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Old 10-23-2011, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
335 posts, read 970,230 times
Reputation: 126

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I have heard good things of each of the above towns.

We currently reside in central NJ and my wife and I are interested in finding a town among the above to settle in for the long-term. I have a wife and two young sons.

For us, our priorities include strong public schools, safe towns, a place that is welcoming to minorities, minimal "snobbish" factor, relative lack of flooding and a lack of deer in the neighborhoods or backyards. We do not work in Manhattan, so a direct train line to the city is not relevant. We would like to get a single family house with 4 BR, 2.5 Bathrooms, and we are able to afford a house up to a max of 600k. We are hoping to find a house with a property tax of less than 10k.

While the selection of a place among the above towns is pretty subjective, I welcome others' opinions on how each of these towns slightly differ from the other two; pros and cons or advantages or disadvantages of living in one town vs. the other two.

Thanks for your opinions in advance!

Last edited by knicksin8; 10-23-2011 at 07:48 PM..
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Old 10-23-2011, 07:53 PM
 
605 posts, read 2,138,803 times
Reputation: 456
All of the towns mentioned are nice. You can probably get more for your $ in NP or BH. I like Westfield better because it has a great downtown, with restaurants (not the best but ok), stores, etc. NP and BH don't really have downtowns. They have strip malls that run along Springfield Ave. There are some beautiful parts of all of those towns. We aren't considering any of the towns because of the long commute to NYC. We are trying to decrease our commute as much as possible.
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Old 10-24-2011, 10:49 AM
 
391 posts, read 1,470,662 times
Reputation: 222
schools in all of these towns are excellent, though Westfield I think probably has the best reputation overall. Westfield probably ranks highest with the "snobbish" factor, though I live here and have to say that while there are some snobs, most people are friendly, and down to earth.

Least likely to see deer in Westfield, though they are here in smaller numbers. I think it might be tough to find a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath for under 600K in WF, unless it's a home that needs work. taxes under 10k may be tough too.

I think overall, you'll get more house for your money in BH or NP.
Good luck in your search.
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Old 10-24-2011, 12:07 PM
bay
 
425 posts, read 2,918,826 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hal Jalikeakick View Post
schools in all of these towns are excellent, though Westfield I think probably has the best reputation overall.
NP and BH schools actually rank higher than Westfield. In 2010 NJ monthly, NP is the No 1 in Union County and top 10 of NJ. BH is in 20ish and WF is ranking in 40 something. They all good school distrcts anyway. Actually Cranford is ranking suprisely high in 2010 NJ monthly. Might be another option to consider.

Subject towns are all good, but it depends what's on top of OP's list. To me, I don't care downtown area. Since I still need to drive to go out, it does not really matter if I need to drive 5 minutes to downtown or 10 minutes to RT22 shopping area or 15 minutes to short hill mall. In addition, now I mostly only do online shopping anyway. Personally we like more small town and more open space so we settled in BH.
Max. 600K budget could be tight to get something decent in WF and might be able to get something moderate (nothing fancy or new) in NP and BH. However, tax under 10k could be tough in either one of towns. BH and NP all have deers.

Last edited by bay; 10-24-2011 at 12:35 PM..
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Old 10-26-2011, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
335 posts, read 970,230 times
Reputation: 126
Can anyone expand the discussion by commenting on the pros/cons or advantages/disadvantages of living in Springfield and Cranford compared to the towns of Westfield, New Providence and Berkeley Heights?

Those are our fall-back towns, if a budget of 600,000 provides limited options in the towns of Westfield, New Providence and Berkeley Heights.
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Old 10-26-2011, 09:32 AM
 
391 posts, read 1,470,662 times
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With a budget of $600,000, my choice would be Cranford, mainly because I think you should have an easier time finding a good house in your price range there. The schools in Cranford are excellent, and it has a great downtown. I personally just like the overall feel of the town.

The major issue with Cranford obviously is that parts of it are always prone to flooding. Make sure to educate yourself and know which areas to stay away from. Cranford was hit very hard by Irene.
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Old 10-29-2011, 04:55 PM
 
4,703 posts, read 4,351,886 times
Reputation: 8431
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christian Altiere View Post
Hi - My name is Christina Altiere and I am a licensed Realtor in the Morris-Essex-Union-Warren-Sussex county area. If you are looking for a home, or if you would like more information on specific towns in my area, please feel free to contact me at 973-214-0705 or email me at christinaaltiere@inbox.com. Happy House Hunting!

Christian, I am not sure of the advertising polcies on this forum but if you might spend a few moments looking at it, you will see that soliciting posts such as yours are very rare. There are realtors as contributors, but they will usually suggest someone private message them. It's really not proper forum etiquette to solicit business on any and all posts asking about any town in the state.

Last edited by Mayvenne; 10-29-2011 at 04:56 PM.. Reason: wanted emoticon
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Old 10-31-2011, 07:58 AM
 
12 posts, read 51,807 times
Reputation: 15
Those are all great towns, but you should also check out other close by towns. Cranford is good but watch out for those floods. Also, Scotch Plains, Fanwood is also a great town, they always have something going on for the kids and they're trying to rebuild the downtown. summit is great to but Westfield does have great downtown but keep in mind that Westfield is pretty big and a lot of people drive to get to downtown area, trains etc.
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Old 10-31-2011, 04:19 PM
 
2,908 posts, read 3,854,872 times
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Mountainside
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