New Jersey Vs Long Island Vs Westchester Co Vs Fairfield Co (better, compared)

[jxzz]

To be realistic, most people in NYC metro pick suburb area mainly by commute. Midtown or uptown Manhattan, Connecticut or Westchester co is good. If downtown or west of Manhattan, a different story.

Commute and job location determine most of decision any way.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

Which suburban region is the best?


Cost of living: New Jersey
Family: Fairfield, Co, CT
Jobs: Westchester
Schools: Fairfield or Westchester
Hospitals: Westchester
Transit/Infrastructure: Westchester
Hurricanes/Flooding: Fairfield
Safety: Westchester or Fairfield
Shopping: Fairfield
Recreation: Long Island
State laws/Taxes: New Jersey

Fairfield County all the way for me. Followed by Westchester County. Two of the best counties overall in the US for raising a family and quality of life. Expensive, but if you make decent money, it's ideal living: there are four seasons, quick access to the best city in the world, NYC, beaches, mountains, rural upscale with quaint towns, rolling and wooded countryside, public transportation into NYC, great schools, great healthcare, minimal natural disasters and high paying jobs.

NNJ schools are pretty damn good. With Westchester Fairfield and NNJ 85% of the schools are excellent.

I think this post was pretty hard on Northern New Jersey which by all measures is a very safe, well educated and high earning area with excellent recreation and public transit.

[MB1562]

The one thing that sucks about living on Long Island is getting off. You either have to go through traffic-choked routes in the city or take the expensive ferry up to Connecticut.

[dcb175]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

NNJ schools are pretty damn good. With Westchester Fairfield and NNJ 85% of the schools are excellent.

I think this post was pretty hard on Northern New Jersey which by all measures is a very safe, well educated and high earning area with excellent recreation and public transit.

I'd agree with this. While I would probably rank my personal favorites as Fairfield, Westchester, NJ, LI (saying this as a resident of NJ), it's really hard to rank. Schools are about the same across all of them - the blue ribbon towns will be amongst the best public schools in the country (this is true for all 4.) Despite my personal ranking, here are the areas where I do think NJ wins:

- Shopping: I'm shocked this one is even debatable

- Town Centers: While Fairfield has a handful of really nice ones (Westport, Fairfield, Dairen, New Cannan), I think NJ has more (Montclair, Maplewood, Ridgewood, Summit, Westfield, etc.), and that's not even including the larger ones like Morristown or Hoboken

- Accessability: From a location perspective, it is right in the middle of the NE Corridor with easy access to all of the major NE cities, as well as being close to BOTH ocean & mountains (LI arguably has better beaches, Westchester is slightly closer to Hudson Valley, but NJ has easy access to both)

- Restaurants: While certainly debatable, NJ has better food with destination cities like Montclair and Jersey City, as well as the one of the most diverse ethnic food scenes in the country (although LI is sneakily good here as well.) Westchester and Fairfield in particular cannot compete here.

I'll reiterate that I personally love the upscale country feel of Fairfield, and Westchester because it has pockets of seclusion that are a 35-minute train ride to Manhattan. These are just personal preferences of mine. But I think NJ is being sold quite short here overall.

[Bert_from_back_East]

The only segment of this region wherein the “Mary-marry-merry” merger is fully complete is Fairfield County. From my perspective as a professional salesperson, this is an important consideration, especially if you want to increase the likelihood of your children being more well-received in academic, professional and social settings as they age (both locally in the NYC area and nationally). In my opinion, the more neutral Western Connecticut accent would not necessarily “typecast” a person such as Long Island and New Jersey accents and dialects often do. Therefore, it provides the speaker with inherent advantages such as the ability to blend into a new company, neighborhood or social group on the other side of the country without experiencing reserve or suspicion from others (common sentiments directed towards newcomers or outsiders).

[elchevere]

I have never heard of a qualified person from LI or NJ having their employment, social status or being typecast or subject to “suspicion” (lol) outside the NY metro area by their accent or dialect (could say the same for MA, TX, etc, etc, etc). Am I the rare exception who managed to live and work cross country in CA for 33+ years? (And, no, I did not take diction lessons from the late Bob Shepherd—former Yankee PA announcer from Baldwin, Long Island who was often referred to as the voice of God).

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

The only segment of this region wherein the “Mary-marry-merry” merger is fully complete is Fairfield County. From my perspective as a professional salesperson, this is an important consideration, especially if you want to increase the likelihood of your children being more well-received in academic, professional and social settings as they age (both locally in the NYC area and nationally). In my opinion, the more neutral Western Connecticut accent would not necessarily “typecast” a person such as Long Island and New Jersey accents and dialects often do. Therefore, it provides the speaker with inherent advantages such as the ability to blend into a new company, neighborhood or social group on the other side of the country without experiencing reserve or suspicion from others (common sentiments directed towards newcomers or outsiders).

[GeoffD]

I ski and sail. I have friends who drive from Long Island to Vermont every weekend. Yikes!


For my lifestyle, I'd pick somewhere like Westport in Fairfield County but wouldn't be happy about the congestion or the skiing drive in the winter. I guess I could make the Jersey Shore work. It's 90 minutes on the Coast Line from Red Bank to NY Penn and great access to EWR for travel. Seastreak is 40 minutes to lower Manhattan.

[JayCT]

I can’t believe I missed this one when it first went around. I’ve lived in northern New Jersey and Fairfield County. I also know quite a bit about Westchester and Long Island so I am fairly qualified to offer an opinion. My take on each of the items to consider:

Cost of living - This really depends on what income level you are talking about. If you are upper middle class or upper class I believe the affluent towns of Fairfield County win. If you are more middle class or lower class, then northern New Jersey or Long Island win out.

Family - Fairfield County has the edge with more family oriented towns than the others.

Jobs - New Jersey

Schools - Fairfield County, almost every town has very good to great schools.

Hospitals - I believe all of them are about the same.

Transit/Infrastructure - assuming you are talking about this in relation to a Manhattan commute. Westchester wins since it has direct commuter rail service on two lines into Grand Central. Long Island is likely second because of direct service and distance though the trains are very crowded and mostly go into Penn Station which is a nightmare. Fairfield would be third but only because of distance. New Jersey is by far the worst because most commutes require a change of trains to cross the Hudson River, over crowding and going into Penn Station.

Hurricanes/Flooding - Westchester or Fairfield County likely win. They are not on any open ocean so they are less vulnerable to disaster. Northern New Jersey is not far behind. Long Island is by far the worst since it is generally lowerin elevation and very vulnerable to weather coming off the ocean.

Safety - Fairfield County wins. Connecticut has among the lowest crime rates in the country and Fairfield County is low for the state.

Shopping - Northern New Jersey has an unbelievable array of shopping options. Long Island would likely be next and then Westchester. Fairfield County has decent shopping that has gotten better with the recent opening of the upscale SoNo Collection in Norwalk but it still cant quite compare to the others.

Recreation - All are pretty good but I have to give Fairfield County the edge. Towns there have have excellent facilities and access to a lot of different options (beaches, parks, skiing, hiking, etc.). Westchester would be second. Long Island has the best beaches by far but little access to recreation outside the island itself.

State laws/Taxes - Of these Fairfield County has the lowest taxes and has the least complex form of government. Both New York and New Jersey have multiple layers of government that is too complex. Connecticut has just towns and the state. There is no county level of government and in Fairfield County there are no boroughs, villages, etc. it’s pretty simple and not confusing.

Overall I would give Connecticut the top honors. Westchester is great but taxes and home prices are insane. Northern New Jersey has some great towns but it also has some not so great ones. Long Island is way too isolated from the rest of the country. Fairfield is easily the most attractive, has the lowest taxes and the best life for families. I would choose it over the others by far. Westchester would likely be next and then Northern New Jersey. Long Island would definitely be my last choice. Jay

[Bert_from_back_East]

Originally Posted by elchevere

I have never heard of a qualified person from LI or NJ having their employment, social status or being typecast or subject to “suspicion” (lol) outside the NY metro area by their accent or dialect (could say the same for MA, TX, etc, etc, etc). Am I the rare exception who managed to live and work cross country in CA for 33+ years? (And, no, I did not take diction lessons from the late Bob Shepherd—former Yankee PA announcer from Baldwin, Long Island who was often referred to as the voice of God).

You’re the poster that often brags about how most of your friends in California and Florida are from New York or elsewhere on the East Coast.

Case in point.

[elchevere]

What the hell does that prove, other than you like generalizing?... my corporate employers on the West Coast (one a CA HQ based company that recruited and hired me from cross country, the other a TX HQ based company that I worked at for 33 years) were not from NY, nor were most of my fellow workers..fail to see how I was “held back”, viewed suspiciously, failed to assimilate or being from Long Island gave me an inherent disadvantage—as you, not I, originally stated. If anything, being from NY gave me an advantage out West based on my work ethic vs natives. Reason why I was kept around so long and I also don’t know too many social deviates with apparent speech deficiencies who survive 33 years these days with the same corporation, let alone in sales, which required interactions with all types. Try again.

If you are talking socially, yes, I gravitated mostly, but not exclusively, towards others from the Northeast (not just LI) when I lived in CA, many of whom also were driven, grounded, direct, not flakey/kept commitments, followed similar sports teams, and some even had/still have accents !!. Ditto in FL (though I also have many friends here from Latin America and Europe). Fail to see how dialect held them back either, professionally or socially. Truth is, most of my friends from Long Island, regardless where they live now, are very successful. I also fail to see how that is “bragging”, but to each their own.

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

You’re the poster that often brags about how most of your friends in California and Florida are from New York or elsewhere on the East Coast.

Case in point.