South Orange: Tuxedo Park & Grove Park (Newark, Irvington: crime, homes)

[samunoz1]

I'm a resident of West Orange and have been searching for nice homes in South Orange. There are two in particular homes I want to put offers on near Tuxedo Park and Grove Park. The area has beautiful colonial, victorian and tudor style homes. I love old architecture and the feel of the town in general. However, driving up South Orange Ave was straight up gangsta! Things clear up quickly once you cross Sanford Ave, but are these little enclaves plagued by thug incursions? Is the general rule not live past the tracks?

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by samunoz1

I'm a resident of West Orange and have been searching for nice homes in South Orange. There are two in particular homes I want to put offers on near Tuxedo Park and Grove Park. The area has beautiful colonial, victorian and tudor style homes. I love old architecture and the feel of the town in general. However, driving up South Orange Ave was straight up gangsta! Things clear up quickly once you cross Sanford Ave, but are these little enclaves plagued by thug incursions? Is the general rule not live past the tracks?

I don't see much evidence that there's a "general rule" not to live past the tracks -- I'd suggest taking a look at recent sales. In the current market, one can barely give away places in undesirable locations. Places have been selling East of the tracks, and based on sold prices, the buyers are presumably paying for something better than acting as human shields. Based again on prices, West of the tracks is more desirable, but it's really expensive. If you really want to live "up the hill", you can do it for about half the price in West Orange than you could in Montclair or SO.

To some extent, Newark is fenced off -- there is a large fence along Seton, and all the streets off Irvington avenue are dead end streets.

It's an understatement to say that the neighborhood east of South Orange isn't that great -- it's not even one of the better neighborhoods in Newark. It wouldn't surprise me if being adjacent to that increased your property crime risk. Would suggest getting the facts (e.g. police station, or see if you can find local news with crime reports)

[samunoz1]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

I don't see much evidence that there's a "general rule" not to live past the tracks -- I'd suggest taking a look at recent sales. In the current market, one can barely give away places in undesirable locations. Places have been selling East of the tracks, and based on sold prices, the buyers are presumably paying for something better than acting as human shields. Based again on prices, West of the tracks is more desirable, but it's really expensive. If you really want to live "up the hill", you can do it for about half the price in West Orange than you could in Montclair or SO.

To some extent, Newark is fenced off -- there is a large fence along Seton, and all the streets off Irvington avenue are dead end streets.

It's an understatement to say that the neighborhood east of South Orange isn't that great -- it's not even one of the better neighborhoods in Newark. It wouldn't surprise me if being adjacent to that increased your property crime risk. Would suggest getting the facts (e.g. police station, or see if you can find local news with crime reports)

Thanks Elf. I grew up in North Newark and even tried resettling close by in Bloomfield after graduating from the university. Reality slapped me hard after a few breakins and thefts I called it quits on my childhood area and bought a home in West Orange.

My family has grown and I need a bigger place. I love the architecture and feel of the town. Places like these would go for a $200-300K premium in Montclair (stone construction with slate roof). I've been trying really hard to figure out why. Something tells me it has to do with what was just down the street.

P.S. - A good number of the homes in the Tuxedo Park section have their backs against a very tall SHU parking lot fence.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by samunoz1

Thanks Elf. I grew up in North Newark and even tried resettling close by in Bloomfield after graduating from the university. Reality slapped me hard after a few breakins and thefts I called it quits on my childhood area and bought a home in West Orange.

My family has grown and I need a bigger place. I love the architecture and feel of the town. Places like these would go for a $200-300K premium in Montclair (stone construction with slate roof). I've been trying really hard to figure out why. Something tells me it has to do with what was just down the street.

P.S. - A good number of the homes in the Tuxedo Park section have their backs against a very tall SHU parking lot fence.

I'm not that familiar with the neighborhood designations -- but if Tuxedo Park means the area just East of Seton hall, to me it looks like the area is not at all geographically buffered from Newark. In fact based on your comment about the fence, it seems possible that it's more cut off from South Orange than it is from Newark ! I mean, Seton hall is one of the main geographic "buffers", and this puts you on the wrong side of that. You'd be just a few blocks from some very rough areas.

However, there's plenty of stuff that's east of the tracks but not right next door to gang land.

BTW, have you considered getting another place in WO ?