west orange, nutley or clifton (Montclair, Livingston: townhomes, neighborhoods, to buy)

[benoni]

Hi, we are looking to buy a house in either Clifton, West Orange or Nutley for 350-420k. We know there are fairly nice towns and heard about the better school system in Nutley (we have a 2 month old). Are there any parts of west orange or nutley we should stay away from? We know about the not so good areas in clifton already. If you guys can give us some pros and cons about these towns, or what is your feel about them we appreciate it. We currently live in Queens, NY and planning on commuting to work in the city after the move. Thank you so much.

[MrOutrageous]

The West Orange neighborhood of St. Cloud is nice and also the part that borders Livingston. The schools are decent in West Orange, but not so good when you reach middle and high school. The rest of the town is so-so to not so good. As for Nutley most of it is nice/decent.

[sunshinecities]

My brother lives in West Orange - near Livingston - nice area. My ex-sister in law lived in Nutley her whole life - nice town. I'd say either would be ok. I'm not nuts over Clifton. Just my opinion though - perhaps others know more about it than me.

[Elena121]

Nutley is a nice expensive town with a lot of parks.With 350 k you can get 2 bed/1 bath with small yard and 7000 taxes.Clifton is cheaper.

[benoni]

Thank you so much for your opinions!

[maemam]

As someone who lives in West Orange and has 3 kids in public school, I can assure you West Orange is a great place to live. The school system is diverse but has really provided an excellent education for my kids.

In response to the post that the middle school and high school aren't great, I would disagree and I would encourage anyone looking in West Orange to pay a visit to those schools. No school in the area can hold a candle to the High School in terms of course offerings, AP, and Honors Classes. There are three turf fields for soccer, baseball and football, an State Championship band, soccer team and cheerleading squad to name a few.

Come see west orange, with so many different neighborhoods to chose from, there is something for everyone.

[benoni]

thanks, we were just on the opposite side of the Montclair Golf Club along the Pleasant Valley Way and the area looked very nice. Since you live there can you please tell me what are some of the stores, restaurants, parks, library etc. Also if anyone knows, how is the commute to NYC from there? Thank you so much for your input.

[maemam]

West Orange has a Whole Foods Market and a Shop-Rite. We have a several small shopping centers with so-so stores- we do have a Macy's but Livingston Mall and Short Hills mall are both close.

As for Restaurants- there are a bunch. Very high end to fast food. Since we are so close to montclair it is an easy commute for more great restaurants.

We have an amazing public library in town. We have a great summer program for kids- it just won the a national award for the best summer programming- 7th year in a row.

take a look at the west orange web site. tells you alot about what is going on in town. www.westorange.org

good luck in your search.

[NCtoNJ]

While house hunting, we observed that Cambridge Heights townhomes in Nutley are of poor quality. Does any body know if thats the case?

[Melland]

We moved to WO from Manhattan and just love it......The area is beautiful and the people are diverse....not just rich white & poor black....It was so nice to find that in a suburb