Reserve at Bel Air, West Orange

[Sean7979]

Well, after living in BelAir@West Orange (the townhouses) for about a year, I think I should share my experience.

1. Safety - no problem at all. I see neighbors walking their dogs or running alone from as early as 5:30am to as late as 12:00am. Many of them are old ladies. Never heard any problem. Police cars patrol around from time to time. (Actually Bel Air WO is on the border of Livingston. It would be insane to say this side of the border is unsafe while the other side is one of the best town in NJ.) Besides, we visit Essex Green Mall and Whole Food plaza frequently after 9pm, never have any problem and never feel unsafe.

2. Commute - I work in mid-town close to Central Park. My commute time is exactly one hour door-to-door. In the morning, I carpool with my wife to Newark Penn Station (25 minutes), jump on a NJ Transit train to NY Penn Station (20-25 minutes), and take subway to my company (10-15 minutes). These include the transit time. In the evening, I walk from my company to PABT (15-20 minutes, you can take subway of course), take Coach USA bus #77 and get off at JCC (30-40 minutes), my wife picks me up and drive me home (3 minutes).

Note: you can also take bus from JCC (or from Arena if parking is needed) in the morning. It takes 30-50 minutes to arrive at PABT mainly depending on the traffic at the lincoln tunnel. (The bus lane also got crowd sometimes.) You can also drive to Harrison and take PATH, but I find the traffic at Harrison is getting worse everyday.

3. School - We don't have a child yet so cannot say much. But we did research before we bought our house here and my conclusion is that the schools (or at least the elementary schools) are improving these years.

4. Neighbors/Environment - I would give it AAA rating. Absolutely love the area. Beautiful and quiet. We live in townhouses, so neighbor means more to us. But we are absolutely happy with our neighbors.

5. Property Tax - about 3% tax/sale price. High, no doubt about that. Maybe the tax rate in Millburn or short hill or livingston are lower, but come on, their housing prices are much much higher. At the end of the day, you still pay less here for the same quality of life. And property tax in WO will stay flat over the foreseeable future.

One last word - I don't think WO is going downhill. Of course, there are always somebody moving out for whatever reason they have. But come on, look at the statistics, your friend doesn't represent the herd.