Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We've been looking for a home for about a year so far and are stuck trying to decide on which towns we like best. I'm Chinese and my husband is Jewish and we have 2 kids, 9 and 6 yrs old. We'd like a community that is ethnically and religiously diverse. We're looking to spend approx. $600K. We've narrowed it down but are only guessing: Basking Ridge - great schools but not very diverse? Bridgewater - good schools by not very diverse (I think there are alot of Indians but given we're not Indian, it doesn't matter to us)? Hillsborough - good schools but not very diverse and with high property taxes and crowded schools? East Brunswick -good schools and diverse but really high property taxes? I tried combing for data but most data is too general ("Asian" but that doesn't specify Indian vs. Chinese, and no mention of religion). Any input would be appreciated!
Any of the above mentioned communities would be diverse, in fact most of the upscale towns and communities in NJ are very diverse. At this point I would go with which home and neighborhood you felt you liked the best. Visit the schools and see the students (that's often an indication of the diversity). Visit the township building and ask your questions. Check out the traffic, houses of worship and walk through the malls and grocery stores.
East Brunswick has always had a large population of Asian and Jewish families~I moved there in the early 60's and had many friends of all faiths/ethnic backgrounds. Excellent schools have always been their selling point. It's also very crowded, lines everywhere and traffic at times is frustrating.
I would choose Basking Ridge. It has top notch schools and the location(compared to the two other towns is very convenient). Not sure where you or your husband will be commuting to work to but for what it's worth, Basking Ridge has I-78 and I-287 running through it. Hillsborough has just one main route 202/206 which is always congested. Bridgewater would be my second choice being that not only does it have I-78 and I-287 running through it, but route 22 as well. They are all diverse as the above posters have said, but more so diverse in terms of Indian-Asian. I don't think your children will have a problem fitting in, because there ARE Chinese and Japanese families living in Basking Ridge...just not as many as Indian families that live there.
P.S. ......for what it's worth: Holmdel, Plainsboro and West Windsor have the largest population of Chinese ancestry in New Jersey(Holmdel is number 1). Not sure if that is an option for you but they have excellent schools and a good amount of Asian-Chinese population!
It is not clear what you are looking for, please be more specific.
Don't think you can find a town in NJ that is not diverse ethnically or racially or any other way.
Certainly Bridgewater and Hillsborough are as diverse as you can get from the perspective of many variables as is Somerville high school which serves Somerville and Branchburg.
It is not clear what you are looking for, please be more specific.
Don't think you can find a town in NJ that is not diverse ethnically or racially or any other way.
Certainly Bridgewater and Hillsborough are as diverse as you can get from the perspective of many variables as is Somerville high school which serves Somerville and Branchburg.
If you want a melting pot look in Piscataway. Every ethnicity in the world has someone who lives there. And yes I have met quite a few people from there who are Jewish. Asians there seem to be a pretty even 50/50 mix of both Indian and Oriental decent. Can't comment on Chinese specifically though.
Any questions about the schools, let me know. I used to sub there.
+1 on Piscataway. I lived in Pway my entire life except for 2 years in South Brunswick. Moved back to Pway 7 years ago. Very diverse. I am filipino/american. You can pretty much a lot of diversity in NJ in general unless you are looking into South and west NJ. I have a lot of family that are filipino married to caucasians.....never an issue. Its 2010! I don't think that should even be a concern anymore....at least not in NJ.
Thanks for the replies so far!
I work in Piscataway and my husband works in South Plainfield.
We targeted Basking Ridge because their schools seemed to be in the top 10% (but the houses seem so much more expensive) and we targeted Bridgewater and Hillsborough because they are equally in the top 25%. Hillsborough has more of a commute but they're building new homes there which to me is more favorable. Even though Hillsborough's property taxes seem steep, I believe their schools systems are on the upswing and will continue to get better.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
please clarify
