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Hi everyone. I want to move my family (my wife, me, and infant) to NJ. I work in Florham Park.
I read many of these forums. I've researched towns and homes on the internet. But I have a highway driver's view of NJ, and lack real world advice. I am looking for your advice on what towns I should be looking at homes in.
Where are you coming from? Brooklyn, NY
Why are you moving? Job. Personal choice. Seeking a home and community.
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? N/A
Will you buy or rent?Buy
What is your budget ? up to $650k
What kind of place are you looking for ? Single family home
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ?Spouse and infant child
Do you need/want good public schools?Yes, a must have
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in We are looking for a suburb that has a busy community with activities with families with young children, safe and crime free, excellent public schools.
(examples: families with young children, young, mature, artsy, diverse, safe, close-knit, block parties, etc)
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) Family orientated. Excellent schools. Commute up to 25 minutes, preferably less
Florham park itself, Madison, Chatham. You'll get much more house in FP than the others. Really though, any town within 25 min will be a-ok! Well, Newark is on the cusp of 25 min and I don't mean move there. LOL
Thanks. Any thoughts on the schools in Florham Park? Chatham/Madison public schools appear to be perennial "elite" districts. But Florham Park public schools scored poorly, or just "ok," in the NJ school report cards. Some or all of Florham Park seems pretty well to do, are people just sending their kids to private school there?
Florham Park
Chatham
Madison
Mountain Lakes
Westfield
New Providence
Berkeley heights
Watchung
Stirling
Long Hill
Basking Ridge
Strangers to this land, any suggestions to eliminate these are helpful. We have the taxes for a cross-reference of properties, but if the schools are greater in quality I'm ok with higher taxes.
There's a lot of differences between those towns in areas other than schools and taxes. Chatham and Madison are superficially similar, neighboring train towns with mostly older housing stock and nice main street/downtown areas. Chatham, however, is known for "Chatitude" (search the forum). Mountain Lakes is much less dense, and it actually has the lakes it's named after. Florham Park is also pretty much suburban.
I'd drop Westfield; nothing wrong with the town, it would just be a lousy commute. Commute would be a consideration for the second half of your list also. I'd be surprised if between the first four on your list you can't find something to your liking.
Florham Park
Chatham
Madison
Mountain Lakes
Westfield
New Providence
Berkeley heights
Watchung
Stirling
Long Hill
Basking Ridge
Strangers to this land, any suggestions to eliminate these are helpful. We have the taxes for a cross-reference of properties, but if the schools are greater in quality I'm ok with higher taxes.
Although Westfield has a lot going for it, I'd take it off your list as the commute will be difficult and much longer then your desired 25 min or less. Same thing about Watchung and Mt Lakes. You need to keep the towns you are looking at closer to FP. That being said, I'd add Randolph to your list. Very good schools, wonderful community to raise a family, and if you keep to the eastern side of the twp, your commute will be within your limit. Short Hills/Millburn is also worth looking at, though there are a limited number of homes within your price range, and taxes will be on the high side- the down side of living in one of the top school districts in the nation. Summit is also worth checking out. To keep taxes down and commute short, keep to the eastern parts of Morris Co.
After looking at your list, I think you may be taking the time estimates given on google maps or mapquest to judge the commute time. You should know that those apps are notoriously unreliable for estimating actual commute times here in NJ. Remember those are the same apps that say it only takes 13 minutes to drive from the UN to Lincoln Center....need I say more? A more realistic time would be to take whatever googlemaps/mapquest says, multiply it by 2 and add 10%.
Map apps can be far off. But it's worth noting that if you live east of your job site and head west, traffic flows better. Same thing for someone living in Bergen commuting south to work on the Turnpike.
Thank you so very much. We are revising our list to:
Florham Park (although we are still concerned with public schools, not keen on private)
Chatham (we find it appealing but concerned with finding a decent sized 3BR or more)
Madison (same)
Randolph (Many recommendations on it; what's the basis for saying "excellent"? The NJ School Report cards rate the schools in range that appears good to excellent, except at elementary level that only applies to Ironi. How are schools assigned?)
Mountain Lakes - what's a reliable commuting time during and not during traffic? My wife is keen on looking here, so if it's 25-35 minutes I would certainly still consider it.
I am sincerely appreciative of each of your advice, it has already been enormously helpful. We have done tons of our research but just don't have the appreciable judgment that comes from personal knowledge and experience.
Thank you so very much. We are revising our list to:
Florham Park (although we are still concerned with public schools, not keen on private)
Chatham (we find it appealing but concerned with finding a decent sized 3BR or more)
Madison (same)
Randolph (Many recommendations on it; what's the basis for saying "excellent"? The NJ School Report cards rate the schools in range that appears good to excellent, except at elementary level that only applies to Ironi. How are schools assigned?)
Mountain Lakes - what's a reliable commuting time during and not during traffic? My wife is keen on looking here, so if it's 25-35 minutes I would certainly still consider it.
I am sincerely appreciative of each of your advice, it has already been enormously helpful. We have done tons of our research but just don't have the appreciable judgment that comes from personal knowledge and experience.
In Randolph the elementary schools are divided by location. As far as the quality of the schools, I am going by much more than the NJ School Report card. I use the national and statewide testing scores, the number of AP courses, how many kids participate in AP classes and pass the exam, the rankings of US News and World report, NJ Monthly, among other criteria. One thing Randolph has going for it is the wide diversity, not only in the ethnicities represented in the town, but also in the housing stock. You'll find homes ranging from the high 200k's to Mil +. I am not sure where you are looking for info on the elementary schools that indicate that only the Ironia Elementary school is rated good to excellent, as all four of the towns elementary schools, (Fernbrook, Shongum, Ironia, and Center Grove) are rated 7 or 8 on GreatSchools.org as well as other sites. Acutually three are rated 8, and one (Fernbrook) is rated a 7, most likely due to lower test scores on hspa, which is likely due to the fact that Fernbook school has a number of kids from two rather large apt complexes that have a large number of families where english is not the language spoken in the home. To help the kids learn english the school has hired many aids, and reduced the ave class size to 16 (the other elementary schools ave class size is 19/20 IIRC)
As far as Mt Lakes, your commute to FP would be around 45-60 min. You'll also have a hard time finding a home within your budget, as the vast majority of homes in the small community are "Lakers" that are Mil + I did a quick search and could only find 5 homes in the town currently for sale within your budget. I am not saying it'd be impossible, just trying to be realistic. If you are really wanting your kids to go to Mt Lakes HS, you might try looking at homes in Boonton Twp (NOT the town of Boonton) which sends it kids to Mt Lakes for HS. You'll find homes are less expensive, and there are many more available in your price range. The down side is that your commute to FP will be even longer than going from Mt Lakes to FP.
KoalaNJ
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