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We live in Manhattan, recently had a baby and would like to move to a bigger apartment. We love city lifestyle, and would like to preserve the relatively short commute to Downtown and Midtown Manhattan where we work. Our friends live in Jersey City (within walking distance to Grove Street PATH station) and love the place - they are renting a very spacious spacious 2-br in a rental complex with a pool for the same money we are spending on our small bedroom on the Upper East Side with parking included (we pay 300/mo extra for that).
They are saying that that part of JC is now booming, lots of young families moved in in the past few years, and many new kindergartens and pre-schools have opened up. My major concern is the public school system (thinking about the future for our child). Are there areas in JC zoned for good or at least pretty good public elementary school? Are there any good private elementary schools and how much would they cost per year? Would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.
Forgot to mention about our budget: would like to either rent (up to $2900/mo) or preferably buy (up to 700K) a 2br with at least 1200 sq feet of space.
We were faced with a similar decision 2 years ago when we decided to move out of Manhattan and we considered moving to Jersey City or Edgewater. While I think Jersey City is fine before your child starts school, if given a choice I'd rather not send my kids to public school in Jersey City. We ended up moving further south for more space and better schools.
If we did move to Jersey City it would've only been for a few years and while I was okay with that my wife wanted to move just once settle down permanently. If you decide to move to Jersey City I'd recommend just renting for now and wait for the real estate market to shake out while also deciding where you want your child to go to school.
I think when the time comes whether it be now or later you'll want to move to the place you want your kids to grow up. For us it happened to be in a more suburban town. Being close to the city wasn't as high of a priority.
You should be able to find something like that in the Grove Street - PATH area aka Historic Downtown. They do have private schools in JC , idk how public school is. Yes that area of JC is booming , its turning into a mini NYC minus the crazy cabbies.
We were faced with a similar decision 2 years ago when we decided to move out of Manhattan and we considered moving to Jersey City or Edgewater. While I think Jersey City is fine before your child starts school, if given a choice I'd rather not send my kids to public school in Jersey City. We ended up moving further south for more space and better schools.
That is my understanding also. That is why I was asking about the private schools and the cost of attending one.
Downtown Jersey City (essentially the square mile or so bound by I-78) is a very good urban place to live. It's a lifestyle similar to the nicer parts of Brooklyn -- ie, still very dense and urban and walkable, but just outside of the city's core (Manhattan).
That being said, like any urban city, the public schools are not good overall. There are some that are better than others, but generally, my advice would be to look into private schools.
Downtown Jersey City (essentially the square mile or so bound by I-78) is a very good urban place to live. It's a lifestyle similar to the nicer parts of Brooklyn -- ie, still very dense and urban and walkable, but just outside of the city's core (Manhattan).
That being said, like any urban city, the public schools are not good overall. There are some that are better than others, but generally, my advice would be to look into private schools.
All great advice. Jersey City Public Schools are, for the most part, terrible. That goes for the ritzy "Historic Downtown" area too. The only good public school n Jersey City is McNair Academy, which the admission criteria makes almost private...and its high school anyway. Subtract from your buying/rental budget the cost of private school since it will almost certainly be a necessity.
All great advice. Jersey City Public Schools are, for the most part, terrible. That goes for the ritzy "Historic Downtown" area too. The only good public school n Jersey City is McNair Academy, which the admission criteria makes almost private...and its high school anyway. Subtract from your buying/rental budget the cost of private school since it will almost certainly be a necessity.
Thank you! Do you know of good private elementary schools in JC, and how much do they cost, approximately, per year? I am trying to understand how much I should subtract from the buying/rental budget.
Actually coming from experience of being in public JC schools, i would say they're fairly decent. By no means the greatest schools but your child can receive an education to your liking, mainly within the downtown area. I went to elementary in another section of the city and the downtown area always did better. With having said that, however, don't send your child to public high school if you plan on staying here that long (hopefully). Public high school standards seem to drop dramatically. Your best bet for high school would be going private.
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