flood zone, and well that's actually underwater right now!

I would still work here in the Wayne area, and my kids would go to school here as well (father will remain in wayne). I realize the commute will be long, but it would be just as long if I moved over the border to NY or out 80 west. (and that would be more expensive than moving to Phillipsburg)

Would this be a safe area for a single mom who will have joint custody? (kids ages 3, 7, 15, 18) I work late and would commute, so I am concerned about safety at night and off street parking.

I would appreicate any help or suggestions.. I don't have any family nearby to rely on and need good sound advise. Thanks!

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by XZephyrX

I am looking into buying a half of duplex in Phillipsburg, and would like some feedback on the area... I did a search on this forum, and found some information but it is a bit outdated. The house is near the Deleware River Park Area.

I am not familuar with this area what so ever. I have lived in Wayne for the past 15 years, but will need to move because of an impending divorce. I cannot afford to live in this area - unless it's the flood zone, and well that's actually underwater right now!

I would still work here in the Wayne area, and my kids would go to school here as well (father will remain in wayne). I realize the commute will be long, but it would be just as long if I moved over the border to NY or out 80 west. (and that would be more expensive than moving to Phillipsburg)

Would this be a safe area for a single mom who will have joint custody? (kids ages 3, 7, 15, 18) I work late and would commute, so I am concerned about safety at night and off street parking.

I would appreicate any help or suggestions.. I don't have any family nearby to rely on and need good sound advise. Thanks!

nope. would not live in phillipsburg...there's a reason housing is reasonable. depressed, unkept area - abbott district for schools (i know that's not a concern of yours, but gives you an idea of how the area is). not too safe. just generally not a nice place, IMHO. and i think the commute would be unbearable. how did you envision commuting to wayne? you're at least 30 minutes from 80 to begin with.

also, isn't part of p'burg in a flood zone?

hate to be the bearer of bad news, but i find nothing redeeming about the town.

[netsirk]

I don't know Phillipsburg well at all, so take this with a grain of salt...but on the couple of occasions I've driven through it, I've found it depressing, to say the least. Unkempt is a good description. And, honestly, it is pretty much at the end of the earth. As with the previous poster, I'm not sure how a commute from there to Wayne would work at all. "Long," as a description, doesn't really do it justice.

Cost is one thing, but the drain on time and on automobile is something that I think many folks don't factor in when making these decisions--or, at least, don't consider strongly enough. When you're commuting that far, every day, don't discount the drain it can put on you in terms of energy and in a feeling of isolation, especially if you're used to living in Wayne. Hell, I commuted from Morristown to the city every day for years. That's a 60-minute trip on which I could sleep or read or whatever, and it could be draining on days when work went horrendously. Doing at least that, driving myself (meaning, having to stay alert)--that would be far worse. You start to feel like your own time isn't even your own anymore.

But I digress. Most of us have to deal with some kind of commute, usually a longer one than we want. However...

I obviously don't know your financial situation or what you'd be looking for in terms of housing, but you might want to look for a condo or townhouse in Morris County (depending on how big you really need, and how far west you want to go off of Route 80, it could be an option) or go south before you go out to P'sburg. You're right when you say that going out Route 80 will still be expensive, and the commute won't be a picnic if you're much west of 287, but Phillipsburg is not, in my opinion, a viable option.

[jm2jm3jm4jm5]

haha, it's interesting to see Phillipsburg isn't getting a lot of love on this board. I have to disagree with some of the things that were said about the town. Yes, it does look very rundown, industrial, and depressed.

However, for the most part the area is still pretty safe. That's not to say it's perfect, but it's by no means Camden. It's probably good that your kids will be going to school in Wayne, from what I understand the high school in Pburg is supposed to be subpar.

The last thing I will say about Pburg is it is much better then a town like Bound Brook or Dunellen, both of which for whatever reason get positive reviews on this board.

I think you should take a look around Pburg before you listen to the other posters, there is a mall there, which your kids may like.

[41Willys]

P-Berg is all white trash!!

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by jm2jm3jm4jm5

haha, it's interesting to see Phillipsburg isn't getting a lot of love on this board. I have to disagree with some of the things that were said about the town. Yes, it does look very rundown, industrial, and depressed.

However, for the most part the area is still pretty safe. That's not to say it's perfect, but it's by no means Camden. It's probably good that your kids will be going to school in Wayne, from what I understand the high school in Pburg is supposed to be subpar.

The last thing I will say about Pburg is it is much better then a town like Bound Brook or Dunellen, both of which for whatever reason get positive reviews on this board.

I think you should take a look around Pburg before you listen to the other posters, there is a mall there, which your kids may like.

you actually agreed with most points - depressed, rundown, not-so-hot schools. couple those (big) points with the horrendous commute the OP will face, and it's real hard to recommend relocating there.

[PrincessBride]

Originally Posted by 41Willys

P-Berg is all white trash!!

More than likely you are one of the "white trash".

[PrincessBride]

Ok, so Phillipsburg is one of the LAST places on earth I ever wanted to move to. Actually I NEVER wanted to move here. I lived and LOVED living in Madison and only moved here because I got married and my husbands kids go to school here. He didn't want to move them out of school's that they've been going to even though they would have been much better off schooling in Madison, but that's another story.

So since I've only been here a few months I'll give you my persepective on it. There are nice area's of P'burg. There are nice homes on the high school side of the road. If you go to the other side where the duplex house is prevelent some streets are nice, some mediocre and some are down right ****ty. You want to stay away from So. Main Street and Mercer Street. It's pretty icky down there with lots of drug issues and other things.

I wouldn't say that P'burg is all "White Trash", god knows that the street I live on is very ethnically diverse. Across the street are black and latino, next door there are asians and a few doors down portuegese. We are the only house that has a large yard where the kids daily play kickball in. Yes, it's my lawn and I could easily tell the kids to get off our property but I don't do that because I'd rather they play in a lawn than on the street.

Most of the folks here are "working class" folks. Perhaps they don't have a lot of money or a lot of manners or even a lot of sense, but they are trying to make a life here with their kids and doing it the best way they know how to. Not everyone can afford to live in Princeton or Chatham or Short Hills. The interesting thing about living here is that one street can vary a lot from another street in P'burg. One street can have lots of lovely and well maintained homes, yet go down and make a turn on a corner and that street a bit and it's vastly different. I've often said that P'burg is one step out of the ghetto, but I know that not all of P'burg is like this. Yes, the town is somewhat depressed and frankly there isn't much to do either and the public transportation sucks (omg I would so be happy if NJ Transit had trains to NYC from here!). The mall, such as it is leaves much to be desired in size or store choices. Frankly it's no Rockaway or even Willowbrook mall. Hell, even the Livingston Mall beats the hell out of the P'burg mall anytime of the day or night.

Yes, it's cheaper to live here in P'burg no doubt. When I lived in Madison I had a small one bedroom apartment and paid $1000 a month. Now I live in a large well maintained 4 bedroom home and pay $1150 a month. If this house were in Madison the rent would be 4x that amount. That's the trade off to living here. The other trade off is the commute time to work. My commute used to be 5 minutes, now it's 90 minutes and yes most of the time it sucks.

My concern for you is more that the commute to Wayne will become very tiresome and very long for you. Even if you cut through Hackettstown and take many of the back roads your commute is going to be at least 90 -120 minutes. Even without traffic your commute would be about an hour so you really do have to take that sort of commute into consideration.

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by PrincessBride

More than likely you are one of the "white trash".

Nope sorry, thats why I wouldnt live there.

[cyntmac]

Who cares about the shopping when there are much better places to live that would afford you a decent commute. What about an area like Goshen NY or nearby towns? Less than 35 miles to Wayne and you have better roads to travel on. The commute would still be heavy at rush but that area offers decent options at least. Some of the surrounding towns are fine as well. If you look at a map it makes more sense than what you are considering. Also NJ Transit operates commuter/train and bus in that area as a major provider. You may not be able to take advantage of that but many people do and it is worth looking into.
A town like Bound Brook is obviously more convenient to the metro area so that is clearly the advantage. That one is a no-brainer. It would not be rec for the OP on this thread so why it got a mention I have no idea. Commute wise Pburg would offer no advantage unless you really really wanted to live there and were willing to make a trade-off. Otherwise it just does not make sense and for most people working in Wayne would not even be on their radar.