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What are some up-and-coming neighborhoods? What areas are already in the throes of gentrification?
Since up-and-coming neighborhoods are often on the dangerous side prior to gentrifying, I'm especially interested in the ones that already have crime rates lower than the national average.
Jersey City would probably be the obvious pick for up & coming. Lots of JC are still kind of sketchy, but the areas around Grove St station and Excange Place are really nice.
Bayonne is slowly getting there. Light rail, revitilization of the old Naval Base with shops, condos, etc. They've done a nice job with the shopping section (Broadway) and tax incentives are bringing new businesses in. They have the cruise port and the 9/11 teardrop memorial overlooking the NYC skyline. It's still not "the" place for the 20 something crowd like Newport or Hoboken, but it's seen some big changes over the last 10 years.
The crime rate there has always been very low for an urban area its size.
I would keep an eye on Cliffside Park. It's a 5 minute drive to the George Washing bridge. It's a 10 minute drive to the Weehawkin ferry. It's a 15 minute drive to lincoln Tunnel. Its being developed both commericaly and residentialy. There building a new town square that looks like its going to be beautiful. The town has had the same mayor for over fourty years. Its a small town with six schools. That includes four elementry, two middle and one high school. And one pre-school. I believe in a school sysyem that small there are going to be less kids "falling thru the cracks". Its one of the most densely populated towns in Jersey. It has about 25,000 people living in one square mile. I remember reading somewhere its more populated than some equally sized sections of Manhatten.
You do have to be carefull where you buy. There using eminent domain in the run down areas. Another negative is there are a lot of apartments and two family houses. Your going to get some transient types from time to time.
All in all I consider it a good place and so do the people I have known that have lived there for over 40 years.
I would keep an eye on Cliffside Park. It's a 5 minute drive to the George Washing bridge. It's a 10 minute drive to the Weehawkin ferry. It's a 15 minute drive to lincoln Tunnel. Its being developed both commericaly and residentialy. There building a new town square that looks like its going to be beautiful. The town has had the same mayor for over fourty years. Its a small town with six schools. That includes four elementry, two middle and one high school. And one pre-school. I believe in a school sysyem that small there are going to be less kids "falling thru the cracks". Its one of the most densely populated towns in Jersey. It has about 25,000 people living in one square mile. I remember reading somewhere its more populated than some equally sized sections of Manhatten.
You do have to be carefull where you buy. There using eminent domain in the run down areas. Another negative is there are a lot of apartments and two family houses. Your going to get some transient types from time to time.
All in all I consider it a good place and so do the people I have known that have lived there for over 40 years.
You sure you don't mean Fairview?
Cliffside Park has long been one of the nicest towns in Bergen County, and the state, for that matter.
I know it's gone through some "changes" in the last couple years (as have many towns), but it's still much nicer than JC, Bayonne, or any other city going through revitalization.
Cliffside Park has long been one of the nicest towns in Bergen County, and the state, for that matter.
I know it's gone through some "changes" in the last couple years (as have many towns), but it's still much nicer than JC, Bayonne, or any other city going through revitalization.
Your right, I should have stated that for the most part the town is exceptionally nice. What I ment was the part that is boardering fairview. There is a run down area that they have just started working on (Walker street area). Fairview is another small town with a ton of potential, but I havent heard of any redevolpment plans their yet. I do know that Cliffsides department of public works will be moved to Fairview. There has been rumors for many years that the two towns will incorperate together. Fairview sends there kids to Cliffside Park high school. I would definetly add Fairview to list of places to watch.
Thanks for the responses. I'll look into all the towns mentioned.
Mead - Obvious?! I'm surprised about Jersey City. I heard of some luxury high-rise condos going up there, but it seemed to be the exception, not the rule (and the exceptions still only for the exceptionally brave!). My mom lived there when she was my age, and the stories were horrendous. The city must have been improving for the entire past 3 decades then for it to be even worth mentioning. What a great location, though!
The reason I bring the topic up at all is because a few years back, my friend said Little Egg Harbor was an up-and-coming town, and that does not seem to be the case--not yet, anyway. I don't know much about the area, and I don't know where she got her information, but I have heard randomly that there are major drug problems there.
So I guess I'm wondering where there are still deals to be had if willing to gamble on property in a place that's not entirely safe just yet...
Thanks for the responses. I'll look into all the towns mentioned.
Mead - Obvious?! I'm surprised about Jersey City. I heard of some luxury high-rise condos going up there, but it seemed to be the exception, not the rule (and the exceptions still only for the exceptionally brave!). My mom lived there when she was my age, and the stories were horrendous. The city must have been improving for the entire past 3 decades then for it to be even worth mentioning. What a great location, though!
The reason I bring the topic up at all is because a few years back, my friend said Little Egg Harbor was an up-and-coming town, and that does not seem to be the case--not yet, anyway. I don't know much about the area, and I don't know where she got her information, but I have heard randomly that there are major drug problems there.
So I guess I'm wondering where there are still deals to be had if willing to gamble on property in a place that's not entirely safe just yet...
Jersey city also got rid of the Housing projects by Lincoln park
so they are really trying hard to bring that city back to life
Thanks for the responses. I'll look into all the towns mentioned.
Mead - Obvious?! I'm surprised about Jersey City. I heard of some luxury high-rise condos going up there, but it seemed to be the exception, not the rule (and the exceptions still only for the exceptionally brave!). My mom lived there when she was my age, and the stories were horrendous. The city must have been improving for the entire past 3 decades then for it to be even worth mentioning. What a great location, though!
The reason I bring the topic up at all is because a few years back, my friend said Little Egg Harbor was an up-and-coming town, and that does not seem to be the case--not yet, anyway. I don't know much about the area, and I don't know where she got her information, but I have heard randomly that there are major drug problems there.
So I guess I'm wondering where there are still deals to be had if willing to gamble on property in a place that's not entirely safe just yet...
you are right, jc has been undergoing revitalization for nearly 3 decades or so, starting with the newport development in the early 80s. there has been tremendous redevelopment in the past 10 years, particularly in the downtown area (roughly the are east of the 78/turnpike extension. in fact, much of the downtown area would qualify as fully gentrified at this point although certain spots are still works in progress. overall, downtown jc is a great area. i expect other areas like journal square to quickly follow suit.
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