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Hello everyone, I have been searching through the forums and have found the threads very helpful and informative. I need to choose a couple towns in North Jersey to visit for apartment hunting this weekend and would like your advice. I will be starting a job in Fairfield, NJ next month and am looking for a place to rent. It's important to me to live in a safe area close to a walkable downtown. Also, most of my social life is in New York City so I want to live somewhere with reliable weekend public transit to midtown or the path. I'd also prefer to be able to take local roads to work and to live where there are relatively more young people as I'm in my late 20's and have not driven for the last 10 years (live in the city without a car), but my priorities are safety and access to New York. The towns that stand out to me in my research are Summit, Montclair, and Madison. Are there any others I should consider? Perhaps Caldwell Wayne or Morristown?
My work is closest to the Montclair train line and I have heard that Montclair has a great downtown, but since I'll primarily be going to New York on the weekend I'm concerned that the Montclair train doesn't seem to run all the way on the weekends. Also, are the areas around Bay Street or Glen Ridge train stations safe? I am considering just driving down to the closest train station on the weekends but might be coming home by myself late at night. I know there is a DeCamp bus line but I'm not sure how convenient or reliable it is on weekends.
I've also been looking at towns along the Morristown line and just taking a longer commute to work. Summit seems to have a decent apartment inventory and frequent train service but I don't know how easy the commute would be. I have heard that Madison is very nice but the rental inventory seems to have fewer apartments and is more expensive. I have heard both good things and very bad things about Morristown in terms of safety so I guess I just need to check it out for myself but would like to hear any opinions.
Obviously my thoughts at this stage are still very amorphous but any input or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
My work is closest to the Montclair train line and I have heard that Montclair has a great downtown, but since I'll primarily be going to New York on the weekend I'm concerned that the Montclair train doesn't seem to run all the way on the weekends. Also, are the areas around Bay Street or Glen Ridge train stations safe? I am considering just driving down to the closest train station on the weekends but might be coming home by myself late at night.
Montclair is a great town. You're right, weekend train service on the Montclair line is very limited and only runs every couple hours. What you can do is drive to the train station in Orange which has hourly train service direct to NYC on weekends. I'm in West Orange and that's usually what I do. It's only a 30-minute train ride and you can drive to the Orange station in about 10 minutes from Bloomfield Ave. in Montclair. Be careful coming home late at night, but there are usually a lot of people getting off the train, and the conductors stand on the platform while everyone gets off, so it's not too bad.
That's a bit of a tough one. The bus to Montclair is reliable, but the last one is around 12:45. Makes for an expensive cab ride if you're having fun. That's one thing CT and Westchester have on us. You could drive, but then it's a parking problem and you have to stay sober. Find a friend with an apt. in town.
summit is an awesome town.
there's a great train station with rental apts within walking distance.
very safe despite recent news.
lots of shopping. literally 5 min drive to short hills mall.
Welcome fellow Canuck! I moved to NJ from Canada (Toronto), 13 years ago to the Montclair area. The schools and commute are great, though the price of homes is high when you take into account the taxes and principle. You can find less expensive areas, but they will be less convenient commute or the school test scores will often be lower, or both. You might also consider Glen Ridge, Maplewood/South Orange, Summit... there are many lovely towns within commuting distance of Manhattan by train. Please feel free to PM if you want to chat. Best of luck to you with the move and welcome, again!
They all have downtowns except for Wayne. I'd personally go with Montclair, Summit, or Madison, but they're all expensive as you know.
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check out summit
