Places to live between Bergen County NJ and Poughkeepsie (Englewood: apartments, for rent)

[pooky]

My husband and I are looking to possibly relocate. He has a possible job prospect in Bergen County NJ, and I have possible job prospect in the Poughkeepsie area. Can anyone recommend a good town somewhere in the middle? We have an 8 month old and will be looking most likely to rent. We are looking for someplace very affordable, with good childcare options and ultimately with a good school district and lower cost of living then where we are now.
Any advice would be appreciated!

[cmsvmom]

Where in Bergen County? Because if it is the southern end of the county by Rt 3, you are going to have a lot of traffic heading anywhere, let alone upstate.

Bergen is a very pricey area, and the part that borders NY state is multi gazillion dollar territory. If you are concerned about schools, you would want the northern valley regional district - that would include Haworth, Demarest, Closter, Old tappan, Harrington Park, Norwood. Cresskill is a nice town too, and Tenafly schools are among the best in NJ. These are good if you want the Palisade Interstate Parkway. The PIP is a very pretty drive, especially in the fall.

Park Ridge is on the border. Further west, Mahwah is bordering New York State. That is convenient to the NYS Thruway. And in between there are Hillsdale, Westwood, Emerson, Ramsey, Saddle River. Ridgewood has excellent schools and is convenient to highways, as is paramus. Paramus taxes are somewhat less insane than the neighboring towns. Ridgewood is a nice town with a vibrant downtown area and great restaurants. But, it is expensive.

As for Rockland County, NY, Suffern, Nyack, Nanuet, Monsey are the towns that are close to NJ. You would need to find out on the NY forum or from folks who know them better than I do about living there - I used to work in Suffern and Nyack, and like Bergen, anything worth having is very expensive. The quality of schools in Suffern appears to be good, judging from families I know there.

So this all depends really on how much you want to spend for a home, including taxes, as well as factoring in your gas and tolls.

[cmsvmom]

Looking back, I saw the word "rent". There isn't a lot for rent in some of those towns, but it is do able. As for lowering your cost of living, it depends on where you are now.

There are good daycare centers throughout Bergen County. Also, I used to be a family child care provider, and the Bergen County Office for Children oversees the registered family child care providers. That is also a good option for infant/toddler care because of the small group size. They could give you referrals to providers in the area you go to.

You might find that the daycare center or provider is not in the same town, but may be 5/10 miles away. That is kind of typical. I did have one family who commuted from Essex county to bergen, and commuted with the baby in the car each day so they could be close to daycare. But they both worked in the same office building.

[Viralmd]

Just that commute to and from Poughkeepsie is enough to make my head hurt...it's no way to live.

[cmsvmom]

Yes, from bergen it is a bit of a drive. And traffic depending on where the job is in bergen is a huge issue.

I used to commute from Englewood to Nyack up the PIP - like I say , it is a pretty drive, but that is long enough for me, about 45 minutes during the rush hour on a decent day. And in traffic, it was horrible - not so much the pip, but getting on and off. Thruway can back up very quickly.

Poughkeepsie is a bit further.

[pooky]

thanks for the advice so far.....I went to school in Poughkeepsie about 20 years ago (gulp!), I"m sure it's changed a little..haven't been back there in almost the same amount of time.
there are a couple possibilities in Bergen....believe one in Englewood or Ridgewood.....that's why if possibilities panned out, we may need to look for something in the middle.....on the map, of course, it looks do-able, but know maps don't tell you everything.

[cmsvmom]

Pick ridgewood for schools. I love englewood, but my kids are in private school. It;s getting better, but they have a way to go. Maybe by the time your baby is ready for school it is even better, but ridgewood is good now, and has been for many years.

[pooky]

We are just in the pre planning stage of possibly relocating to someplace in between Englewood/Ridgewood and Poughkeepsie. If by chance each of our job possibilities panned out, one of us would work in possibly Englewood/Ridgewood and the other in Poughkeepsie. I've seen that Newburg is right around the middle, but didn't know what else. As I said earlier not every little town is listed on the map, and I was looking for a town, probably in NY that would still be within about a 45 minute commute for each of us. on mapquest, it's do-able, but not sure how that translates in real life in terms of traffic, etc.

[cmsvmom]

Englewood and ridgewood are on different sides of Bergen County - Englewood is very convenient to NYC and the bridges, Ridgewood is farther west, by Rt 17. A lot will be determined by what you can afford, because housing is very pricey. There are 70 different municipalities in bergen county - all with home rule, many with their own school district, police dept, etc. Best thing to do is actually come and drive around, and get a feel of what is real. Housing prices also will vary from town to town. For example, my house in bergenfield is worth about 50,000 less than it would be worth if it were half a block east in Tenafly - because tenafly is considered a more desireable town with better schools.

45 minutes for both of you may not be a reality because of the congestion in this general area. What town is the job opportunity in Bergen?

[pmd1117]

Ramsey has better schools then ridgewood, is very community focused with lots of kids and is less expensive then ridgewood (not as big of a town but very very cute downtown) and easily accessible to 17 and major highways. Rentable apartments just off 17 exits