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I did forget Montclair. South Orange and Maplewood sound great, but I worry about taxes.
Being originally from Massachusetts, I think that I am drawn more toward 'cute town' than my wife is. That being said, I dont think NJ has a lot of 'quaint' towns in my budget, close to the City, matching my wish list... What makes those towns 'typical Brooklyn family' towns?
Updating list.... Dont know much about Glen Ridge... What is commute like?
Apparently, you cant update a post that has comments on it... New list:
Scotch Plains
Aberdeen
Fair Lawn
East Brunswick
Cranford (concerned about flooding)
Metuchen
Atlantic Highlands (too expensive?)
Hackensack?
Middletown
Montclaire
South Orange (taxes?)
Maplewood (taxes?)
Highland Park
Glen Ridge
You can pretty much cross off all of the Bergen and Essex County towns as the taxes on a ~400k home in a decent school district will be significantly higher then 10K.
I'd add a few towns to your short list:
Berkeley Hts
New Providence
Morris Plains
Morris Twp.
All have good/great schools and have train stations with midtown direct access, for ease of your commute. Plenty of housing stock within your price range, and you'll find lower taxes than Bergen/Essex. (this is esp. true for the towns located in Morris County) I'd also add Hanover Twp specifically Cedar Knolls, or parts of Whippany, which are proximate to train stations for your easier commute, the schools are also good/great, and taxes are quite low for NJ.
Buses from East Brunswick to Wall St. get there in a little over an hour. Good schools, diverse community, 5 minutes to New Brunswick with restaurants & Rutgers U & only 30-40 mins to beaches.
The top list constitutes towns to actively research. Bottom list is to track rec's that I dont think will work out, but worth tracking.
Thanks for all the info!!!
TBH, I'd take Hackensack off the list too - the schools are not doing as well as the average school in NJ (per HESPA scores falling well below the average HESPA score for NJ) You have many other options that fulfill your criteria plus give you better schools (and in many cases have lower taxes than Hackensack)
The top list constitutes towns to actively research. Bottom list is to track rec's that I dont think will work out, but worth tracking.
Thanks! Moved Hackensak off, adding Teaneck based on a recommendation...
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Dont know much about Glen Ridge... What is commute like?
