South Orange Crime & Safety - looking for insight from current and past residents. (Newark: rent)

[HBFD]

Just a disclaimer before starting. I'm very familiar with Essex County's geography, and I know full well about the problems that South Orange, a beautiful town, faces by sharing it's borders with Orange, East Orange, and Newark. I'm looking for a little deeper insight, preferably from current and former residents of the Village. So please, no "Avoid all the Oranges!" fear mongering. I've searched, and there's plenty of threads for that already. Statistics on City Data show the village has only gotten wealthier over the last ten years, and crime has declined as well.

We rent in Montclair now and love everything about it. The diversity, the vibrant, walkable downtowns, the old homes, the young family atmosphere, the easy access to New York City, etc. Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves it, because we are pretty much priced out of the town.

We've turned to looking to South Orange as a more affordable alternative, and on paper the town seems perfect for us. We found an great home in the Northern Wyoming section of town, maybe one of the most beautiful neighborhoods I've ever been in. It's the far western part of town up on South Mountain Reservation - amazing old homes and architecture, city views from up on the mountain, rolling hills, and gas lamp lit streets. It's like being transported back in time. Magical is the best word I can think of to describe it.

Our concern is crime.

I know South Orange (and its neighbor Maplewood) struggle with crime due to the borders they share. Overall, it seems both police departments do a great job of keeping as much of those elements out as they can. Its easy to have some people tell you "The town is super safe!" and others to tell you right after "Crime is getting out of control!" Its hard to figure out what to think. (And I've seen the city data crime statistics)

So, I have some specific questions for people who live or have lived in the town:

- It seems robberies, muggings, and home break ins have become common place near the Newark Border, Seton Hall, and the Irvington Ave corridor. Do these problems travel west in town also - including up on the hill in the Wyoming Section? Has anyone who ever lived in Wyoming experienced any serious crime? Did you feel safe walking around at night? I understand cars will get stolen, that seems to happen just as much in neighboring towns like Millburn, but I'm more concerned with violent crime and home break ins.

- Is Cameron Park and the immediate area safe for children to be playing in alone?

- Do you feel safe alone in the downtown at night?

- It seems there's a problem in the downtown on warm summer nights when youth and 20 somethings from neighboring towns (Orange, East Orange, Newark, Irvington) descend on the village. It seems sometimes the groups can get very large, rowdy, and disruptive, and cause South Orange residents to feel unsafe avoid the downtown all together. Is this still a problem? Do you find yourself (and your families) going to the downtown on summer or weekend nights, or do you avoid it all together and go to Maplewood or Montclair's downtowns instead?

- Overall, does crime effect your day to day life and routines? Does it put undo stress on you or is it largely confined to certain areas at late nights?



Again, I'm looking to avoid general speculation (ie: "South Orange seems nice" or "South Orange seems awful") and would really love some advice from people who know the town first hand! I know how helpful this board can be to people - I've been skimming it for quite some time now.

Thanks so much from myself and my family in advance!