Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am still looking for a place to move to in NJ. I have the option of working in Piscataway or Morristown.
I thought I had narrowed it down to Princeton area- westwindsor/plainsboro. But I read some threads about it lacking a community feel. my current home has much older neighbors whose kids are all gone and the house is on a main road so not really much opportunity to play outside. I'd like to change that.
I figured I'd be able to get some babysitters from the student population in Princeton!
How do the schools in Piscataway compare to WestWindsor ?
Are there any areas to avoid in Piscataway and Morristown ?
Any apartments/condos you would recommend in Piscataway and Morristown ?
how did these towns far in Irene? were they flooded out ?
Good schools with kids in the neighborhood is primary importance. I'd like to be able to walk to at-least one of the following grocery, library, park.
I would like to keep my rent within about 1500.
Some suggested Chatham, Summit etc., but those areas Irene flooded quite a bit from what I understand.
no one ? is there some rule I am violating on these forums ? I did not receive a reply to my previous question months ago... yes this drama has been going on for a while. Sometimes life IS like that. Count yourselves lucky if it isnt so for you... any opinions on my questions appreciated.
thx
I am still looking for a place to move to in NJ. I have the option of working in Piscataway or Morristown.
I thought I had narrowed it down to Princeton area- westwindsor/plainsboro. But I read some threads about it lacking a community feel. my current home has much older neighbors whose kids are all gone and the house is on a main road so not really much opportunity to play outside. I'd like to change that.
I figured I'd be able to get some babysitters from the student population in Princeton!
How do the schools in Piscataway compare to WestWindsor ?
Are there any areas to avoid in Piscataway and Morristown ?
Any apartments/condos you would recommend in Piscataway and Morristown ?
how did these towns far in Irene? were they flooded out ?
Good schools with kids in the neighborhood is primary importance. I'd like to be able to walk to at-least one of the following grocery, library, park.
I would like to keep my rent within about 1500.
Some suggested Chatham, Summit etc., but those areas Irene flooded quite a bit from what I understand.
I'm not sure why you'd want to live in the princeton area if you were working in either Piscataway or Morristown? The commute would be horrible for you. To me it's a no brainier, take Morristown and live in Madison, Mendham, chester mt Lakes bernardsville, basking ridge any town in that area is great
I am still looking for a place to move to in NJ. I have the option of working in Piscataway or Morristown.
I thought I had narrowed it down to Princeton area- westwindsor/plainsboro. But I read some threads about it lacking a community feel. my current home has much older neighbors whose kids are all gone and the house is on a main road so not really much opportunity to play outside. I'd like to change that.
I figured I'd be able to get some babysitters from the student population in Princeton!
How do the schools in Piscataway compare to WestWindsor ?
Are there any areas to avoid in Piscataway and Morristown ?
Any apartments/condos you would recommend in Piscataway and Morristown ?
how did these towns far in Irene? were they flooded out ?
Good schools with kids in the neighborhood is primary importance. I'd like to be able to walk to at-least one of the following grocery, library, park.
I would like to keep my rent within about 1500.
Some suggested Chatham, Summit etc., but those areas Irene flooded quite a bit from what I understand.
I can give you plenty of info regarding the Morristown, and a lesser amount on the Piscataway area, but to give you truly useful info, I would need more info from you - more specifics. I suspect that the reason you did not get responses to your earlier post is your lack of details. We know you have two options for your office, Morristown and Piscataway, want good schools and a family friendly town, which is a good start, but we need more info....you say your housing budget is 1500...is that for an apt, TH, Condo, or SFH? How many BD's? Will you have a car? Number of kids & approx ages...elementary, middle or HS? (some towns have great elementary schools, but less than stellar HS) What is your idea of a good commute time? It seems that you want a nice safe walkable downtown, which does limit possibilities. But there are several that do fit the bill.
A couple of things I can comment on now....I would not count at all on finding sitters from amongst the Princeton students... you'd have better luck with sittercity.com. Since almost all the students live on campus or in Downtown and do not have cars, unless you are living near campus it will be an issue. Also there is not a lot of rental housing in Princeton, and what there is is pricey.
As far as flooding, what you were told is incorrect. In the Chatham/Summit area, yes, during Irene there was a small amount of Flooding by the river that separates the two towns. It affected a very small area - not widespread and in general the area very rarely has flooding issues. As long as your home is not right beside the river you'll be fine. We are not talking flooding issues such as experienced by Wayne, Pompton Lakes, Pequannock, Bound Brook, Raritan, Denville etc.
Keep in mind that areas with walkable downtowns and good schools are desirable, so housing is more expensive, so your budget may limit things as well as you will likely have to make some compromises. Chatham certainly fits all your criteria, walkable downtown with a top tier schools system where you can walk to grocery, library, etc. Your commute to Morristown will be short and sweet as well, but you will be in a 1 or 2 Bd apartment for that price. If you are considering Morristown, you should look at Madison and Morris Plains as well, they are also located adjacent to Morristown, and have nice walkable downtowns. Madison's schools are excellent, but again housing is expensive. Morris Plains is a little less expensive for housing, but the schools while quite good are not top tier like Chatham. Also consider Morristown for living as well - it is a wonderful community. The school system consistently ranks quite well on state lists. (Morris Plains is part of the Morris School district, which covers, Morristown, Morris Twp as well as MP) The only "bad" part to stay away from is the Hollow and a small area of Speedwell Ave. (they are adjacent to each other) BTW when I say "dad" I mean bad for Morris County, we are not talking Newark/Irvington/South Bronx bad. As a female I have always felt safe walking around Morristown even in the evenings and alone.
West Windsor is nice, but does not really have a walkable downtown. Princeton does, but the grocery store is a drive, as is most real shopping. Both Princeton and WW have good schools though. Your budget will be tight, again for 1500 you will be in a 2 bd apartment. Piscataway also does not have a real walkable downtown, the schools are ok, not bad, but not great. While it is generally safe, it does have more crime than the other towns we are speaking of. Definitely not the small town "Mayberry RFD" atmosphere you'll find in Chatham/Madison. The upside is housing is a little cheaper in Piscataway. More of a blue collar and more urban area than Princeton, WW, Morristown, etc... Piscataway is very close to the main Rutgers campus...with all of benefits and liabilities that brings. If you are considering working in Piscataway, you should look at Highland Park for housing...nice small, bit urban, town, wonderful place to raise a family, decent schools, walkable downtown. I'd be remiss if I did not comment about your commute if you are working in Piscataway and living in the Princeton/WW area - it's going to be a bit of a PITA, to be honest.
hmmm where did my earlier reply go ?
Oh well - answers inline again
Quote:
Originally Posted by KoalaNJ
I can give you plenty of info regarding the Morristown, and a lesser amount on the Piscataway area, but to give you truly useful info, I would need more info from you - more specifics. I ...
Details on my situation:
rent 1500 : 1/2 bedroom
kids: 1- 4 year old, biracial
status: separated
ethnicity: Indian
schools: super important - NOT snobby
income: 100K + but with other commitments - so no buying for the near future
flooding: posted the thread about Chatham and flooding, could not find flood maps to verify eitherway
extreme weather events are going to increase so past floods may not be a good positive indicator...
threads are full of keeping up with the jonses kind of thing in Chatham Summit etc., My child has already at 4 seemed to be more vulnerable to peer pressure despite me being on the opposite end of the spectrum. So I'd prefer that the peers concentrate more on academics than brand name clothing or cars/toys etc.,
walkable: if its close to a grocery store, library or park one of the three would be good enough. I just want to have a place that we regularly walk to.
Why WestWindsor ? diverse and a tad bit more Indians than Chatham
If you choose to work in Morristown, you should also check out Randolph. Good schools, some townhomes/apartments are in walking distance of grocery stroes, reasonably diverse with significant Asian population.
I grew up in Basking Ridge and had grandparents for many years living in Piscataway. I always found Piscataway to be a nice place, blue collar, less snobby, affordable. Basking Ridge was always more expensive and many nose in the air types.
The flooding was for the most part the river overflowing it's banks and coming up into the back yards of homes that border the river as well as some homes that border the great swamp had water encroach on their back yards. Some homes did have to deal with water in the basement. We are not talking flooding like is experienced in Bound Brook, Denville, Wayne, Little Falls, etc. where you are talking houses submerged several times a year as of late. The flooding was also due to NJ being hit with a hurricane, something that happens about once ever 80 years or so. Flooding is not a regular occurrence in Chatham.
hmmm where did my earlier reply go ?
Oh well - answers inline again
Details on my situation:
rent 1500 : 1/2 bedroom
kids: 1- 4 year old, biracial
status: separated
ethnicity: Indian
schools: super important - NOT snobby
income: 100K + but with other commitments - so no buying for the near future
flooding: posted the thread about Chatham and flooding, could not find flood maps to verify eitherway
extreme weather events are going to increase so past floods may not be a good positive indicator...
threads are full of keeping up with the jonses kind of thing in Chatham Summit etc., My child has already at 4 seemed to be more vulnerable to peer pressure despite me being on the opposite end of the spectrum. So I'd prefer that the peers concentrate more on academics than brand name clothing or cars/toys etc.,
walkable: if its close to a grocery store, library or park one of the three would be good enough. I just want to have a place that we regularly walk to.
Why WestWindsor ? diverse and a tad bit more Indians than Chatham
Thought I'd mention some facts about diversity in the Morristown/Madison/Chatham area. While the majority of those living in this area identify as Caucasian, there is diversity. There are many from EU, especially since about 50 of Fortune's top 500 either have major facilities or are headquartered here. There are many US HQ for multi-national companies as well, BASF, Hoechst, as well as almost the entire pharmaceutical industry have major facilities in this area. Being that the Morristown/Madison/Chatham areas are such a desirable place to live, we get many of those who transfer from overseas while working at these multi-national companies. While shopping at Whole Foods and Kings you will hear many different accents, and more then a couple of languages being used
Morristown is around 25% hispanic, (Mexican, Spanish, Central & South American, Caribbean, etc) about 10% African American, about 5% Asian with more than a few Asian Indians, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Native Americans etc. While Madison and Chatham have smaller percentages, there is diversity. Remember, these are small towns that pretty much run contiguously, getting from the heart of Chatham to the center of Morristown (one end to the other of the string of towns) is only about 7 miles. One of the things I enjoy the most about the diversity of the area, (besides the people themselves) is the plethora of cuisines represented in the local restaurants, besides the typical Italian, deli's, Chinese, etc we have Japanese, Afghan, Caribbean, Indian, Korean, Thai, Costa Rican, Vietnamese, and Mexican to name a few.
I personally never had to deal with or have seen any of the supposed snobbery some are indicating they experienced. Having lived in the area for many years, I have found it to be open, welcoming, and very friendly. Yes, there are some wealthy households in the area, but for every kid I see in Abercrombie, I see another in Gap. Nor do I get looked down on when driving my Camry. The main reasons people opt to live in these towns are the fantastic schools and the small town charm and real sense of community. They are wonderful places to raise a family.
I do hope you have the opportunity to visit the area and get a feel for the community, it'd be a good idea to check out and spend some time in all the areas you are considering moving to.
If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to ask!
KoalaNJ
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
