Hoboken to Suburbs Livingston, Madison ? help (Ridgewood, Summit: for sale, 2009, how much)

[APischel]

I live in Hoboken, My husband and i grew up in Monmouth County. I have no desire to live in monmouth county. I love hoboken i like the happy social vibe (minus the frat-ness) and the european and catholics, however there are downsides to things like taxes and cost of living.
So with 550k where do i move? I was looking in Northwest Nj however i know nothing about it, Ive read discussion of Livingston, and how much people love it includ the school systems. I have a 3yr old daughter, and we are young parents. I want a town where the public schools are good and we can have a decent house. Commute is not an issue Can anyone help?

[Obrero]

Hmmm I'm thinking not Livingston. Maybe Ridgewood or Summit but $550k doesn't buy much. Madison or Chatham would be worth a look.

[mumra]

Check out Springfield. Great school district (32nd in the state) and free pre-school for your little one.

[seque5tra]

Livingston does have a good school system, so if that's important to you, it's a good choice.

Now, as far as your $550K budget goes, you definitely have a lot of choices in Livingston. There are many 3-bed (and even 4- and 5-bed) homes for sale in that price range and less. I'm looking at a whole folder of such listings right now...right off the bat I see a listing for a 4-bed/2.1 bath rennovated house with an original listing price of $498K, that sold for $448K in March 2009. According to a local realtor I spoke with, there are almost DOUBLE the number of homes for sale in Livingston at the current moment, than is usual. Most homes are being listed at far below the assessed value of the home (by the way, we just had a revaluation in 2008). So keep in mind that if you are able to buy a house for $550,000, it's assessed value might actually be more like $600,000; you are definitely getting a deal in the sale, but your property taxes might be higher than expected.

As far as happy social vibes and a nice downtown...eh. Not so much in Livingston. Don't be fooled by the advertising of "Livingston's New Dowtown!" in the form of the newly renovated Livingston Town Center. It is NOT a walkable downtown. It's a glorified mini mall.

Finally, we are in Essex County which makes property taxes exorbitant as it is, but in addition to that, Livingston residents will be paying for the newly renovated & expanded high school, library, senior community center and town hall for years to come. Also, the township has announced plans for a new public works garage, as well as the hiring of some additional departmental staff member that is estimated to cost the town over $130,000 per annum. All of this guarantees steep property tax rate hikes. In 2009 we had a tax hike that was the highest in almost a decade...from 1.816% in 2008 to 1.967% in 2009.

On a $550k house, that's an $830 a year tax increase to a total of $10,818 in property taxes for the year 2009. Going at that rate of annual increase, you'll be paying more than $15,000 a year in property taxes by 2015.

With all the renovation/expansion projects in town that still need to be paid for, plus the Board of Ed and PTA campaigning hard every school election for budget increases, you can pretty much expect that kind of tax increase every year for a long, long while.

[clevedark]

I don't think of Catholics when I think of Livingston--it's a heavily Jewish town.

Madison, Chatham and Summit seem more like your line.

[johnnypockets]

Originally Posted by clevedark

I don't think of Catholics when I think of Livingston--it's a heavily Jewish town.

Madison, Chatham and Summit seem more like your line.

Then obviously you haven't lived in Livingston. The two highest ancestries which account for 28% of the population are Catholic.

Ancestries: Italian (17.7%), Irish (10.3%), Russian (9.8%), German (7.4%), United States (7.0%), Polish (6.6%).

A common thought for people who haven't lived or spent lots of time in Livingston think it is a very jewish town. Having lived 21 years in Livingston I know with experience that this is not true. Yes we have a large jewish population but they are not the majority. This is not Brighton Beach.

[johnnypockets]

More Data
Religion statistics for Livingston

Adherents

Catholic Church (62%)

Other religions (38%)

NameCatholic ChurchMuslim EstimateAmerican Baptist Churches in the USAPresbyterian Church (USA)Episcopal Church Adherents62.0%4.8%3.6%2.3%2.1% Congregations15.8%3.3%10.5%10.3%7.4% NameUnited Methodist ChurchUnited Church of ChristAssemblies of GodGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of AmericaOther religions Adherents1.2%1.0%0.7%0.6%21.9% Congregations5.3%3.3%4.8%0.5%38.9%

[metaljaybird]

I lived in Madison for 4 years. It was a predominantly Catholic town, whereas Livingston isn't. I now own in Denville, and love it. You can check that town out too, though I have no idea what the religious makeup of the town is, but Morris Catholic High School is right in town.

[johnnypockets]

Originally Posted by metaljaybird

I lived in Madison for 4 years. It was a predominantly Catholic town, whereas Livingston isn't. I now own in Denville, and love it. You can check that town out too, though I have no idea what the religious makeup of the town is, but Morris Catholic High School is right in town.

How does 62% of the population of livingston being Catholic not make it the dominant religion? People hear and think that Livingston is predominantly Jewish when it simply isn't. Again Yes we have a large Jewish population here but it is not the Majority.

[sahm22nj]

Livingston also has a large asian population and a growing latin american population. All of these groups are drawn to Livingston for the school system. Livingston, Chatham, Madison and Summit all have good school systems because the parents value the education and push for the passing of school budgets. Property taxes in these towns are all on the high side because of it. They are all district factor groups of I and J and therefore rely heavily on local property tax money to fund the school. Any of these schools get 6% or less from the state to education their students. So if its a great school system you want, you are going to have to pay.