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Something I thought of... What are the religious trends in the area? Is there a strong emphasis placed on religion or strong religious community leaning towards a specific practice?
i don't think religion is an issue. no one ever asked where i went to church. few of my neighbors went. i only heard about church when children were born, couples married, or someone died.
The churches seem to play somewhat of a more omnipresent role in Haddonfield, Haddon Heights, and Moorestown, which one might expect from WASPier towns, but it's not overly pervasive. And it's not like the South where you too often hear stories of people moving in and immediately being asked "What church do you belong to?" One will not be judged on their religious practice or lack thereof, but it certainly can be a catalyst for breaking you into the community and gaining more immediate acceptance in those towns in particular.
Churches are heavily involved in Camden in community outreach and trying to help the poor and steer them away from bad decisions, which is pretty much similar to any other church system in poor minority communities.
Outside of that, religion doesn't really play a huge role in shaping the communities or anything like that. Many towns in the area have pretty sizable Jewish populations, and Cherry Hill in particular has a decent amount of Orthodox and Hasidic groups, but they don't throw their weight around and try to influence policy in the way that they do in, say, Lakewood along the Jersey Shore.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by anotherusername
Something I thought of... What are the religious trends in the area? Is there a strong emphasis placed on religion or strong religious community leaning towards a specific practice?
Thanks!
Haddonfield was founded by Elizabeth Haddon. It's a Quaker town.
Most of South Jersey was founded by Quakers. The Friends schools are Quaker schools but there is no religious requirement to attend. If you are Italian you are probably Catholic. There is also a large Jewish population. You will see a lot of events hosted at the JCC and a lot of Designer Bag Bingo fund raisers at the many Catholic schools in the area. There is also a large population of Asians so you have Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc...
There is no big emphasis put on what religion you are. We find the whole Evangelical, radical thoughts from people in the deep south very odd though. You will probably get told to **** if you go around telling people God hates them because of skin color/sexuality/religion.
Hi Again- Thank you for providing more information. I guessed this was the case, but wanted to make certain delicately. I'm indifferent either direction, but just wanted to make sure it wasn't like the south.
The question about religion cracked me up (no offense!). I grew up in North Jersey and have lived in South Jersey for over 35 years. One's religion is pretty much a non-topic in NJ. Yeah, I have neighbors who are Baptists, but one conversation years ago stopped any further discussion of religion in its tracks. I know that isn't the case in some other parts of the country.
$1.1 mil for a 1500 sf house with no garage or yard? Yikes, makes NJ's real estate look positively reasonable! You could buy a pretty dang nice house, even in Haddonfield, for that.
Hey Lori- Thanks for the thoughts. My wife returned last night and very much enjoyed the area. She thought everyone was very very nice. She met some other moms in a cafe in Haddonfield because they complimented her on her coat. My wife was sort of surprised because that would never happen here in norCA (or very rare). The other mothers here might look you up and down in judgement, but never say a thing. She was there for the snow you had on Thurs/Fri and enjoyed it.
Overall, she walked away with a very positive feeling. On paper, this is how we see it:
- Better lifestyle (not so hurried, status conscience, and fast)
- Beautiful little town with kids who seem to roam free after school (you would hardly see that here... all the kids are very very schedules all day to stay competitive)
- Close proximity to Philly (my wife went and saw a play Thursday night. Said it was a breeze and fun)
- Much easier travel for me... I have to travel from CA to the NE somewhat often. Moving there turns a 3 day trip and 11 hours in a plane into a day trip with 2hours in a plane
- Better schools... NJ schools simply blow away CA schools. CA schools are dragged down by Prop 13.
- Much cheaper to live. I was amazed at the cost of gas, cost of going out for a meal, almost everything is just way cheaper
- People seem much nice. I know this probably seems strange, but the people seem kinder. They are very very competitive here.
- Haddonfield seems like it would be a great place to grow up as a kid. Run outside in the morning, go to friends, go downtown, and just have fun.
- CA is beautiful, I just can't argue that. Its been in the 70s for a couple weeks. The hills are beautiful and this is mother nature's play ground.
- CA has a very hard to describe electricity to it that is intoxicating. Its the 'anything can be done with great enthusiasm' thing. It really is addicting.
I think the hard part is that we meet all these people from the North East who are always so envious when I tell them I'm from San Francisco. Things like, "Oh wow, I would love to live there" etc.. This creates a sense of hesitancy because its one of those "What are we missing/don't know" situations.
In any case, I great appreciate everyone's thoughts and time. Thank you! I'll post once we know what's going on.
California is tops in public education... both the UC system and State colleges attract students from around the world.
Is New Jersey comparable?
As you previously mentioned your community of Lafayette California is small, cute, and very well located to SF and has some of the best schools in California.
It also has the direct SF access via Bart.
I have friends that relocated from New Jersey and they were literally crushed by New Jersey property taxes... no Prop 13 in New Jersey.
Lafayette is most desirable by proximity, low crime and easy access to big city amenities... plus the region is surrounded by a very large network of parks...
Al least you should not have any trouble selling for a good price so your timing is excellent.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 03-08-2016 at 02:43 PM..
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I know that isn't the case in some other parts of the country. 
