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I am relocating from Upstate NY to the NJ area for Grad School at Rutgers-Newark this fall. I am not familiar with NJ at all, but have learned from searching this forum that Newark is not anywhere I want to live. I am looking for a safe, family friendly neighborhood that is <45 minute commute to Newark. I will have clinical in NYC and throughout NJ, so something close to a train or bus line would also be beneficial. A few areas I have read about on here are Montclair, South Orange, Morristown, and Summit. Does anyone have insight on these towns or others that may fit my needs!? Thanks for the help!
Kearny is okay. A bit too dense than is ideal for a suburb but perfectly safe, very close to Newark, and close to the city. Harrison is drastically safer than Newark itself (not quite as nice as Kearny though AFAIK) and on the PATH to both NYC and Newark (if you don't feel like driving for whatever reason).
Assuming your kids are below school age and are just looking for safety, good commute, and reasonable prices rather than schools or any particular level of density; if that isn't the case advice would change.
All of them are generally well regarded and should be fine (although I am not familiar with Summit outside of reputation). Morristown is a little far from NYC if you are going to be working in the city regularly (although ideally situated to pretty much anywhere in north/central NJ via car).
If you elaborate a bit more (rent/buy, do you have kids, etc) people can probably give you some better suggestions.
Morristown is safe, but fairly expensive, and can get a bit rowdy on weekend nights. It has a nice performing arts center and a downtown movie theater, and direct train access to NYC.
Montclair is a huge town, so the experience varies depending where you are. Upper Montclair is quieter with more of a family feel, the stretch on Bloomfield Avenue in Lower Montclair is more eclectic; overall the town has a nice mix of housing, restaurants, bars, an art museum, great library, and public transit.
Summit is similar to Morristown, but with fewer bars and a slightly more upscale clientele.
South Orange has a much smaller downtown, but has a great gourmet grocery store, a decent number or restaurants, and downtown arts and movies. There are also fancy apartments under construction. South Orange offers the shortest commute to Rutgers Newark, via either the Morris Essex train line or a straight drive down South Orange Avenue, which takes about 20 minutes depending on traffic. The 31 bus is also an option.
You might also consider Maplewood Village. It's only a mile or two from South Orange, and has its own train station. The downtown is small, but, in my experience, very lively. I was there on a frigid Monday night and was surprised to see so many people out an about.
All the towns mentioned are safe, though not quite as secure as a far suburb would supposedly be. Morristown has a run down area to the north (the Hollow). The west side of town is mostly hispanic, not unsafe, but something to keep in mind when hunting for a house/apartment. Montclair has its shady areas, mostly in the southern end of town I believe. South Orange itself is fine, and is one of the few towns in the area that has a really strong middle-class black population. It is, however, close to Newark and Orange, so depending on where in town you live you might be nearby to higher-crime areas. Maplewood on a whole might have some safety issues as it borders Irvington, but the village area is quite isolated from the rest of town. All those towns are fairly family friendly, I would guess Maplewood and parts of Montclair moreso than Morristown. Other posters could comment better on the schools.
Another issue is price. Almost nowhere in suburban North Jersey will you get an apartment for rent under $1000. In Morristown, there are a lot newly constructed buildings where rents can run close to $2000 for a 1-bed. Montclair, South Orange, and Summit I would imagine are similarly priced. Maplewood might be a bit cheaper.
If you are looking for something closer to NYC, I would, as others have suggested, look at PATH towns. You can take the PATH to New York, or to Penn Station and then take either the Rutgers Newark shuttle, or the subway up to Washington Street to get to campus. When I attended Rutgers Newark, I knew several people who lived in Kearny, Harrison, and Jersey City and commuted to campus. You might also consider somewhere south of campus. Some towns on the Raritan Valley and Northeast Corridor train lines are quite nice but cheaper than the Morris-Essex towns. I had two friends who lived in Rahway and commuted to Newark and liked the town (though I've heard it's gone downhill a bit in recent years).
As a final note, while I'm sure Newark has quite a bad reputation, the Rutgers Newark campus is actually quite nice. It has an extremely diverse student body, a great faculty, and a safe environment. There are also several new developments, such as the Newark teachers' village and the Whole Foods, coming to Newark just a few blocks from campus.
As a final note, while I'm sure Newark has quite a bad reputation, the Rutgers Newark campus is actually quite nice. It has an extremely diverse student body, a great faculty, and a safe environment. There are also several new developments, such as the Newark teachers' village and the Whole Foods, coming to Newark just a few blocks from campus.
The Rutgers Newark campus may be safer than other parts of town, but calling it 'quite nice' is a stretch. I remember when I was in graduate school on campus (until fairly recently), we would get a Rutgers student crime alert through our email system maybe once a week, relating to one of the following: theft, robberies, armed robberies and strong armed robberies. Maybe our definition of what's nice and what's not is different.
As much as I appreciate what they're trying to do with the Newark 'renaissance', they still have a long way to go. Just my humble opinion.
So with that, I would say the recommendations by others seem reasonable.
The Rutgers Newark campus may be safer than other parts of town, but calling it 'quite nice' is a stretch. I remember when I was in graduate school on campus (until fairly recently), we would get a Rutgers student crime alert through our email system maybe once a week, relating to one of the following: theft, robberies, armed robberies and strong armed robberies. Maybe our definition of what's nice and what's not is different.
As much as I appreciate what they're trying to do with the Newark 'renaissance', they still have a long way to go. Just my humble opinion.
So with that, I would say the recommendations by others seem reasonable.
Good luck.
Agreed it's not great, but in my experience such issues can occur on any college campus. TCNJ, where I did my undergrad, had issues ranging from on campus car theft to home invasions of off campus houses. Temple, where I am now, has suffered assaults inside offices, shootings near campus, and several armed robberies. Aside from the occasional beggar at Rutgers Newark, I didn't detect a noticeable difference in crime affecting my quality of life as a student.
Thank you for all of the responses! I do not have children, so I am not concerned about school districts. The most difficult aspect of apartment hunting is that I have a large dog, and most rentals I have found only allow dogs under 25 pounds. I will continue to look throughout these areas! Thank you again
Check out Union, NJ. Much closer than those other towns listed and you can find a rental apartment or house close to mass transit if you don't have a car.
Fords, along new brunswick ave.... be in newark in 20 minutes from turnpike....which is 5 minutes and zero traffic away.
NYC train access from Metuchen, a straight 10 min run down new bruns ave or frm Perth Amboy another 5 minutes away.
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