Somerdale or Mount Laurel? (Union, Clark: section 8, insurance, crime rates)

[SammyClark]

Hi, everyone! My husband and I are moving to South Jersey from the Princeton area. We have found two homes that we are interested in, one in Somerdale and one in Mount Laurel. Over the course of our house shopping, a large and somewhat secluded lot has been our top priority. However, now that we are really committing to something, we are becoming more concerned about resale value. We have no children yet, but may in the future, so school systems haven't been a concern for us either. Looking online, I found that crime rates seemed a lot higher in Somerdale, so I am wondering if there are good parts and bad parts, or if it is not considered to be a nice area. As far as Mount Laurel is concerned, are there any areas to avoid?

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[NJcost$$]

Somerdale and Mount Laurel are on two opposite ends of the spectrum. If you are concerned with resale and eventually schools, I would choose Mount Laurel if your budget will allow. What is the price range you are looking in?

[NJGOAT]

Somerdale is a mixed, but primarily blue collar town. It is deeply tied into the other towns that share the same regional high school, Sterling. The other towns are Stratford, Laurel Springs, Magnolia and Hi-Nella. In terms of ranking them on peoples perception, they would follow that order with Somerdale slotting between Laurel Springs and Magnolia. The area isn't bad overall, but it isn't considered on the same level as a town like Mount Laurel.

One tool I like to use to make comparisons is the NJ Department of Education DFG scale. They rank all the towns on a letter scale; A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. The higher on the scale, the higher the socio-economic status of the area. They come up with the rankings by comparing the following categories: percent high school graduates, percent with some college, occupation, population density, income, unemployment and poverty.

Here is the complete list of rankings:
NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts

In your case Somerdale (and the overall Sterling area) is ranked "CD" and Mount Laurel is ranked "I". You may find it useful to look up the rank of towns you are familiar with and see how they compare. FWIW, Princeton is also an "I", so there is a similar socio-economic make-up in Mount Laurel and Princeton.

Overall, my recommendation just based on your future needs of a little more privacy in terms of lot, resale and potential needs of school system, I would say Mount Laurel is the much better choice. As for any bad sections in Mount Laurel, that is all relative. One section of the Larchmont development (between Route 38 and Union Mill Rd. along Larchmont Blvd.) contains a large concentration of affordable and section 8 housing. Outside of living in that immediate sub-section, there isn't anything wrong with the area and Larchmont in general.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by SammyClark

Hi, everyone! My husband and I are moving to South Jersey from the Princeton area. We have found two homes that we are interested in, one in Somerdale and one in Mount Laurel. Over the course of our house shopping, a large and somewhat secluded lot has been our top priority. However, now that we are really committing to something, we are becoming more concerned about resale value. We have no children yet, but may in the future, so school systems haven't been a concern for us either. Looking online, I found that crime rates seemed a lot higher in Somerdale, so I am wondering if there are good parts and bad parts, or if it is not considered to be a nice area. As far as Mount Laurel is concerned, are there any areas to avoid?

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

There's good & bad anywhere. I can't imagine that those are the only 2 towns with what you want. Where is the job & what's your budget?

[SammyClark]

Thanks for the feedback! Believe me, we have looked all over the place, from the Philly suburbs out to the Pine Barrens... We have just recently found two homes that we love, one in Somerdale and one in Mount Laurel. So it's not really a matter of continuing to shop around, but just to be realistic about the two choices we have in front of us. Both are on about an acre, which is good for us, and if anything, we like the lot in Somerdale better. But if Mount Laurel is a better area for resale, we should probably go with that. It does have a very similar feel to the area we live in now. Oh, and the job is in Moorestown, but since he is used to a commute by now and I work all over the tr-state area, just being a little closer to Moorestown than we are now would be great.

[ElijahAstin]

Mount Laurel is much nicer (and will provide an easier commute to Moorestown to boot).

[JerzBoy]

Mount Laurel hands down. MUCH easier commute to Moorestown and it has better highway access than Somerdale. Plus the school system is better and there is more "open space".

[Tracysherm]

Keep in mind if the "Somerdale" home is in Broadmoor, it's not "really" Somerdale. Just somerdale in name only. The rest of Somerdale, in the Sterling school district, is like a separate town from Broadmoor. Broadmoor is much more similar to Mt. Laurel. The majority of Somerdale is not. It's like apples and oranges.

[tom_567]

Mount Laurel is in Burlington County, so your county taxes, auto insurance, and a few other things may be marginally lower in Mount Laurel. I work in Mount Laurel and every coworker who lives there loves the schools and the town. I'd pick Mount Laurel hands down too. You don't have to worry about Mount Laurel radically changing for the worse in the future. Plus, I assume you're picking the town for the schools, which are way better in Mount Laurel.

[invertigo]

My vote is for ML.

It is so weird now to think that buyers have the time to sit back and think about two homes. When we bought in 2004, you couldn't even think for a moment. If you slept on something for one night, it was gone the next. How times have changed.

Well....good luck and welcome to the area.