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I currently live in Bayonne and I moved here from Pittsburgh last August. I like a lot about Bayonne, but I want to move this year and stay put for at least the next 3 years. I am currently a student at Hudson County Community College and will be transferring to Rutgers sometime between fall semester of 2011 and spring semester of 2012. I narrowed it down to these towns because they are in or close to my price range I want to stay around what I pay now which is $1250+, They all either have or near other areas that have direct or indirect transportation to both my current school and Rutgers as well as transportation into the city. The things I like about Harrison is that it has a walkable center, a small town feel, a Path station, one stop to journal square(for school), one stop to Newark, and that it seems kind of family friendly. The things I like about Secaucus are that it has multiple train options because of the junction, one stop to Hoboken, one stop to NYC under 10 minutes, one train to New Brunswick, some views of the city(not that important but nice), quick drive to NYC(except for traffic), a good amount of restaurants, a lot of big box stores, and seems pretty safe. Weehawken/West New York good things are 24 hr transportation, great views(once again not that important, but nice), quick to NYC, close and quick to Hoboken, blvd. east and bergenline ave., something about that area I just liked don't know what it is. Cons- Harrison-I would have to take path to Newark and catch train to Rutgers, longest to NYC. Secaucus-Doesn't seem walkable since it is spread out and has big roads, not sure if there is a direct mode of transportation to journal square, more expensive than Harrison, doesn't appear to have a community feel, no 24 hr service. Weehawken/West New York- harder to park than the others, no direct service to Rutgers, not sure about journal square, smaller apartments, doesn't seem as safe as the others, I would prefer Weehawken but seems more expensive, only would like to live within a block of blvd east. I wanted to know if my thoughts on these communities were right and what other peoples thoughts were. Also, I would appreciate advice on these ones and others that might fit what I am looking for. I currently live in a 3 bedroom, but will take a 2 bedroom.
You seem to have most of the pros and cons figured out. I don't think Harrison is really "family friendly" feel anymore. 20 years ago maybe. Now, it's right on the border of Newark and a lot of Newarks problems roll right into that town. In daylight, fine for the most part. At night, not so much. And unless you are getting an apartment with parking, parking is tough there too. Break ins are kind of prevalent. Used to be a predominantely Portuguese and Italian populace. I had a lot of friends from each group that lived there. All have since moved away because they were tired of the issues there.
Secaucus is fairly nice. It is not walkable at all. It also really depends on the section. While not "bad" the areas off of County Ave can be a little more prone to break ins and such (or so my friends on their PD tell me). The train station is great, as long as you have transportation there. Some parts of Secaucus are easily accessible by bus, others not as much. All the people I know from Secaucus are "Secaucusers" for life. I don't know if you have a family, but honestly, I'd have to say it is more family friendly than Harrison by a long shot.
Weehawken and WNY are ok. I'd say Weehawken is the nicer of the 2. Boulevard East vicinity is beautiful - honestly - on of my favorite places to be because of the spectacular views. And there is a lot of public transportation. But parking is not difficult, it's damn near impossible. Not really a family feel in either of these towns. This is going back, but my husband used to live in Union City and go to Rutgers Newark. When he drove, it took forever. When he took public trans, it took forever. Why, buses take as long as cars. I don't know if it is served by light rail yet. I grew up not far from here and go back frequently for some YUMMY meals and some cheap haircuts, etc. However, in recent years many of the areas in Hudson County, including these, have seen an increase in Central American gang activity. We recently went into a restaurant not too far off Broadway and left because of the gangs hanging out in the parking lot.
You seem to have most of the pros and cons figured out. I don't think Harrison is really "family friendly" feel anymore. 20 years ago maybe. Now, it's right on the border of Newark and a lot of Newarks problems roll right into that town. In daylight, fine for the most part. At night, not so much. And unless you are getting an apartment with parking, parking is tough there too. Break ins are kind of prevalent. Used to be a predominantely Portuguese and Italian populace. I had a lot of friends from each group that lived there. All have since moved away because they were tired of the issues there.
Secaucus is fairly nice. It is not walkable at all. It also really depends on the section. While not "bad" the areas off of County Ave can be a little more prone to break ins and such (or so my friends on their PD tell me). The train station is great, as long as you have transportation there. Some parts of Secaucus are easily accessible by bus, others not as much. All the people I know from Secaucus are "Secaucusers" for life. I don't know if you have a family, but honestly, I'd have to say it is more family friendly than Harrison by a long shot.
Weehawken and WNY are ok. I'd say Weehawken is the nicer of the 2. Boulevard East vicinity is beautiful - honestly - on of my favorite places to be because of the spectacular views. And there is a lot of public transportation. But parking is not difficult, it's damn near impossible. Not really a family feel in either of these towns. This is going back, but my husband used to live in Union City and go to Rutgers Newark. When he drove, it took forever. When he took public trans, it took forever. Why, buses take as long as cars. I don't know if it is served by light rail yet. I grew up not far from here and go back frequently for some YUMMY meals and some cheap haircuts, etc. However, in recent years many of the areas in Hudson County, including these, have seen an increase in Central American gang activity. We recently went into a restaurant not too far off Broadway and left because of the gangs hanging out in the parking lot.
I have only been in Harrison at night a couple of times mostly around harrison ave and frank rodgers and I was under the impression that it was kind of quite at night, but I guess I was wrong. I read on another post that they did a good job keeping the Newark trouble out. Is there any sections that are better or worse than the others? I do have a family by the way, two little boys 6 and 2. I like Secaucus but wish I could do more there by foot and it would be better if the train station wasn't disconnected from the town. Are there any free or cheap shuttle buses to the junction? And it seems as if I will have a harder time finding something in my price range there. Thanks for your input.
Harrison borders a great part of newark - the ironbound. And it never was predominately italian and portugese. IT has always been historically irish and some scottish, with more portugese moving in now, and some latinos as well. still a high irish population. Very safe, easy path access, and 10 mins from manhattan. Still does have agreat family feel to it.
Harrison borders a great part of newark - the ironbound. And it never was predominately italian and portugese. IT has always been historically irish and some scottish, with more portugese moving in now, and some latinos as well. still a high irish population. Very safe, easy path access, and 10 mins from manhattan. Still does have agreat family feel to it.
I did notice a good amount of what appeared to be Portugese people when I was there. How do you feel about it at night? Do you know anything about Secaucus?
I've only been to Harrison once, I was not impressed. But it could have just been the section I was visiting. Secaucus, Weehawken & WNY on the other hand I am very familiar with.
Out of all of these I would think Secaucus is the best bet. True it's not very walkable (although if you lived close to the area where the CVS you could walk to a lot of places). The location of the train station is pretty out of the way but at least you have the benefit of a huge train station without the hassle of traffic in the town. I think there is free parking for residents somewhere over there.
WNY--IMO the only nice area is right there on blvd east the rest is subpar. And the parking situation over there is nightmare inducing
Weehawken--The nice areas are really really nice but a little out of your price range. I'm not too fond of the rest of it.
You said one of your children is 6, is he going to public school? If yes I'd say the best school district you can afford should be your top priority. Here's some quick numbers for you:
Weehawken district: ranks 127 out of 521
Secaucus district: ranks 219 out of 521
West NY district: ranks 402 out of 521
Harrison district: ranks 424 out of 521
Harrison and WNY are not looking so good.
These are larger districts with more than one school per age group so if you want info on a specific school go to school digger.com. You can also see things like test scores, how educated the teachers are, racial breakdown of students, % of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch etc.
Best of luck to you!
Re Weehawken, you may be able to find a 2 BR near Blvd E for that price. It would be in an older building, for rent by the owner. There are signs in windows if you walk around and I have a feeling some of these places never make it to Craigslist. There's one on my street right now just 4 doors down from Blvd E. The house is not one of the nicer ones on the block but for all I know it's fine inside. Or maybe not.
I've only been to Harrison once, I was not impressed. But it could have just been the section I was visiting. Secaucus, Weehawken & WNY on the other hand I am very familiar with.
Out of all of these I would think Secaucus is the best bet. True it's not very walkable (although if you lived close to the area where the CVS you could walk to a lot of places). The location of the train station is pretty out of the way but at least you have the benefit of a huge train station without the hassle of traffic in the town. I think there is free parking for residents somewhere over there.
WNY--IMO the only nice area is right there on blvd east the rest is subpar. And the parking situation over there is nightmare inducing
Weehawken--The nice areas are really really nice but a little out of your price range. I'm not too fond of the rest of it.
You said one of your children is 6, is he going to public school? If yes I'd say the best school district you can afford should be your top priority. Here's some quick numbers for you:
Weehawken district: ranks 127 out of 521
Secaucus district: ranks 219 out of 521
West NY district: ranks 402 out of 521
Harrison district: ranks 424 out of 521
Harrison and WNY are not looking so good.
These are larger districts with more than one school per age group so if you want info on a specific school go to school digger.com. You can also see things like test scores, how educated the teachers are, racial breakdown of students, % of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch etc.
Best of luck to you!
Thank you. I would have never thought Weehawken would have been the highest and Harrison would have been the lowest out of those. I would have expected Secaucus to be the best.
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