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My family and I (we have 4 kids) currently live in Fairfax, VA, and are looking to move to the suburbs in NJ. Where we are now is convenient to just about anything we could want, and it's a wealthy area with great schools and safe neighborhoods. We've decided to not stretch our budget to the limit like we are here when we move, if possible. I realize the Summit and Berkeley Heights area is probably out of our range for the size house we need (I've found a few homes, but they're not what we're looking for), but are there nice areas in these counties not too far off the beaten path that would work in this budget? For example, here in Fairfax county it sets you back a good $700K+ to get a really nice home with 4+ bedrooms, whereas if you hop over a few miles to Centreville it'd be the $500-600K range but it's still a beautiful area along the main thoroughfare. This is more of what we're looking for.
Our primary concerns are the usuals: good schools, safe neighborhoods, good options for family doctors/specialists, convenient shopping centers. Let me say right off the bat that ALL of my research thus far has been google searches online, so what I've found isn't extensive. I have looked most heavily into the Bridgewater area, but it's so large that I'm hoping to get some feedback about what parts to aim for/avoid. It seems to have a lot of what we want, but I can't get a clear picture just searching for homes and checking if our favorite stores are in the area. I'd like more personal accounts on the area, the school system, and the neighborhoods if anyone has some.
Aside from Bridgewater, here's what I've been looking at:
Of the three counties you selected IMO the best place to live within your budget is Somerset county. The best areas of Somerset County are North of Rt 22 and just inside the I 287 loop. (get a map)
The best area of Bridgewater is the Martinsville section which is in the Watchung mountain range but are really hills and not mountains. There is no concern with flooding in that area. The best grade and intermediate schools are in that area.
All the major shopping is just 10-15 drive from any place in Bridgewater.
Two Home Depos, Wegmans, Bridgewater Commons Mall with Macys, and two other large dept stores plus hunderds of smaller retailers.
Costco is in Bridgewater as is Old Navy, Target, Kids are Us.
DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER PLAINFIELD it is a favorite place for illegal drug dealers in Central NJ.
- Plainfield - Mostly awful, sleepy hollow area is okay, but you're going to need to pay a lot of $ for a private school or sending them to a better public school district. Would NOT recommend it for you with kids. Taxes are also very high for what you can expect in terms of public services.
- Millburn - Great in all regards in terms of quality, although traffic isn't great, and it's very expensive.
- New Providence + Westfield - Not as much personal experience, but both very good towns with good schools, cheaper than Millburn.
- Green Brook - Might not want to live right on the Eastern end with North Plainfield. Otherwise, good town. Gets you into the Watchung Hills HS more cheaply than Warren or Watchung will. North of 22 is wealthy + new construction. South of 22 is older, mostly 50s-70s, with some variance. (There's some 200 year old farmhouses around, and some new construction.) No real "town", but you can either go to Warren for a wealthy town center, or Dunellen for a less wealthy one. Be sure to check flood maps. Basically, if you live right next to the Green Brook, you may flood, not too complicated.
All 4 of these towns have great schools (Millburn + Westfield as being a bit above NP + GB), but really the differences aren't big enough to be a significant factor in why you pick one town or the other, IMO. Neighborhoods should all be safe, plenty of doctors around, and should be plenty of shopping centers around.
Where do you have to commute to? That will make a huge difference regarding which towns are the best fit. As others have said though Plainfield is awful, and Westfield and Millburn will be much more expensive than Berkeley Heights (and similar to Summit). Bridgewater could be a great fit depending on where you're working.
Where do you have to commute to? That will make a huge difference regarding which towns are the best fit. As others have said though Plainfield is awful, and Westfield and Millburn will be much more expensive than Berkeley Heights (and similar to Summit). Bridgewater could be a great fit depending on where you're working.
We have no major concerns for commute, I'm a SAH mom and my husband travels anywhere from 3-5 days of the week or works from home when in town. He's given me the green light for anywhere in this area since he's the one who has to drive to the airport.
I agree Somerset County. Somerset hills area is best that may include warren, martinsville, bernarsville, basking ridge, bed minster, even crossing over the border to Morris or Hunterdon county if u want just a bit more rural. In my opinion it's one of the best places to live in nj
Assuming you want a pretty nice 4 bedroom home for $600k w/ good schools/shopping/access to highways, etc. in these counties i'd say there are alot of options, it just depends how nice a 4-bedroom house you want. on the slightly cheaper end of the scale would be -
Green Brook, Bridgewater, North Edison, Hillsborough, Scotch Plains, Cranford
A bit more expensive - Berkeley Heights, Mountainside, New Providence, Bernardsville, Long Hill
Expensive (bc of great schools) but there are 600k houses that aren't terrible (just not updated, or on a main road, etc) - Basking Ridge, Warren, Westfield
Bridgewater is your best bet, great schools, and one of the best located towns in NJ
That's the impression I'm getting too, it seems to have everything and the schools are listed at 9 on the greatschools system.
I have an odd question, but is Bridgewater a city itself, or is it a district within the county that has cities like Martinsville in it? It seems to cover a large area of the map so I'm curious for when I start really getting into the home search and looking up school boundaries.
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