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No. Not at all. It's suburbanish compaired to New York, I guess, but it IS "The City of Clifton" and is fairly large and densely populated. It's good in that it has access to everything--Route 3 and Route 46 run through it, and it has a train line, but I wouldn't call Clifton "laid-back", lol.
Rutherford and Nutley are probably the most typically "suburban" out of the towns on this thread. Lyndhurst, too, I guess, though maybe a little less so.
This is a little off topic, but I might transfer to CUNY-John Jay actually so was wondering if there is any towns with express or just convenient train or bus routes that I should look at?
...long time city-data viewer here, first time logger inner...
..your post is one that i can def help with having been in the same situation myself and knowing someone doing pretty close to what your wanting to do right now...
Ill just add this first...not sure where your Currently located As "Dirty Jerz" unfortunately describes one to many parts of nj...but as an out of state student attending john jay, im sure your aware that you will pay a hefty sum to attend a city school not to mention if you drive in just a few times a week your talking $10 parking per day(street parking all but non existant), $12 toll, gas, pricey city food and lots of time...again not knocking by any means i went there, best friend went there and brother teaches there...but it would seem counterintuitive to worry about how much rent your paying if your spending so much more as a traveling out of state student on a city school...but again go where you want do whatever works for you...just my 2 cents
As to your jersey city plight...i would honestly say look into public transportation..i know i know..i hate it to...but the nj transit trains as well as the nj transit buses(nj-ny) are uber convenient and not like city buses or trains, they are the coach type buses and amtrakish type trains for the most part...not city like at all...they do come with a price however..if your within lets say 30-40 min to NYC Johnjay its roughly $7 each way by train or bus plus nyc train fare $5..keep in mind there is a monthly nj-ny student discount program depending on where in Jersey your coming from but its about half of normal cost.l..if taking transit to to JC make that $8..70+ min and multiple transfers...the latter would prob warrant driving depending on living proximity as even with parking its prob a break even situation, but you have to factor the traffic in, as well as traffic back..your getting in at 11am but if your getting out between 4-6pm you will hit traffic..if theres any kind of construction at all..that traffic starts early and ends later...
As to where to live...you will get every opinion that ever existed on this forum...but from someone who lived your scenario heres what i think...keep in mind there are great, good, and bad parts of all parts of NJ....north Elizabeth, yes there is an ok part of elizabeth, particulalry the area right around N Elizabeth train station...its a quiet mixed lightly condensed suburban area full of single and multi family homes with decently priced apts to rent and great access to a multitiude of ammenities especially since you drive...stop and shop supermarket, corner groceries, jersey gardens mall(great movie theater btw), the airport, dry cleaning, fast food(sonic, mcdonalds, bk etc etc)...all within 5 min drive..you will find houses with apts for rent, parks, lanscaped properities, folks walking there dogs, kids in parks, plenty of street parking etc...the people there care about there little Cut away in elizabeth...but like anywhere the area i speak of is primarily within...a 1 mile stretch of the N elizabeth NJ transit station...not the end going toward Newark(which borders elizabeth)..but starting on north ave, at the 1&9 and up to kean university(union, roselle park) and to the west.....do a google map walk thru check it out...you can drive to JC in 10 min with no traffic, 15ish with a little traffic...NYC john jay in 30 min no traffic...all via the 1&9 or nj tpke...to the holland of lincoln tunnels.
..south Hoboken has become so "trendy" which i dont get, because most of it still feels unfinished to me..very college towny in my opinion..but..If you can afford a nice expensive newer place there it is very convenient to JC and NYC and you wont have to drive at all...JC is 5 min away and with no traffic you can do JJay in 20...it has all the niceties of a small city..eateries, shopping(JC) mall, Bjs(the store..well mostly the store) and yuppies..who lets face it made the area what it is..nice..same goes for JC which is uber trendy, expensive and convenient...
..other areas to consider north ironbound, heavy portugese population, but def a urban village feel in the area immediate to NJ penn station...again dont look more than 1/2 mile away from Nj penn station...
..east newark or the area adjacent immediate to nj penn station and Rutgers university has super deluxe condos but keep in mind its an ever transtiioning area so with that comes a certain blight of an era that was not so nice just a few short years ago..but it is by no means the newark im sure youve heard of...
..north ironbound is adjacent to Nj penn station and across a local bridge from the red bull stadium located in Harrison which youve heard about...harrison does feel like an older town with some left over industrial areas scattered about..but this is found in alot of the towns closer to Nyc..harrison is safe, has a train station, newer condo apt buildings and overall has an older feel with a mix of small town and industry..
..Kearny is next to harrison and is similar except not as industrial feeling just a denser older town vibe, arlington is similar with a bit more space, north arlington more towny feel with alot more space, lyndhurst is about the same, rutherford as youve read is also very nice...all of these towns offer a great advantage in that they are suburban feeling with main streets, but have 30 min NJ bus access to the NYC as well as NJ train access to the NYC...rents are higher here than N Elizabeth keep that in mind...especially in North Ironbound and East Newark where that 5 min walk to nj penn station comes often at a premium price...you will read that a lot of these places are being considered the next hoboken in that all the NYers are slowly moving that way because its just so convenient to everything especially with a car...btw all those "ammenities" i spoke of near N elizabteth are only roughly 10 min from the above areas...so not bad at all..
When in doubt google map these areas and virtually walk through them..keep in mind those cloudy days make some areas look dreadful when theyre actually not...and not all areas are virtual yet..but virtual walk the main streets look at the people walking, the buildings, the storefronts...and you will get a great picture if not at least an idea of whether you should maybe go take a drive through the area for further investigation...
By all means ask away if i have been in the least helpful, i will share my thoughts no problem...on an area, idea, street etc...
...long time city-data viewer here, first time logger inner...
..your post is one that i can def help with having been in the same situation myself and knowing someone doing pretty close to what your wanting to do right now...
Ill just add this first...not sure where your Currently located As "Dirty Jerz" unfortunately describes one to many parts of nj...but as an out of state student attending john jay, im sure your aware that you will pay a hefty sum to attend a city school not to mention if you drive in just a few times a week your talking $10 parking per day(street parking all but non existant), $12 toll, gas, pricey city food and lots of time...again not knocking by any means i went there, best friend went there and brother teaches there...but it would seem counterintuitive to worry about how much rent your paying if your spending so much more as a traveling out of state student on a city school...but again go where you want do whatever works for you...just my 2 cents
As to your jersey city plight...i would honestly say look into public transportation..i know i know..i hate it to...but the nj transit trains as well as the nj transit buses(nj-ny) are uber convenient and not like city buses or trains, they are the coach type buses and amtrakish type trains for the most part...not city like at all...they do come with a price however..if your within lets say 30-40 min to NYC Johnjay its roughly $7 each way by train or bus plus nyc train fare $5..keep in mind there is a monthly nj-ny student discount program depending on where in Jersey your coming from but its about half of normal cost.l..if taking transit to to JC make that $8..70+ min and multiple transfers...the latter would prob warrant driving depending on living proximity as even with parking its prob a break even situation, but you have to factor the traffic in, as well as traffic back..your getting in at 11am but if your getting out between 4-6pm you will hit traffic..if theres any kind of construction at all..that traffic starts early and ends later...
As to where to live...you will get every opinion that ever existed on this forum...but from someone who lived your scenario heres what i think...keep in mind there are great, good, and bad parts of all parts of NJ....north Elizabeth, yes there is an ok part of elizabeth, particulalry the area right around N Elizabeth train station...its a quiet mixed lightly condensed suburban area full of single and multi family homes with decently priced apts to rent and great access to a multitiude of ammenities especially since you drive...stop and shop supermarket, corner groceries, jersey gardens mall(great movie theater btw), the airport, dry cleaning, fast food(sonic, mcdonalds, bk etc etc)...all within 5 min drive..you will find houses with apts for rent, parks, lanscaped properities, folks walking there dogs, kids in parks, plenty of street parking etc...the people there care about there little Cut away in elizabeth...but like anywhere the area i speak of is primarily within...a 1 mile stretch of the N elizabeth NJ transit station...not the end going toward Newark(which borders elizabeth)..but starting on north ave, at the 1&9 and up to kean university(union, roselle park) and to the west.....do a google map walk thru check it out...you can drive to JC in 10 min with no traffic, 15ish with a little traffic...NYC john jay in 30 min no traffic...all via the 1&9 or nj tpke...to the holland of lincoln tunnels.
..south Hoboken has become so "trendy" which i dont get, because most of it still feels unfinished to me..very college towny in my opinion..but..If you can afford a nice expensive newer place there it is very convenient to JC and NYC and you wont have to drive at all...JC is 5 min away and with no traffic you can do JJay in 20...it has all the niceties of a small city..eateries, shopping(JC) mall, Bjs(the store..well mostly the store) and yuppies..who lets face it made the area what it is..nice..same goes for JC which is uber trendy, expensive and convenient...
..other areas to consider north ironbound, heavy portugese population, but def a urban village feel in the area immediate to NJ penn station...again dont look more than 1/2 mile away from Nj penn station...
..east newark or the area adjacent immediate to nj penn station and Rutgers university has super deluxe condos but keep in mind its an ever transtiioning area so with that comes a certain blight of an era that was not so nice just a few short years ago..but it is by no means the newark im sure youve heard of...
..north ironbound is adjacent to Nj penn station and across a local bridge from the red bull stadium located in Harrison which youve heard about...harrison does feel like an older town with some left over industrial areas scattered about..but this is found in alot of the towns closer to Nyc..harrison is safe, has a train station, newer condo apt buildings and overall has an older feel with a mix of small town and industry..
..Kearny is next to harrison and is similar except not as industrial feeling just a denser older town vibe, arlington is similar with a bit more space, north arlington more towny feel with alot more space, lyndhurst is about the same, rutherford as youve read is also very nice...all of these towns offer a great advantage in that they are suburban feeling with main streets, but have 30 min NJ bus access to the NYC as well as NJ train access to the NYC...rents are higher here than N Elizabeth keep that in mind...especially in North Ironbound and East Newark where that 5 min walk to nj penn station comes often at a premium price...you will read that a lot of these places are being considered the next hoboken in that all the NYers are slowly moving that way because its just so convenient to everything especially with a car...btw all those "ammenities" i spoke of near N elizabteth are only roughly 10 min from the above areas...so not bad at all..
When in doubt google map these areas and virtually walk through them..keep in mind those cloudy days make some areas look dreadful when theyre actually not...and not all areas are virtual yet..but virtual walk the main streets look at the people walking, the buildings, the storefronts...and you will get a great picture if not at least an idea of whether you should maybe go take a drive through the area for further investigation...
By all means ask away if i have been in the least helpful, i will share my thoughts no problem...on an area, idea, street etc...
Mp1
mind posting a tl;dr version of this... might be helpful
I don't think you mentioned your budget. A Rutherford 1BR can cost you 950-1200k, and probably abit less in E. Rutherford. Is that too expensive?
If I were attending college and still want some kind of life outside school in an NJ suburb and proximity to the city, I would pick Montclair, Rutherford or E. Rutherford. All these towns have decent downtowns for a suburb, good mass transit to the city and enough young folks to mingle with. Rutherford and Montclair both have a college in town. Montclair might be further than 30 mins.
If you are going to John Jay, then Rutherford or E. Rutherford may be a better choice. You can take the bus to 42nd and just walk up to 56th or hop on an A train on stop to Columbus Circle.
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) and yuppies..who lets face it made the area what it is..nice..same goes for JC which is uber trendy, expensive and convenient...
