Edgewater vs Fort Lee (Questions) (Ridgewood, Franklin Lakes: real estate, apartment complexes, rentals)

[msingh78]

I have posted here before and got some really good advice. I am doing another iteration after spending some time walking/driving around.

What do people think about living in Edgewater or Fort Lee? I will be working in midtown and will need to be at work around 8 AM or so. My wife will be working in Franklin Lakes. I will be taking public transport and she will be driving.

Here are my questions (thanks in advance for your help).

1. Will the drive be a nightmare for her?
2. Is this a good idea?
3. Does anybody know of good apartment complexes in these two cities or places where I can look-up owners wanting to rent their condos or is craigslist my only option?
4. Are their neighborhoods and/or complexes that I should avoid if I try to rent a house?
5. Where can my dollar go further - Fort Lee or Edgewater.

My budget is around 2500, maybe a couple of hundred bucks over. Ideally, I'd like to get into a 2/2

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by msingh78

I have posted here before and got some really good advice. I am doing another iteration after spending some time walking/driving around.

What do people think about living in Edgewater or Fort Lee? I will be working in midtown and will need to be at work around 8 AM or so. My wife will be working in Franklin Lakes. I will be taking public transport and she will be driving.

Here are my questions (thanks in advance for your help).

1. Will the drive be a nightmare for her?
2. Is this a good idea?
3. Does anybody know of good apartment complexes in these two cities or places where I can look-up owners wanting to rent their condos or is craigslist my only option?
4. Are their neighborhoods and/or complexes that I should avoid if I try to rent a house?
5. Where can my dollar go further - Fort Lee or Edgewater.

My budget is around 2500, maybe a couple of hundred bucks over. Ideally, I'd like to get into a 2/2

1. No. She is going against the prevailing traffic, most of which is heading toward the city, and she is heading away from the city. She just has to drive down Route 4 to 208. Not bad at all.

2. Only you can answer that. Moving to an area directly across the river from Manhattan when you work there and where all the major highways meet for your wife to drive on sounds logical to me, though.

3. Try Realtor.com. There are tons of apartment/condo/complexes, especially in Fort Lee. As a matter of fact, I just did it for you--a search on Edgewater and Fort Lee, 2/2, up to $2500. Took about ten seconds.

Edgewater Homes for Rent - Edgewater Houses for Rent - Edgewater, NJ Rentals Real Estate - Realtor.com®

4. These are hardly high-crime towns, so I don't think you should be worried about "bad" neighborhoods, although some complexes might be better than others, but I doubt the real low-lifes are living in $2500 apartments.

5. I don't think there's a huge difference in prices between Fort Lee and Edgewater since, again, they are both located on the river and therefore desirable, but Fort Lee probably has a larger range of choices.

[msingh78]

Thanks. Are there complexes that you would recommend? What about Avalon cove at edgewater?

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by msingh78

Thanks. Are there complexes that you would recommend? What about Avalon cove at edgewater?

I'm not familiar enough with the details of the complexes to answer that. I lived on the other end of Bergen County and now in Monmouth. Maybe someone else can, though.

[babo111]

I lived in Edgewater for 3+ years so this is coming from personal experience.

2500 will be bit tight for 2/2 in Edgewater and you won't have many choices. More likely you'll have maybe 2-3 choices of 2/2 @2500 at given month.

On the other hand, for 2500 you have more choices in Fort Lee. Once again same deal tho. Older coop, condo, or homes but Fort lee is much bigger town.


1. Sometimes it will be, sometimes it won't be. It is a hit or miss. I commuted to Parsippany so even though it was reverse commute. When GW bridge jams up that means all of surrounding routes/road that feed into GW are also backed up. However this all depends on what time your wife leaves for and to work/home. As for you, if you are willing to spend the extra money on ferry service. You can get to city fast but it is expensive. Also NJ transit buses don't run early enough on weekends for you to be in city by 8 am so check the bus schedule.

2. Bad idea if commute time and ease of commute is biggest priority. Great idea if living factor is more important. Personally I loved Edgewater. I love the boardwalk and river front plus grocery stores TJ, wholefood, mitsuwa. But it's also close enough to Fort Lee so I can hit up the restaurants quickly as well. But traffic sucked and commute to city isn't as good as some other towns.

3. Craiglist and NJMLS. For large part, many units rented out in both towns are done through real estate agents aka fee. Sometimes you can find no fee directly thru owners or owner paying real estate agents.

4. It all depends on what you want out of location but for 2500 for 2/2, you won't have much choice on where in Edgewater.

5. If you want dollar to go further, Fort Lee. It is bigger town with more real estate inventory and cheaper housing available.

[boozereddy]

I have been living in edgewater for the last 2 years. Here are my thoughts:
1. Will the drive be a nightmare for her? Driving out of river road might take some time but once you are on Rt4 you should be good.
2. Is this a good idea? Ridgewood might be a good area to rent too, if you are not too specific about strolling on the river front.
3. Does anybody know of good apartment complexes in these two cities or places where I can look-up owners wanting to rent their condos or is craigslist my only option? I live in river club, the duplex 2 bed 2 bath is around 2000-2500 based on the specials and view. Avalon has a grave yard on the back so some of the units are priced less.
4. Are their neighborhoods and/or complexes that I should avoid if I try to rent a house? edgewater is safe/ not sure about fort lee.
5. Where can my dollar go further - Fort Lee or Edgewater. Fort lee...you can get a town house for that price. search njmls for rentals you will get an idea.