What do people think about Springfield? (Newark, Union: for sale, condos, low crime)
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My wife and I have been looking at homes in Cranford, Westfield, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Springfield. So far, we like Springfield the best because of what we can get for our money ($500k-$550k). Of course the downtown area in Westfield is great, but we kind of feel like we'd be withing 10 minutes of that anyway. In our price range, everything we've seen in Westfield has either been on the small side, or in need of major renovations. Cranford is nice but the homes feel a bit older. We like Scotch Plains and Fanwood, but the tie breaker between them and Springfield is the quicker commute to NYC. I work in the city and it seems like it's about 15-20 minutes faster from Springfield. Can anyone give me any thoughts about their experiences with Springfield? Have you good experiences with the schools? How safe is it? etc. Of course I've been reading anything I can find online, but first hand opinions would be great. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I can comment on Westfield from the perspective of growing up there, the town is nice, the schools are great and it is very convenient for commuting. My fathers office was in Springfield for over 20 years. Its a very nice town but I do not know anything about the schools etc. There is no downtown, yes its close to go to if you want. What I find curious is you think the commute is faster from Springfield? If you are driving then yes a few minutes but not much. The train goes from Westfield to Newark then switch to NY, there is not train in Springfield you would have to go to Millburn right? I think thats a toss up then.
I also think there is a difference in the towns. Westfield is a bit more snobby (I graduated 20 years ago and think its gotten worse since then) I do not think that is as prevanlent in Springfield. You may want to take that into consideration.
All the towns you are considering are very nice and would be great to live in, if you want to then I would look at the overall feel of the towns.
I lived in Springfield for a long time and the only reason I moved out was because there are a limited number of condos/townhouses for sale. I would recommend Springfield to anyone. The schools are good (my step brother graduated 2 years ago and was accepted to every school he applied to) and the prople are great.
There is a small downtown but nothing like Westfield. Westfield is so close that it never mattered to me that I had to drive 10 minutes to get there.
I grew up in Springfield and its a nice, quiet town. Very little crime, schools were ok but nothing special (particularly thought alot of my high school teachers were pretty dim). Not much to do in town, pretty much all the surrounding towns except Union are "better" but of course more expensive (summit, millburn, westfield). As far as good/bad areas - there are no areas where you would feel unsafe, but certainly some neighborhoods have nicer/pricier homes than others. Really all of the towns you are considering have extremely low crime rates compared to the vast majority of the usa, i would not make it a concern. The "top" of town is generally considered the most prestigious area (near the Watchung Reservation and Mountainside/Summit) but houses there are probably out of your price range.
All the towns in that area are nice including Springfield & preschool was free (not sure if it still is). You should check out Mountainside too. You could get a decent house in that range and the property taxes would probably be cheaper.
Springfield is nice. I live in Westfield, but I drive through Springfield and have always been impressed. You do have a bus commute option from NYC - the 114. Takes the same amount of time as the Westfield bus (113x)
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