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I just moved to the US 4 months ago and I need your help to decide where to buy a house in NJ or in upstate NY. Here it goes:
Where are you coming from? Geneva, Switzerland.
Why are you moving? I was relocated to my company's NY office.
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? NYC, 2nd Ave. and 44th.
Will you buy or rent? Buy
What is your budget ? 500,000
What kind of place are you looking for ? Single-family house
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ? Spouse, 4 yr-old daughter, 3-month baby.
Do you need/want good public schools? Yes
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in
(examples: families with young children, young, mature, artsy, diverse, safe, close-knit, block parties, etc) - Families with children
- Close to hiking trails/parks
- Door to door commute <= 60 min.
- Median household income >= 80k
- Close-knit
- Diverse (Asian, Hispanic, African-American, etc).
- Reasonable taxes (<= 14k)
List three things that are important to you in order of importance.(examples: nightlife, outdoor activities, rural/urban, safety, downtown area, charming, new construction, proximity to XYZ, family oriented, easy parking, short commute, etc) - Short commute
- Family-oriented
- Outdoor activities
Thank you in advance and please don't point out my obvious short-lived knowledge about the prices/options/taxes/whatever in these two states (NJ and NY). If I knew I wouldn't ask
I just moved to the US 4 months ago and I need your help to decide where to buy a house in NJ or in upstate NY. Here it goes:
Where are you coming from? Geneva, Switzerland.
Why are you moving? I was relocated to my company's NY office.
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? NYC, 2nd Ave. and 44th.
Will you buy or rent? Buy
What is your budget ? 500,000
What kind of place are you looking for ? Single-family house
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ? Spouse, 4 yr-old daughter, 3-month baby.
Do you need/want good public schools? Yes
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in
(examples: families with young children, young, mature, artsy, diverse, safe, close-knit, block parties, etc) - Families with children
- Close to hiking trails/parks
- Door to door commute <= 60 min.
- Median household income >= 80k
- Close-knit
- Diverse (Asian, Hispanic, African-American, etc).
- Reasonable taxes (<= 14k)
List three things that are important to you in order of importance.(examples: nightlife, outdoor activities, rural/urban, safety, downtown area, charming, new construction, proximity to XYZ, family oriented, easy parking, short commute, etc) - Short commute
- Family-oriented
- Outdoor activities
Thank you in advance and please don't point out my obvious short-lived knowledge about the prices/options/taxes/whatever in these two states (NJ and NY). If I knew I wouldn't ask
Right off the bat, Madison comes to mind, though your commute will be just over the 60 min limit (the midtown direct train to Penn Station from Madison takes right about 50/55 min). TBH one thing that you will find that makes fulfilling all of your criteria is the commute time and property tax criteria. There are several wonderful communities in Bergen and Essex Counties that fit all of your criteria except the property tax limit. To fill all of the criteria including the taxes you are looking at eastern Morris County, and a town that has a train station on the midtown direct line. Madison and the Chathams specifically, though since both towns are small available housing inventory is small. You'll find more in your price range in Madison than Chatham. I'd stick with Chatham Boro, to be closer to the train station, as the Twp is spread out. (only in terms of limiting total commute time)
You might also want to look at Summit, fits most of your criteria, except the small town closeness vibe. Just west of Summit, is New Providence, which has great schools and fits most of the criteria, but your commute will be just over your criteria. New Providence is a wonderful place, but there really is no walkable downtown like you'd find in Madison, Chatham, Summit, etc.
My wife and I just moved to West Orange. Diverse community, access to public transportation and not too far from the city. We have a 1 year old and enjoy the neighborhood we moved into. Good luck wherever you end up
My wife and I just moved to West Orange. Diverse community, access to public transportation and not too far from the city. We have a 1 year old and enjoy the neighborhood we moved into. Good luck wherever you end up
While West Orange does have a lot going for it, the schools are mediocre (for NJ) at best. The taxes are quite high and safety is an issue, not to mention that they will not find that community closeness they are seeking. THB, the OP can do much better in their price range - better schools, safer community with much less crime and much lower, by almost half, taxes.
Hi,
There are so many nice towns to look at! You should narrow it down by counties. Essex County:Upper Montclair, Montclair, GlenRidge, Cedar Grove. Bergen: Westwood, Paramus, Tenafly, Englewood Cliffs, Montvale, Ridgewood (all great schools, safe, gorgeous neighborhoods with community feel, may not be extremely diverse, but there is some diversity). Rockland Co: Pearl River, New City, Chestnut Ridge is very nice but schools are not too good. Good luck on your search!
Right off the bat, Madison comes to mind, though your commute will be just over the 60 min limit (the midtown direct train to Penn Station from Madison takes right about 50/55 min). TBH one thing that you will find that makes fulfilling all of your criteria is the commute time and property tax criteria. There are several wonderful communities in Bergen and Essex Counties that fit all of your criteria except the property tax limit. To fill all of the criteria including the taxes you are looking at eastern Morris County, and a town that has a train station on the midtown direct line. Madison and the Chathams specifically, though since both towns are small available housing inventory is small. You'll find more in your price range in Madison than Chatham. I'd stick with Chatham Boro, to be closer to the train station, as the Twp is spread out. (only in terms of limiting total commute time)
You might also want to look at Summit, fits most of your criteria, except the small town closeness vibe. Just west of Summit, is New Providence, which has great schools and fits most of the criteria, but your commute will be just over your criteria. New Providence is a wonderful place, but there really is no walkable downtown like you'd find in Madison, Chatham, Summit, etc.
HTH
KoalaNJ
Midtown direct to Penn & he works at 44th & 2nd...going to be quite a bit more than an hour.
While West Orange does have a lot going for it, the schools are mediocre (for NJ) at best.
The high school is rated mediocre. At least two of the elementary schools (St. Cloud and Gregory) are rated quite well.
Quote:
The taxes are quite high and safety is an issue, not to mention that they will not find that community closeness they are seeking. THB, the OP can do much better in their price range - better schools, safer community with much less crime and much lower, by almost half, taxes.
Taxes are high, but safety? Only in one very small area. West Orange is considerably bigger than some of the neighboring towns, so community closeness is more a function of neighborhood than the town as a whole.
That said, there are other drawbacks: no train station in town, not much of a downtown area. And up sides -- there are family oriented and outdoor activities, more so than in towns with a better commute.
A door to door commute of 60 minutes is not likely from any of the towns mentioned. Fastest from West Orange would be the #77 bus to Port Authority (~45 min), then a 5 minute subway ride to Grand Central, but that's not accounting for waiting time or time to/from the bus stop and subway stop. And the bus often takes longer, especially on the way out.
Westchester would probably work better, but the nearer parts of Westchester will likely be out of the price range.
I live in Westwood, New Jersey. We have a 3bedroom+1den and 2baths. It is the perfect place to raise a family. The train would be about an hour. The drive would be 25-30 minutes to New York City. My parents lived here and worked in the city all their life. They are now retiring and we are about to start heading out. Our neighborhood is perfect for a family.
If your interested, you should let me know. Btw, I have a park one block away from my house! It's perfect. I think towns like Demarest, Closter, Cresskill, Hillsdale, Westwood, Paramus, and RiverVale are perfect communities for young families.
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