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Old 12-16-2011, 08:57 AM
 
9 posts, read 22,258 times
Reputation: 12

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Where are you coming from? Buffalo, NY
Why are you moving? Husband's Job Shifted to NYC
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? Financial District, NYC

Will you buy or rent?
Looking at buying
What is your budget ?
$400k-500
What kind of place are you looking for ? Single Family Home

Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ?
Husband, wife (me), nearly 5 y/o child, 2 dogs (big)
Do you need/want good public schools?
Best public schools are a priority

Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in

(examples: families with young children, young, mature, artsy, diverse, safe, close-knit, block parties, etc)
We would like to have a family friendly, safe neighborhood, walking distance to parks or other activities would be ideal but not a must.

List three things that are important to you in order of importance.(examples: nightlife, outdoor activities, rural/urban, safety, downtown area, charming, new construction, proximity to XYZ, family oriented, easy parking, short commute, etc)
Safety, Family Friendly, Nature (lots of trees, an established community, not a cookie cutter setting)

As of right now we are considering a house in Edison zip 08820 for the schools. Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated.
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Old 12-16-2011, 10:01 AM
 
1,463 posts, read 4,676,760 times
Reputation: 1030
Avoid Edison. The local government (Mayor and town council) is one of the most screwed up in NJ. Plus it's one of the biggest towns in NJ with a major highway going through it, so traffic will always be an issue.

If your budget is 400-500K, consider looking in South Brunswick, East Brunswick, or North Brunswick. A little further south, but smaller, quieter, more stable. Safer. And MUCH better schools.
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Old 12-16-2011, 10:02 AM
 
1,463 posts, read 4,676,760 times
Reputation: 1030
(On a side note, I've never heard great things about Edison schools... can someone enlighten me? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never heard them mentioned)
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Old 12-16-2011, 10:32 AM
 
1,041 posts, read 3,001,543 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SweepTheLeg View Post
(On a side note, I've never heard great things about Edison schools... can someone enlighten me? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never heard them mentioned)
The school ranking nazis would leave you to believe JP Stevens is "ok" and the other HS in Edison is "East Side High" (from the movie lean on me). My opinion is they are both fine, and with the influx/large Indian population in Edison, I can only see them both getting better.
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Old 12-16-2011, 11:50 AM
 
19,038 posts, read 25,123,345 times
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J.P. Stevens HS is actually a very fine school by any measure.
Edison HS is...pretty much a middle-of-the-road school.

When I was employed by the Woodbridge Bd of Ed, we were always trying to emulate Edison's schools in general, and J.P. Stevens in particular. Unfortunately, we never came within a country mile of rising to their level.

However, I will agree with the comment about Edison's local government being incredibly inefficient and...yes...screwed-up. Also, their police department has had more than its share of scandalous behavior on the part of some of its officers.
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Old 12-16-2011, 12:10 PM
 
9 posts, read 22,258 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SweepTheLeg View Post
Avoid Edison. The local government (Mayor and town council) is one of the most screwed up in NJ. Plus it's one of the biggest towns in NJ with a major highway going through it, so traffic will always be an issue.

If your budget is 400-500K, consider looking in South Brunswick, East Brunswick, or North Brunswick. A little further south, but smaller, quieter, more stable. Safer. And MUCH better schools.
Thank you for your responses. I checked out Brunswick (mostly North) and yes I can certainly get more for my money there but I'd be adding 1 hour commute time each way. That is more than we're comfortable with.

I use Neighborhoodscout dot com website to check out the school district reports and crime statistics. It is pretty helpful.

In Edison 08820 zip it shows that

District rating compared to state (10 is best) 7

District rating compared to U.S. (10 is best) 10




It is 65.3% Better than: of NJ school districts

Better than 92.5% of US school districts

Percentages of District v.s. State

PROFICIENT IN
READING & MATH
89% district
79% state

PROFICIENT IN
READING
90% district
80% state

PROFICIENT IN
MATH
87% district
75% state

Crime rates are much lower than average in Edison as well. So that is why we've narrowed down to Edison and what we've discovered so far. We were previously checking out New York areas above Manhattan, such as Sleepy Hollow/tarrytown areas but taxes are INSANE there. Also NJ closer to the city we don't get what we were hoping for the $.
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Old 12-16-2011, 12:27 PM
 
1,041 posts, read 3,001,543 times
Reputation: 774
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moving_Again View Post
Thank you for your responses. I checked out Brunswick (mostly North) and yes I can certainly get more for my money there but I'd be adding 1 hour commute time each way. That is more than we're comfortable with.
I'm curious how you came to this conclusion. I live in North Brunswick (love it by the way) and commute to midtown. I get on at Jersey Ave Station on the North East Corridor which is the same line as Edison station. Jersey Ave to Edison station is only 13 minutes (2 stops away) via the timetable (. Assuming your commute from your house to the station is a wash, how do you figure an extra hour?
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Old 12-16-2011, 02:34 PM
 
1,463 posts, read 4,676,760 times
Reputation: 1030
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moving_Again View Post
Thank you for your responses. I checked out Brunswick (mostly North) and yes I can certainly get more for my money there but I'd be adding 1 hour commute time each way. That is more than we're comfortable with.
Not sure where you are getting this information from, but by car, that's patently untrue. At most, by car, via the turnpike, you'd be adding 20-25 minutes between South Brunswick and Edison. And it would still be about an hour total to get to NYC depending on traffic and time of day by car.

Edison has MetroPark, but South Brunswick has the bus terminal on the Cranbury/South Brunswick border, with the entrance to the turnpike less than 2 miles away right up the road.

With East Brunswick, depending on what part of town you live in, you'd access the Turnpike via 9 or 8A

Quote:
I use Neighborhoodscout dot com website to check out the school district reports and crime statistics. It is pretty helpful.

In Edison 08820 zip it shows that

District rating compared to state (10 is best) 7

District rating compared to U.S. (10 is best) 10

It is 65.3% Better than: of NJ school districts

Better than 92.5% of US school districts
If you're using that site as gospel, South Brunswick's schools rank higher than Edison's across the board. East Brunswick's even higher.

Quote:
Crime rates are much lower than average in Edison as well. So that is why we've narrowed down to Edison and what we've discovered so far.
I really don't know where the stats are coming from, but I know that Edison has had some criminality issues compared to South Brunswick. I'm really not trying to bash the town (outside of the Mayor/Council) situation but it just is kind of jarring to me that people would prefer Edison to South Brunswick outside of the extra 20 minutes commuting time.

Also, from what I am reading, property taxes are higher in Edison than they are in South Brunswick.

Another thing you need to consider: You are basing all of this on a commute rather than quality of life. Do you think your husband will still be working in NYC 5 or 10 years down the road? My wife was based out of NYC 10 years ago. Five years ago she was based in Long Island City. Today she's based in Northern NJ, and it's all with the same company.

Ultimately, it's your decision. But as a 30 year resident of the state, if someone asked me where I would want to put down roots, 9 times out of 10 I'd say South Brunswick.
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Old 12-18-2011, 01:19 AM
 
1,247 posts, read 3,012,405 times
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I will take North/South Brunswick area over Edison. Lived in Edison after high school. While it is a nice town with a good school system, there is not much space and the traffic is horrendous. Rt 1 has improved now that they have widened it up in the Menlo Pk area (north of I-287), but you still have long lines of cars backed up behind lights on the "backroads". I have found every way possible around that horrible light on 27 at Plainfield Ave. Oh and Woodbridge sucks too. Good luck trying to get through the light at Rt 35/Amboy Ave from Main St at 8am. It is just a major mecca for business, shopping, commerce, offices, not to mention the fact that between both towns you have close to 200,000 residents, which is a LOT of people for a suburban area. It is just a very congested area. Traffic will always be bad there. It is what it is.

I live in North Brunswick now and love it here. Quiet, peaceful and much more that is pleasing to the eye and easy access to all the same amenities you would have in Edison. Schools and overall socioeconomic makeup is roughly equivalent down here as well.
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Old 09-22-2018, 10:01 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,601 times
Reputation: 11
Default Edison, NJ

I have lived in Edison, NJ since 1986. North Edison was rated a better schools system, the area was park like and JP Stevens rated a drug-free school zone. The school remains a great school, claims to drug free have been removed aka the sign outside on the street that used to say that has been removed, High school graduates continue to excel and go to Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other Ivy Leagues.
Based on the comments about South Brunswick or East Brunswick, having family in both places, the Indian congestion is especially huge in South Brunswick. It is as though the moment an IT professional gets a green card,, a home is purchased in South Brunswick. Yes, they would prefer Edison but claimed it was more expensive. It depends on what one is looking for. Some of the older homes in South Brunswick are cheaper. But many of the new home prices are comparable to Edison, NJ. homes. Yes the school system grew to catch up with Edison, but congestion remains on the Route 1 corridor regardless of SB or Edison. Now with Indian shopping centers and malls opening up in SB too, there is congestion along with the new Costco village there.
I would encourage home-buyers to assess their commute especially to NYC from SB, NB and Edison and the savings in time and commute and decide if home-buying in any of the towns fits their needs. Schools are great in all three townships.
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