Why are the homes in Park Ridge so much cheaper then other towns close by (River Vale: houses)

[movingtojersey]

We have just started our search and have foncused primarily in Upper Saddle River, Old Tappan, River Vale, Montvale and Woodcliff Lakes - however I just noticed a few listings for homes in Park Ridge - the homes that we like in the other towns are in the 1 million range, we found homes we love in Park Ridge for under $700,000 - so what gives?? I checked out the schools are they are solid - is Park Ridge considered not as nice???

Thanks for your help...

[BrownstoneNY]

Park Ridge is just as nice as the surrounding towns (really, how could someone have gone up there and thought otherwise!). Perhaps the houses you looked at have some hidden issues or are on major roads or something.

[bradykp]

i love park ridge. i've been there a few times because that's where i buy all my bike stuff, and it's gorgeous. i see no issues. maybe the local government stinks or something?

[njgirl118]

i think while park ridge schools are good- they have their own high school which isn't as reputable as the other towns you mentioned who have high schools that combine towns ie pascack valley, pascack hills, etc

[Mightyqueen801]

Nixon liked it there.

[PHWharton]

Actually, the Park Ridge High School was ranked 18th best in the state (out of 322) this past year according to the data from the NJ Dept. of Education and as reported NJ Monthly [url=http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-high-schools-2010.html]2010 Top High Schools in New Jersey-www.njmonthly.com[/url]. Yes, Pascack Hills performed even better ranked at 7th but Pascack Valley ranked behind Park Ridge at 23rd. Bottom line, all of the schools are great and rank in the top 10% of all high schools in New Jersey.

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Park Ridge and the other towns you mentioned is the average size of the property lots. All four of the towns mentioned in the original post have average size lots that are larger. They also have more open space.

On the other hand, Park Ridge has a tight-knit community with average taxes for the area. One bonus is that water and electric bills are much lower than expected due to the fact that Park Ridge *owns* its own water and electric department and bills are less expensive than United Water and PS&G (gas is still purchased from PS&G).

[DFBonnett]

Park Ridge has a lot of older, smaller homes on smaller lots, thus the lower average prices. Lovely town. You can't go wrong buying there.

[Kevin1975]

Park Ridge is a nice town and the schools are quality and are comparable to those other towns. The other towns just have some higher end housing inventory and some larger lots. Park Ridge's taxes are less than those other towns also.