South River - Can someone give me an idea on what this town is like? (New Brunswick: for rent)

[kelforn]

Stores, Public transportation, Safety, etc..., for a single middle 40's male who doesn't need a nightlife per say.

The whole gammut good or bad - lol!

Thank You

[feds24]

My husband and I have lived in South River (with our children) for nearly three years, and I can say both good and bad (but MOSTLY good)things about our town. On the plus side: South River is a clean, attracive, small and quiet community of very friendly people, many of whom were born and raised in SR themselves. The houses are mostly older and charming,with decent sized lots and properties. People tend to care for their homes/lawns and the town is virtually graffitti-free. Some areas and blocks are downright picturesque, and the taxes in SR are quite low compared to other areas of NJ. I've noticed a lot of home improvement going on in the last few months (People replacing roofs, siding, painting and even adding additions) which I believe is a good sign. My son has been happy in the public school and with other extra-curricular activities he's been involved in. When I was moving to SR, a woman who lives here told me "shhh-it's New Jersey's best kept secret". In many ways, it is. Most people have never even heard of SR, which in a way lends to its peacefulness and charm.
On the down side, SR's downtown area looks pretty depressed. Not at all dangerous (I hope) but just run down looking. In fact, the entrance to the town from Sayreville is so sad looking, it's discouraging. The first thing you see as you drive in are some awful looking buildings in disrepair with sheets hanging in the windows with signs that read "Rooms for Rent". I believe there might be a wee bit of an illegal immigration issue as well. I find our main street unimpressive. It's mostly small shops and a few bars, one or two decent looking restaurants, a police station, a tattoo parlor, a mexican grocery store and your basic needs places, such as WaWa, etc. It's OK, but when we moved here I guess I was hoping for maybe a nice/quaint restaurant or some hip shops, etc. Maybe just prettier, I suppose. On a final note, the public schools are reviewed as average(or a bit below as compared to the state of NJ). The high school offers only 2 advanced placement courses, whereas it's commonplace for most schools to offer ten or more. Maybe this isn't an issue for you, as you mentioned you're a single guy . As far as public transportation goes, I can't really speak on that, as I drive everywhere, but I know there's a bus on rt 18 that goes to NYC. I hope this information is helpful to you. All in all, we've been happy here and would only consider a move mostly for issues of education. Good luck!

[regarese]

My husband and I just moved to South River a year ago, but have grown up in the neighboring towns. It is a small town with low taxes. I would say it's mostly a blue collar town. I feel very safe in the part of town I'm in, but there is a section at the other end of town that heads into Sayreville, that is a little sketchy. I wouldn't say that I would feel totally unsafe down there at night, but I don't necessarily want to be down there by myself at night either. It's a good mixed population; black, white, mexican, polish and portuguese to name a few. It's an established town so the taxes rarely have any significant raises.

There are buses that come through regularly, but I don't use public transportation so I can't speak to how good it is here. We are close to New Brunswick which has a train station, but traffic getting there is murder now b/c of construction on Rt. 18.

Stores-South River is right off of Rt. 18 where there is access to whatever store you may want-grocery stores, fruit market, asian market, clothing stores, etc. Main street in south river also has some little groceries that I keep meaning to pop into to see how the quality is, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

There really isn't a nightlife in South River-other than some pubs and bars-but if you said you don't really need one then I guess that's ok. Again-it's close to New Brunswick, so if you want to go out for a night, that's always an option.

I really like South River. For a single guy looking to find a home, I would say-check it out. The house prices are reasonable, the taxes are some of, if not THE lowest in the area, and the neighbors are nice. Any other questions-just ask. I'll help if I can.

[njguy]

Isn't there part(s) of South River that floods badly?

I heard something to that effect once - I could be mistaken.

[regarese]

There is a section downtown on the way into Sayreville that floods sometimes. Not really a residential area.

[njguy]

Originally Posted by regarese

There is a section downtown on the way into Sayreville that floods sometimes. Not really a residential area.

Thanks so much for that clarification