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.
I'm looking for some advice on what towns to explore in NJ for homes as I barely know anything about the towns here.
Where are you coming from?
I'm moving from Queens, NY, which is probably a drastic change to NJ suburbs, but I'm quite used to it, having grown up in suburbs of SoCal.
Why are you moving?
I need more space for kids, and being older now, the perks and expense of living in NYC are less appealing.
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC?
I'm 100% WFH while my wife is only in FiDi 2 days a week. Commute doesn't really matter much to us as I can always just drop my wife off at the train station. Ideally, 1.5 hour commute, but I'm willing to entertain longer for the right town.
Will you buy or rent?
Buying
What is your budget ?
Around 1M depending on property tax. Ideally, lower property tax so I can get more space for my money.
What kind of place are you looking for ?
Single family home
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ?
Wife and kids
Do you need/want good public schools?
This is quite important to us so we're looking for towns with exceptional public schools for all grade levels.
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in
Ideally, a safe neighborhood with young children so my kids have others to play with. I don't really care too much about having a downtown nearby as I can always drive to it, but I also don't want it to be too remote that it is isolated and difficult to get groceries.
List three things that are important to you in order of importance.
- Exceptional public schools at all levels
- Reliable power and internet since I work from home, I need my power to be stable and not go out every time it rains. I find it really hard to find reliable info about this. When I talk to realtors, it seems like losing power is just a part of life in NJ. Are there really no towns that have reliable power? What about areas with buried power lines like a several communities that I saw in Montgomery? Or would it be better to be an area with a more reliable power company like in towns like Madison that have their own power company? Are there any towns that didn't lose power during Sandy (which might too high of a bar to pass)?
- Newer construction would be nice as I don't want to be adding features to the house and find that the wiring doesn't support it
What is your budget ?
Around 1M depending on property tax. Ideally, lower property tax so I can get more space for my money.
What kind of place are you looking for ?
Single
- Exceptional public schools at all levels
- Reliable power and internet since I work from home, I need my power to be stable and not go out every time it rains. I find it really hard to find reliable info about this. When I talk to realtors, it seems like losing power is just a part of life in NJ. Are there really no towns that have reliable power? What about areas with buried power lines like a several communities that I saw in Montgomery? Or would it be better to be an area with a more reliable power company like in towns like Madison that have their own power company? Are there any towns that didn't lose power during Sandy (which might too high of a bar to pass)?
- Newer construction would be nice as I don't want to be adding features to the house and find that the wiring doesn't support it
Thank you all for any responses!
Install a backup electric generator will help improve your time without power. Downside maintenance and the generator may fail to start. Diesel, propane and natural gas are your options.
If you choose a home with a well for your water supply when power is out you loose water too.
I know all too well during Sandy my neighborhood lost power for 7 days. The neighbor who had a generator was very popular with folks taking showers at his home.
We lived in rural Warren County.
Low taxes and exceptional schools in NJ not happening on a $1 million home …nope.
Lived in NJ for 58 years moved to Pa when we retired to lower our cost of living.
If possible spend a long weekend or a few days at a hotel, Airbnb etc to get a feel for the town. What you read and experience can be very different.
- Reliable power and internet since I work from home, I need my power to be stable and not go out every time it rains. I find it really hard to find reliable info about this. When I talk to realtors, it seems like losing power is just a part of life in NJ. Are there really no towns that have reliable power? What about areas with buried power lines like a several communities that I saw in Montgomery? Or would it be better to be an area with a more reliable power company like in towns like Madison that have their own power company? Are there any towns that didn't lose power during Sandy (which might too high of a bar to pass)?
You said you're from Queens, I mean you should know this is not California where we don't have rolling blackouts. As for Sandy, its pretty hard to keep the power on when homes were disappearing or being demolished in a national disaster. As for losing power, I can say with confidence its a rare event that might happen during a hurricane or major storm.
As for the future use of energy in my confidence is pretty low. The governor is messing around with the power infrastructure, cancelling natural gas pipelines in the state, and throwing out bids for billions of dollars for windmills. There is a huge push for electric cars, on an infrastructure that cannot support it or if the wind stops. In 2023 everything is fine, depending on the future elections 5 - 10 years from now blackouts and limitations might be something we might need to adjust too.
Low taxes and exceptional schools in NJ not happening on a $1 million home …nope.
...
If possible spend a long weekend or a few days at a hotel, Airbnb etc to get a feel for the town. What you read and experience can be very different.
Its possible: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...39506311_zpid/
20k tax, city water/sewer, in-ground pool, McMansion with 1 acre lot (so live your suburban dream), haven't experienced power blackout or internet down in any recent major storm.. schools all rated more than 8, family oriented town and closer to some major downtowns. Also unlike the popular towns like Westfield, Scotch plains and others, buses are there to pick up and drop off from schools, so your taxes are utilized properly, more the kids, more is your utilization. I am not an agent, and not related to that listing.. its just an example.. you can find similar home in neighboring town.. I got to the city 2 days a week too.
Its possible: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...39506311_zpid/
20k tax, city water/sewer, in-ground pool, McMansion with 1 acre lot (so live your suburban dream), haven't experienced power blackout or internet down in any recent major storm.. schools all rated more than 8, family oriented town and closer to some major downtowns. Also unlike the popular towns like Westfield, Scotch plains and others, buses are there to pick up and drop off from schools, so your taxes are utilized properly, more themore is your utilization. I am not an agent, and not related to that listing.. its just an example.. you can find similar home in neighboring town.. I got to the city 2 days a week too.
Oh the other Washington…lol I lived in the 1 in Warren County. Hi neighbor
- Reliable power and internet since I work from home, I need my power to be stable and not go out every time it rains. I find it really hard to find reliable info about this. When I talk to realtors, it seems like losing power is just a part of life in NJ. Are there really no towns that have reliable power? What about areas with buried power lines like a several communities that I saw in Montgomery? Or would it be better to be an area with a more reliable power company like in towns like Madison that have their own power company? Are there any towns that didn't lose power during Sandy (which might too high of a bar to pass)?
- Newer construction would be nice as I don't want to be adding features to the house and find that the wiring doesn't support it
Thank you all for any responses!
Don't know so much about the new construction one. Doable, but maybe not the house you want at the price you want? But if it's just one of you heading downtown twice a week then look at northern/northeast Monmouth County. Lots of good schools at all levels.
NJ Transit express buses to Wall St., trains, plus easy access to multiple ferry routes to Pier 11 and to Vessey St. Depending on how far you have to walk once you get off the boat you're looking at a 45-60 minute one-way commute.
My family has been living in that part of the state since the 1920s and I lived there for 30 years. I've never heard of the kind of power outages you're talking about. Sandy had the power out from 1-3 days depending on exactly where they lived but that was an unprecedented natural disaster.
I've been through plenty of hurricanes, Nor'easters, and blizzards in my day and you're talking about a handful of hours over the course of a handful of days spread out over 30 years and always because of a major storm that had everything shut down anyway. The power outages were so short in relation to the magnitude of the storm that I barely remember them.
If you're that concerned you can get a powerwall (battery storage that can run your whole house for a day.)A lot of companies are making them now, not just Tesla. Combine that with a generator, the big ones that run on natural gas are pretty quiet, but powerwall + generator and you can be off the grid indefinitely. You can also do this with solar, you just have to make sure that your solar is tied to the battery and not to the grid. Grid tied solar shuts down when the grid goes down and becomes a useless roof ornament.
You said you're from Queens, I mean you should know this is not California where we don't have rolling blackouts. As for Sandy, its pretty hard to keep the power on when homes were disappearing or being demolished in a national disaster. As for losing power, I can say with confidence its a rare event that might happen during a hurricane or major storm.
As for the future use of energy in my confidence is pretty low. The governor is messing around with the power infrastructure, cancelling natural gas pipelines in the state, and throwing out bids for billions of dollars for windmills. There is a huge push for electric cars, on an infrastructure that cannot support it or if the wind stops. In 2023 everything is fine, depending on the future elections 5 - 10 years from now blackouts and limitations might be something we might need to adjust too.
I think it's pretty clear at this point that they're cancelling the gas because a) they expect to be renewing the nuke licenses and I expect some major renovations to happen soon at the existing plants as well as the introduction of small nuke plants. b)we can't sustain a massive shift towards gas for more than 20-30 years. There's just not enough of a North American/Caribbean supply to run everything on gas for much longer than that.
It's a big country - it's actually a massive two countries because we already share parts of the grid with Canada. It's always windy or the sun is always shining or water is always falling somewhere. The issue is putting the transmission infrastructure in place to move the power from where it's being created to the places that need it. We also already have pumped storage hydro in Tennessee, South Carolina, Ontario, etc. It's pretty simple, when your solar or turbines are making too much power you use the extra power to pump water up a hill. When your solar or turbines aren't making enough power you send the water back down hill to turn different turbines. It's just a giant battery full of water that you can build any place that has a big enough elevation change. It's been in use for decades. We just need more of it.
None of what's needed is some big technological marvel. It's just power lines and reservoirs. The roadblocks are federal investment and NIMBYs.
I think it's pretty clear at this point that they're cancelling the gas because a) they expect to be renewing the nuke licenses and I expect some major renovations to happen soon at the existing plants as well as the introduction of small nuke plants. b)we can't sustain a massive shift towards gas for more than 20-30 years. There's just not enough of a North American/Caribbean supply to run everything on gas for much longer than that.
It's a big country - it's actually a massive two countries because we already share parts of the grid with Canada. It's always windy or the sun is always shining or water is always falling somewhere. The issue is putting the transmission infrastructure in place to move the power from where it's being created to the places that need it. We also already have pumped storage hydro in Tennessee, South Carolina, Ontario, etc. It's pretty simple, when your solar or turbines are making too much power you use the extra power to pump water up a hill. When your solar or turbines aren't making enough power you send the water back down hill to turn different turbines. It's just a giant battery full of water that you can build any place that has a big enough elevation change. It's been in use for decades. We just need more of it.
None of what's needed is some big technological marvel. It's just power lines and reservoirs. The roadblocks are federal investment and NIMBYs.
There is plenty of natural gas, NJ is only 100 miles away from the countries second largest natural gas reserve which has enough gas for at least 1,000 years, if not more.
There was actually gasline coming into NJ more than doubling our supply delivering a billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. It was a 100 mile pipeline into NJ, that had every approval, left, right and center including supreme court victories. Murphy was able to cancel it (or have it postponed) by causing issues with land etc., inexpensive clean energy would compete with his own interests of building deathmills along the shoreline.
- Newer construction would be nice as I don't want to be adding features to the house and find that the wiring doesn't support it
Thank you all for any responses!
There aren't many new homes in North NJ. If they are new, likely a McMansion or a townhome. I wouldn't look past old homes though, many of the pre-war homes have better quality, and character than the new homes. As for electric, most homes have been upgraded to code, knob and tube went out a very long time ago that there really is no difference.
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.
