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Where are you coming from? currently renting in Fort Lee in a high rise.
Why are you moving? Somewhere in Bergen or Essex county area
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? will be working in Little Falls/Cedar Grove, NJ.
Need to drive into NYC 1-2 times a week during non rush hour. Also our families live in NYC.
Will you buy or rent? Buy
What is your budget ? under $500K asking price
What kind of place are you looking for ? 3+ bedroom house or townhouse, 2+ bathroom. Nice backyard. Not scared of doing some renovations, but not a total fixer upper.
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you? 3 year old daughter, spouse & 2 small dogs
Do you need/want good public schools? YES
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in: Jewish area (not religious), want my daughter to be in great public school with decent amount of Jews in her class, but we're not religious at all.
Within 30ish min to Cedar Grove, NJ and 30ish min drive to NYC during non rush hour times.
List three things that are important to you in order of importance
Really good public schools, close (5-10 min drive) from a downtown area with restaurants, etc, parks/playgrounds nearby.
Tenafly seems perfect, except for nothing within our budget. So what's similar to Tenafly but has more affordable options??
Here's what we're thinking but would love to hear your feedback about these towns & if there's somewhere else we should consider....
Closter, Glen Rock, Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes
West Caldwell, North Caldwell
Tag a deuce onto your budget if you want to find something decent in Closter, Wyckoff, or North Caldwell. Add 100K for Glen Rock. Double it for Franklin Lakes. You might be able to swing River Edge, but taxes are very high and don't expect a perfect house for $500K.
Not sure if the Caldwells have much of a Jewish population, but I'm leaning towards no. Livingston might have some older houses in the 500K range, has a sizable, fairly secular Jewish population, and excellent schools.
If you can settle for "Very Good" schools, Fair Lawn is fairly affordable by North Jersey standards and has a large, primarily secular Jewish population (although the orthodox population seems to have grown a bit in recent years). 500K will get you quite a bit more house than in any of the other towns.
Tag a deuce onto your budget if you want to find something decent in Closter, Wyckoff, or North Caldwell. Add 100K for Glen Rock. Double it for Franklin Lakes. You might be able to swing River Edge, but taxes are very high and don't expect a perfect house for $500K.
Not sure if the Caldwells have much of a Jewish population, but I'm leaning towards no. Livingston might have some older houses in the 500K range, has a sizable, fairly secular Jewish population, and excellent schools.
If you can settle for "Very Good" schools, Fair Lawn is fairly affordable by North Jersey standards and has a large, primarily secular Jewish population (although the orthodox population seems to have grown a bit in recent years). 500K will get you quite a bit more house than in any of the other towns.
Thanks for the input. Livingston I believe is slightly further from NYC than the others, but not too bad & I've heard great things about the schools, so I'll add it to the list.
There actually seems to be a decent amount of listings within my budget in Closter. Like I said above, I'm willing to do some renovations (kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, etc) as long as it's cosmetic and no major structural problems.
I've also found a few houses listed in Wyckoff & Franklin Lakes. There are some townhouses listed in North Caldwell within the budget.
I know North Caldwell is pretty Jewish, but not sure about the Jewish population in Caldwell & West Caldwell, where there seem to be more houses in my budget.
I've heard mixed things about the Fair Lawn schools, but I think I'll check it out anyway because there's a lot of houses in the budget there.
Since your in Fort Lee, why not Tenafly? The school's are okay, nice empty playgrounds, 20 minute drive to Ridgewood for dinning. Nice large Jewish Community and the not the religious type. Overall it seem to fit you well, I'm sure you can get one for your budget, if you can do a little work on it.
Livingston has a Acad Bus to the city every hour maybe more in rush hours, overall I feel there is more activities in school for kids. If I had to pick again I would pick Livingston for my kid to grow up in over Bergen County.
Not being Jewish maybe I don't know from these things. But when looking for a place to live on a certain budget, why would you want to automatically limit yourself to a handful of towns? NJ is quite diverse as I'm sure you know.
Yes, is interesting that people like to stick with a certain community. A few days ago someone ask for a chinese community. I also think a kid should grow up in a diversify community, obviously school education is the most important.
I grew up in Livingston, and there was certainly a large secular Jewish population I went to a conservative synagogue but there are lots of options for congregations within town and nearby. I got an excellent education, too (although personally I found the high school to be somewhat too high-pressure for my tastes, but I understand that's what a lot of people want).
West Orange has a very large Jewish population. You can certainly find a house under $500k and it's only a 15-20 minute drive to Cedar Grove and Little Falls. Many of our neighbors are Jewish and send their kids to the public schools.
West Orange has a very large Jewish population. You can certainly find a house under $500k and it's only a 15-20 minute drive to Cedar Grove and Little Falls. Many of our neighbors are Jewish and send their kids to the public schools.
We went to a barbecue at our friends who live in West Orange this past weekend. They have one child who just finished Kindergarten. The father was complaining about how high the taxes are and it doesn't even go towards an education system that's as good as other neighboring towns where taxes are lower.
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I went to a conservative synagogue but there are lots of options for congregations within town and nearby. I got an excellent education, too (although personally I found the high school to be somewhat too high-pressure for my tastes, but I understand that's what a lot of people want).
