Bridgewater vs. Metuchen (Newark, Edison, Westfield: real estate, house, new construction)
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I have saved up enough to place a down payment on a single family house up to $700k. I have narrowed my choices down to settling down in either Metuchen or Bridgewater, NJ.
In terms of safety, quality of schools, cost of living, real estate prices, easier commute to NYC via train and/or car, I'd love to hear opinions on which town most would recommend to be the better choice, as well as pros and cons of both places. Thanks in advance!
Last edited by knicksin8; 08-16-2010 at 08:02 AM..
I have saved up enough to place a down payment on a single family house up to $700k. I have narrowed my choices down to settling down in either Piscataway or Bridgewater, NJ.
In terms of safety, quality of schools, cost of living, real estate prices, easier commute to NYC via train and/or car, I'd love to hear opinions on which town most would recommend to be the better choice, as well as pros and cons of both places. Thanks in advance!
Congratulations on saving up that kinda money!
In terms of safety, quality of schools, cost of living and real estate prices Bridgewater wins. For better commute to NYC, Piscataway wins as there is a direct train from Edison/Metuchen to NY Penn. From Bridgewater, you will have to take a train to Newark and then change to NJTransit for NY Penn or Path to WTC/33rd.
In terms of safety, quality of schools, cost of living and real estate prices Bridgewater wins. For better commute to NYC, Piscataway wins as there is a direct train from Edison/Metuchen to NY Penn. From Bridgewater, you will have to take a train to Newark and then change to NJTransit for NY Penn or Path to WTC/33rd.
sorry about the typo. The area I was specifically considering is technically Metuchen, not Piscataway. Thank you for your reply davenj08.
Is the commute time via car comparable for both Bridgewater and Metuchen to NYC?
Bridgewater has to pay for high schools, unrestricted construction and more construction thus more municipal services and more schools. As a town it doesn't exist. Crowded, traffic endless taxes, still developing.
Metuchen is a small town that has been settled. It has one high school, a main st, a train directly into NYC and access to the turnpike, 287, parkway, rt 9, rt 1, rt 35, 27, 28. Easy access to Newark airport, road and ferry access to NYC. Beautiful homes, 2 minutes from Kennedy Hospital. 15 minutes from wetting your line in salt water for blues bass or flounder.
Metuchen is a small town with a main street and easy access to NYC trains.
Bridgewater is a township with many small towns, villages and lots of open space and easy access to NYC trains. Lots of open space large lots and convenient to all the interstates Major shopping and every possible store and restaurant that you can think of.Bridgewater HS was the first blue ribbon school in NJ
Both are quality places to live. The question is do you want to live in a crowded town or a less crowded township?
Bridgewater has to pay for high schools, unrestricted construction and more construction thus more municipal services and more schools. As a town it doesn't exist. Crowded, traffic endless taxes, still developing.
Metuchen is a small town that has been settled. It has one high school, a main st, a train directly into NYC and access to the turnpike, 287, parkway, rt 9, rt 1, rt 35, 27, 28. Easy access to Newark airport, road and ferry access to NYC. Beautiful homes, 2 minutes from Kennedy Hospital. 15 minutes from wetting your line in salt water for blues bass or flounder.
Bridgewater????
You should have just said that you like Metuchen, and explained why. Your statements about Bridgewater are completely untrue.
There is ONE high school in Bridgewater.
There is very little new construction in Bridgewater, as most of the town has been built up already.
Bridgewater encompases 33 sq miles, with a population of 45,000 people, for a population density of 1,364 people per square mile. Metuchen has 13,000 people in 2.8 square miles, for a density of 4,600 people per sq. mile. Which town is crowded?
Bridgewater is convenient to routes 287, 78, 22, 206, 202. While it may take a few more minutes to get to NYC from here, it's easy to get anywhere.
There are over 3,600 acres of parks and outdoor recreation facilities in Bridgewater, in 20 different parks, offering recreation opportunities like golf, tennis, boating, mountain biking, hiking, and yes, even fishing, right in town, not a 15 minute drive away.
According to the NJDept of Education, while both high schools score better than the state average, Bridgewater students have a higher average score on every standardized test, despite having slightly larger classes and a total school population that is roughly three times that of Metuchen.
Bridgewater has enough industry that only 74.7% of the municipality's taxes are paid by the residential property taxes, leaving the town with an effective property tax rate of 1.69. Metuchen has to collect 81% of it's taxes from the residentail base, so it has a tax rate of 1.94. Which town has higher taxes?
In fairness, Metuchen is a nice town, and it offers some things that Bridgewater does not. It is in fact closer to NYC, and offres a more "in town" style of living than Bridgewater does. You can walk through most of the town is a short period, and do some shopping and stop for a bite or a drink as you walk. And for the people who want that, Metuchen is the better choice. Bridgewater is larger, less densely populated, more spread out, with larger properties and a more suburban lifestyle, where you will take your car to do most things, visit a mall to shop. It surprised me greatly that one family would have narrowed their choices to these two very different possibilities.
i'd like to thank everybody for their helpful responses.
Is flooding a realistic risk for either Bridgewater or Metuchen?
While flooding can happen in any town, if you happen to be at just the wrong spot in relation to a body of water that can rise quickly, there is little risk of flooding in Bridgewater. (That doesn't mean you can't get water in yrou basement if it's not properly waterproofed. Entirely diffeerent issue.)
By the way, what happened to the Princeton area? Yesterday that's where you said you wanted to be.
I have saved up enough to place a down payment on a single family house up to $700k. I have narrowed my choices down to settling down in either Metuchen or Bridgewater, NJ.
In terms of safety, quality of schools, cost of living, real estate prices, easier commute to NYC via train and/or car, I'd love to hear opinions on which town most would recommend to be the better choice, as well as pros and cons of both places. Thanks in advance!
How did you narrow down to these 2 towns? With 700k, why not try Warren/Watchung/Green Brook instead of Bridgewater. Although I do like Metuchen, why not try Westfield?
I recently moved just outside of Princeton for a job in Lawrenceville, NJ. I have friends and family in Bergen County and I meet up with them in Manhattan quite regularly.
While Bridgewater and Metuchen are very different places, I can manage the commute from either location to work, and I would also have better access to multiple highways, unlike the limited options of Rt. 1 & 206 of the Princeton area. Plus, a train into NYC is closer from either of these locations compared to the Princeton area.
Both Bridgewater & Metuchen appear to be safe places with good quality schools for my kids, though realistically a notch below the respective reputations of the Princeton, Montgomery or West Windsor school districts.
I did not seriously consider Warren, Watchung, Green Brook and Westfield because the work commute would be too much in my mind. I think Bridgewater and Metuchen are the outer limits of the commute time I am willing to accept.
Last edited by knicksin8; 08-17-2010 at 07:49 AM..
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no choice at all
