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I would look into either Montville, Madison, Morris Plain, Morris Township, or Florham Park. These towns have a variety of housing options and have low taxes. Getting to Midtown should be easy via train from any of these locations.
Cedar Grove is much smaller than West Orange (West Orange is about 3x larger) and I don't think Cedar Grove really has more businesses overall. West Orange, being a much larger town, needs to provide many more services. Things like a paid fire dept. in WO push up the taxes, whereas the fire dept. in CG is all volunteer.
Despite Cedar Grove's lower taxes, the actual cost of housing in Cedar Grove is higher, so I wouldn't say you get more house for your money. When I looked in CG a few years ago, houses were almost 100k higher than what you would pay for something similar in WO. Overall it's pretty much a wash.
If you look at the amount of business in Cedar Grove for the amount of land in Cedar Grove, then you realize that more of the town as a percentage is made up of small businesses. These as a percentage will help the overall tax rate in Cedar Grove as opposed to WO where the tax rate is well over 3%. In WO I was paying upwards of $17,000 for a home that was valued at $385,000. New construction in WO had taxes upwards of $30,000 for a home valued at $800,000. In CG since the tax rate is much lower that same $800,000 home would have a tax payment near the $17,000 I was paying for half the house in WO.
Small towns with small businesses mean smaller homeowner tax bills, smaller classroom sizes and more of a community feel. Just saying.
Check out Denville, Dover, Roxbery Twp. They all have easy access to the train and major highways!
I liked Denville but was too far away from the city where my wife works. SHe needs to be at work within 30 minutes and its just too far. Nice town though.
I would look into either Montville, Madison, Morris Plain, Morris Township, or Florham Park. These towns have a variety of housing options and have low taxes. Getting to Midtown should be easy via train from any of these locations.
Montville and Florham park had the lowest taxes. Makes a big difference in your monthly payment. Also East Hanover. I dont think they have a HS so maybe thats why taxes are a bit lower there.
I've had to walk home from Orange at twilight, didn't feel particularly dangerous. There's been a couple of times I went to the station after 10pm at times no train was coming in and saw the cops there apparently arresting someone, so it's probably not the best place late at night. But when the trains come in it's fine.
I agree--I'm a middle-aged woman and have never felt unsafe getting off the train in Orange at night. I haven't been there much past 9pm, though.
Depending on where you live in West Orange, you can also walk home from Mountain Station after the jitney stops running. I do that pretty regularly when I have something to do in the city in the evenings. It's about a 15-minute walk from my house--it would probably be shorter, but it's up a very steep hill, which slows me down.
FYI - Cedar Grove is under an hour to mid town if you take the bus.
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Check out Denville, Dover, Roxbery Twp. They all have easy access to the train and major highways!
