need a place to live in new jersey (Union City, Union: condos, low crime)

[leelowe1]

Hi all, i am a 20 something teacher that is looking for an affordable condo or townhouse (no co-op) to buy in New Jersey. I work in manhattan and don't mind commuting but an hour and a half each way is my limit (from door to door). Don't know much about Jersey areas but i need a place that is safe, low crime, clean, friendly and being an african american woman - friendly towards different cultures/representative of different cultures. My price range is 150,000-175,000. I really just need advice on areas to start looking in. My must haves are:

close to transport to NYC (NJ transit)
within 1 to 1.5 hrs into city
culturally diverse/culturally tolerant
safe/low crime
friendly
asthetically pleasing.

Thanks for any help

[findinghope]

Montclair might suit you very well

[Sergio M]

I would look at Rahway. Rahway is currently going through a redevelopment stage and there are a lot of new and renovated units available. In fact, there are so many units available and on the books that the developers may be willing to negotiate just to move them.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by leelowe1

Hi all, i am a 20 something teacher that is looking for an affordable condo or townhouse (no co-op) to buy in New Jersey. I work in manhattan and don't mind commuting but an hour and a half each way is my limit (from door to door). Don't know much about Jersey areas but i need a place that is safe, low crime, clean, friendly and being an african american woman - friendly towards different cultures/representative of different cultures. My price range is 150,000-175,000. I really just need advice on areas to start looking in. My must haves are:

close to transport to NYC (NJ transit)
within 1 to 1.5 hrs into city
culturally diverse/culturally tolerant
safe/low crime
friendly
asthetically pleasing.

Thanks for any help

Your price range might be difficult. I looked at a one-bedroom condo in Hawthorne (1 hour and 20 min commute) just because it was by my train. It was very small and was going for $200,000, and that's the lowest thing I've seen. However, I've mostly looked at 2-bedrooms, and you might get lucky if there is a property out there that is not selling.

[Ninasimonejr]

If you don't mind small places, you can find condos in Union City in that range. For ex, here is one that's only a few blocks from me in Weehawken.
NO links to specific properties

Union City is not pretty, but it's next door to Weehawken, which is. It has a lot of advantages - location (close to Manhattan and tons of shopping), cheap stores and restaurants (if you like Latin food), and great transportation. It's quite safe and supposedly (my husband and I debate this a lot) it is "up and coming." Although I don't wander around at night there (or in Weehawken) the way I did when I lived in Manhattan, my church is in UC and I feel perfectly safe coming home from there in the dark. If you live in UC, I'm certain you'll appreciate the fast commute and your Manhattan friends will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to visit you in NJ.

The biggest negative, IMO, is probably that you might feel excluded by the culture(s) of UC - it's diverse in that it has Latinos from every nation, but English speakers are in the minority, and I rarely see African-Americans there. I know there are some (according to Wikipedia) but not a lot. If I didn't speak some Spanish, I would feel pretty lost there. But then, you may have different needs or attitudes.