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My name is Ali and I'm a realtor in Central NJ. I am also a life long resident of Middlesex County. I grew up in Highland Park and have lived in Metuchen for the past 7 yrs. South Plainfield is less expensive than many of the other towns, but is definitely not the nicest or the worst. The problem arises when you have kids and need to send them to school. The schools are definitely better in Edison, Highland Park, Metuchen, and many other towns. highland park and Metuchen also both have nice main streets with restaurants and shops. Metuchen even has a train station for an easy commute to the city and to boot, they offer a free shuttle service to the train.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions or would like some assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me. Good luck with your decision.
I have lived here my whole life and live right by the "bad section of plainfield" as you call it near west 7th... its not scary and i love living here i have walked around this town at 2 am and have seen nothing but deer racoons, opposums and fox...so it's great living here..its a small town and having 1 middle and 1 high school you either know everyone or know someone who knows them. the cops here are great. the schools also. there should be more stuff for kids to do though when we were younger we basically walked all over town...thats what there was to do...i would say its a great place to live...
A previous poster wrote: "Pricewise, you got yourself a good town."
True.
The Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield doesn't allow anyone with less than half a million to get a cottage.
Not true. You can get a huge colonial for 400-600K. But the schools are terrible and the crime rate is high.
I think the former gov paid $6mil for his place.
His partner owns it. It cost $1.4M
Somerset County in general is overpriced because of the # of soccer moms in it.
True for some parts of the county. Somerset Co. is huge and varies a lot.
I looked in S. Plainfield years ago. Nice but "clanish". Everyone knows everyone.
Highland Park would be a good choice. Good schools, nice downtown, close to New Brunswick and good restaurants and the train to NYC.
Trust me...South Plainfield is a good city! No drama! Police are strict. Close to shopping, entertainment, highway, etc... The damn high taxes are the issue! It's not a snobbish town...pretty quiet.
There are several historical districts in Plainfield so I am not sure where the house you are looking at is located but I would never consider buying a home that close to Plainfield. It's true the police do a good job keeping South Plainfield pretty safe for the most part, the schools are just OK. It is primarily a blue collar town and the people are nice for the most part. I think my parents pay about $7,000 in taxes for a small 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. The snow removal is terrible!
I spent half my childhood growing up in SP and my parents still live live there so I still travel to SP on a regular basis. I was born in Plainfield and we moved from W. 5th St.
I wouldn't venture into Plainfield at any time of the day. Being female I have been harrassed walking down Front St. in Plfd. on several occasions. The last time I went down Clinton Ave. and was stopped at the light on W. Seventh St. a group of Plainfield thugs were yelling at the female drivers stopped at the light including me "Hey white lady you want a peice of my azz?". Not pleasant and not the first time I've been harrassed just driving through that town.
A friend of mine lived on Sherman Ave. in Plainfield and her husband was attacked on his front lawn. There was a drug related murder on Woodland Ave. about 2 or 3 years ago in So. Plainfield just a mere 3 blocks from my parents. So there is an element of crime creeping in.
Crime in Plfd. is an exaggeration huh? There were at least 38 shootings in Plainfield last year including 6 or 7 fatalities (the body count may be higher than that unfornunately). Just last Sunday there were two more, one man dead on W. Front St. This is by no means a safe town and I've been warned to stay away from it by both Plainfield firemen and policemen. A lot of the crimes don't even make it into the papers. W. 7th St. from Clinton all the way down to the east end of Plainfield now looks like a ghetto with all the old homes turned into apartment buildings and really run down. The Plfd. police busted about 30 or 40 gang members from that area only about a year or so ago.
I think you can do much better in any of the other towns suggested by other posters or at the very least, farther away from the Plainfield border. I always liked Metuchen as it has a nice downtown area, a train station, and some very nice houses. Good luck with your decision and move.
There are several historical districts in Plainfield so I am not sure where the house you are looking at is located but I would never consider buying a home that close to Plainfield. It's true the police do a good job keeping South Plainfield pretty safe for the most part, the schools are just OK. It is primarily a blue collar town and the people are nice for the most part. I think my parents pay about $7,000 in taxes for a small 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. The snow removal is terrible!
I spent half my childhood growing up in SP and my parents still live live there so I still travel to SP on a regular basis. I was born in Plainfield and we moved from W. 5th St.
I wouldn't venture into Plainfield at any time of the day. Being female I have been harrassed walking down Front St. in Plfd. on several occasions. The last time I went down Clinton Ave. and was stopped at the light on W. Seventh St. a group of Plainfield thugs were yelling at the female drivers stopped at the light including me "Hey white lady you want a peice of my azz?". Not pleasant and not the first time I've been harrassed just driving through that town.
A friend of mine lived on Sherman Ave. in Plainfield and her husband was attacked on his front lawn. There was a drug related murder on Woodland Ave. about 2 or 3 years ago in So. Plainfield just a mere 3 blocks from my parents. So there is an element of crime creeping in.
Crime in Plfd. is an exaggeration huh? There were at least 38 shootings in Plainfield last year including 6 or 7 fatalities (the body count may be higher than that unfornunately). Just last Sunday there were two more, one man dead on W. Front St. This is by no means a safe town and I've been warned to stay away from it by both Plainfield firemen and policemen. A lot of the crimes don't even make it into the papers. W. 7th St. from Clinton all the way down to the east end of Plainfield now looks like a ghetto with all the old homes turned into apartment buildings and really run down. The Plfd. police busted about 30 or 40 gang members from that area only about a year or so ago.
I think you can do much better in any of the other towns suggested by other posters or at the very least, farther away from the Plainfield border. I always liked Metuchen as it has a nice downtown area, a train station, and some very nice houses. Good luck with your decision and move.
South Plainfield is OK, but 287 and really the industrial area that runs along side it is almost like a wall that barricades the general region from Plainfield spillover. SP is on the wrong side of that wall. Piscataway has suffered for years from Plainfield's spillover, but I have never heard of that problem in SP probably because the police there do a better job of watching the border.
Metuchen is a beautiful area, older victorian houses and a cute main street, but prepare to pay more there. Biggest problem is it is smack dead in the middle of Edison with all the cut-through traffic. SP is a lot more blue collar than Metuchen/Edison/Woodbridge or even P'way.
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South Plainfield.
