Is Newark REALLY that bad???? (Jersey City, East Orange: best neighborhood, for sale, attorney)

[student2nj]

Hello,
I am from India and will be soon joining UMDNJ as a Graduate student. I have read so much negative about the crime rate in Newark that I really donot know whether I should join UMDNJ. Though I can still change to go to graduate school at Brooklyn,NY and New Haven,CT but the course at UMDNJ is the best. Pls advise me:
1. Will it be safe to stay near UMDNJ in a hired room?
2. I have relatives living in Hightstown, NJ and at Long Island, NY so I can also commute daily in the trains but the biggest problem is that I have my classes in the evening from 4 to 9 PM. So, will it be safe to walk the mile to the Penn Station from UMDNJ and then take NJ transit to either Long Island thru NYC or to New Brunswick or Princeton? Are the trains safe at night? How safe will everything be in winters?

Please reply soon , I have less time at hand.
Thank You

[mikef973]

No, it is not safe to walk the mile. I had a friend visiting me from maryland and i didnt even want him to walk from penn to broad st station in broad daylight and hes a 300 lb black guy from an urban area himself. dont put yourself thru it.

Sweetz--you would be I-N-S-A-N-E to move to newark. with the rare exception of a FEW OKAY places in ironbound, roseville and north ward. Why you would subject yourself to this type of lifestyle would be beyond me. Ive seen firsthand stickups, drug dealing/using, cop-chases, fights.....on gang initiation night in nearby irvington i saw a teen stabbed on the corner of springfield ave and stuyvascent laying in a pool of blood. this happens in newark normally, they are not isolated incidents. avoid like the plague if you value quality of life---newark, irvington, east orange, and much of orange as well. these are twisted demented thug psychos who were raised in a sub-civilized invironment with parents on drugs THATS IF they even HAD parents around....grow up walking the streets with no conscience or sense of right and wrong taught to them. they grew up witnessing the violence of others and in the "gangsta" hip hop culture settling problems with violence and gang action. you would HONESTLY want to be surrounded by this day in and day out??? and kids????? hahaha PLEASE do i even have to say any more??? lets be serious here people. this is what you will deal with living in 90% of the city of newark and surrounding areas.

P.S.---PLEASE can we stop with the "mind your own business and you will be fine"???? ok obviously whoever says that refering to the newark irvington area is obviously NOT from newark or irvington. probly from like millburn or short hills or westfield. EVERYONE is subject to EVERYTHING. ask the families of the 4 college students that got shot. ask victims families of children who get killed on gang initiation night when gang thugs "sic" wannabes on whoever they dont like at school. do you wanna take the chance that that's your kid??? not on your life....literally.

p.s.s.---and you think the newark cops will help you??? HA....HA...BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[66nexus]

Originally Posted by mikef973

No, it is not safe to walk the mile. I had a friend visiting me from maryland and i didnt even want him to walk from penn to broad st station in broad daylight and hes a 300 lb black guy from an urban area himself. dont put yourself thru it.

Penn station to broad st station in broad daylight lol c'mon, even I could think of much worse places in that city

[jerseycity79]

Originally Posted by sweetz

Hi all. I am moving from Westchester Co. in NY and I have found an apartment I looove in believe it or not.. Newark!!! It is spacious, clean, has washer/ dryer hook up-- plenty of closet space, and it is affordable!!!

I am not naive and I realize there are drugs and other crime in Newark. But it seems to be like most metro cities in the US. I felt like when I was there searching that it is an environment that if you mind your own business, stay in and be smart.... life will be ok.

My concern is I have small children (two are school age). Are there ANY good schools there? Surrounding the apartment are other families and single persons who have nice apartments and work hard.

My kids safety is #1 so are the horror stories exaggerated? Does anyone have any personal accounts?

Thanks for reading and any responses!!!

I would stay away from Newark, especially with school aged kids. The only section I would recommend in Newark is the Iron Bound Section. Even there I don't know how the schools are in the area.

If you are trying to stay close to Newark, try Kearny, Maplewood, Bayonne, Weehawkin, parts of Union City (uptown), parts of Monclair, West New York, Secaucus, even towns farther south like Woodbridge or Edison.

[jerseycity79]

For the college student who posted above...You'll be fine at UMDNJ. Just use your head and pay attention to your surroundings. If it's 2am, I probably wouldn't be walking around by yourself. Just realize in Newark, there are a lot of problems, so you have to be street smart. If you're not comfortable with being in Newark, don't go. It is a rough town,but typically the university campuses keep tight security. I worked in the old Jail ( on Market and MLK BLVD) I would walk around that area and never had a problem. I also use to have to go into the projects in many parts of Newark...(I was an exterminator in college...lol) I'm still alive to talk about it. I would go talk to some UMDNJ students, see what they say. I have a close friend that attended school there and he had no problems. Again, do what your comfortable with. I don't want to make Newark sound like a great town...it isn't. But, you have the Iron Bound section...lots of nice places to eat, and pretty safe. Now the individual with the kids, her I wouldn't suggest living there...with kids. You're in a different situation.

Hope that is helpful....

[lukeache]

I dislike Newark immensely, it is a craphole, I would not move there not even if you paid my rent. I have lived in Plainfield, it is considered a "black area", but it is MUCH better than Newark. Aside from the rough areas, there are some very livable, middle class parts of Plainfield. Still, Plainfield is not great but much better than Newark. If you want good schools and high quality of life in NJ, it will be in the very expensive, mostly white suburbs like Westfield.

[nj08]

Sweetz,

I really hope you did not move to Newark. If you want advice from personal experience well here it goes. I live in Newark for about 7 years with my young son. I will be moving out of NJ hopefully by next year. NEWARK IS HORRIBLE. I HATE NEWARK. Even in brood dayligth people have shoot outs. They don't wait until it gets dark. Sure Mayor Brooker is trying to clean it up. But IMO, I believe it's way past any of his fixings. If I knew then what I knew now about it, I would have never made the move in the first place. So please do yourself and your children a favor and stay away from Newark. You do not want to be walking down the street everyday praying that you make it home alive. I would consider Bloomfield/Belleville.. Which are both easy commutes to NY.. Montclair is very expensive. Whether you have kids or not Newark is not a good place to live. Good Luck.

[jstar41]

ok guys.. this is something that just happened to a couple we know that works at the Newark Airport and live in Newark.. so normally the girl takes her husband to Newark Airport at about 5am, drops him off daily and goes back home.. this past week.. they do their routine.. they both wake up, the girl takes her husband to the airport.. and goes back home.. as she is entering her apt a black guy pushes her into the apt.. takes 360. dollar that her husband had given her for groceries.. and on top of it all, the bastard raped her.. the police were able to track this bastard down .. and once they checked his record, he was out on probation as he had a criminal record for rape and robbery.. how can they let this type of people out! ! ! to all considering Newark... STAY OUT OF THIS TOWN.. unless you are TOTALLY HIGH RISK INVESTOR and have no regards for safety or your tenants safety..

good luck to all who even considers living in that city.. this poor couple are going thru hell as the husband feels guilty for what happened to his wife.. and she is traumatize..

[Summering]

So the answer to the poster is YES, Newark is really that bad......
Don't go........
I do use that airport a lot but, its for a quick in and out...thats it.

[LauraPetrie]

Originally Posted by mikef973

EVERYONE is subject to EVERYTHING. ask the families of the 4 college students that got shot. ask victims families of children who get killed on gang initiation night when gang thugs "sic" wannabes on whoever they dont like at school. do you wanna take the chance that that's your kid??? not on your life....literally.

I agree completely with your post. Even innocent people can go through **** in such cities. Just look at the poster(jstar41) who's poor friend got raped .It is very easy to sit in cozy safe homes and advise others to move to such places and be safe "minding your own business" etc.
I had to drive through Newark some time back, and I have vowed never ever to take that route. Every single person out there looked creepy, and I was even afraid to stop my car at the signal. What a hellhole!