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I need your candid, unfiltered advice. Neither of us have ever even visited New Jersey and everything we know has been learned on the internet. We will have our first visit this weekend.
We are a family of 6 (late 30/early 40 couple, 4 children 6-13 years old) relocating for my husband's job in the Financial District. We want to keep his commute by train under 75 minutes. I work full-time, remotely for now, but may have to change jobs within a year, so having local work options (tech) will matter as we can't both commute and we'll have to make childcare arrangements.
We currently live in a (middle to upper class) Los Angeles suburb. We are looking to spend approximately $700k for a 4+ bed home. In researching areas, it seems common to have large lots in NJ, which is pretty appealing with 4 young children. We like the idea of a quaint, small town vibe, with plenty of parks and excellent public schools. A small, walkable downtown area would be great. We want to find a nice community, with activities and parades and other family-centric activities, etc, which is completely different from life in Southern California.
At the moment, we have been focused on Basking Ridge, but there is not a lot of inventory on the market right now, and our move is in progress, husband starts job at the end of the month. What other towns should we consider?
Bernardsville seems to have more inventory, but the school rankings look suspicious based on home prices. Can anyone explain this?
I realize homes in Union County will have higher property taxes and be more populous, but are we missing out by not considering Berkeley Heights or New Providence or somewhere else? How is the train commute from other towns along this area?
Part of me is worried about being in a town without suburban amenities (Target! Trader Joe's! Costco!) but we are looking for something completely new. How big of an inconvenience is it to drive 30 minutes to anything?
What about religion? Neither of us observe, though technically I suppose we both come from somewhat Catholic families. Are we going to be outsiders if we are not seen in church? (I have had this problem before.)
How welcoming are the locals to transplants? Will I be in the minority as a mom with a professional career?
And finally, while we do want to locate ourselves in a reasonably affluent suburb because of amenities and schools, we would like to avoid raising our kids to be entitled...ahem...people. How much of a sense of "haves" and "have nots" is present in these areas? In our price range, I'd expect to be on the low end of the property ladder in many of these places.
First, regarding the commute... I don't think you can make it Basking Ridge and that area in 75 minutes (assuming you mean door-to-door); more like 90+ minutes since train ride by itself is close to 70 minutes from Basking Ridge to Hoboken. I think that about the furthest out west you can go would be Madison, which I would definitely recommend that you look at -- good schools, nice downtown, activities/amenities, easy train access.
as to other questions: I'd say that NJ is relatively welcoming since there is a steady flow of transplants and plenty of diversity of backgrounds etc. Religion is not a big deal like some areas and Catholic background will fit in easily.
I live within 25 mins from Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, i have brother in law and several cousins with small children living in Chester/Bernardsville so i am quite familiar in the areas you've been focusing on.
couple of things i can tell you here is 700k will buy you a home of 4 bedrooms but it won't be all updated in towns of Bernardsville or Basking Ridge though. School district in Basking ridge is better and i can probably say school rankings in Bville in lower due to a lot of ESL students and immigrant families who send their kids to public schools. That is why you're seeking lower ranking despite higher median home values.
you can PM me for more info. Chatham would be your other choice, as it has a great walkable town, train station with direct service to penn station...maybe change over at certain times though.
My first piece of advice would be to rent (or even an extended stay hotel) first instead of rushing a home purchase in the next few weeks.
Check out Westfield. Not as "rural" as some of the towns further west but the commute to the financial district is decent since you can take Raritan Valley line train to Newark Penn and then switch to PATH.
As for tech, most of the jobs are in NYC whether you're looking at the big tech companies (Facebook, Google, Twitter), media companies (like TV networks), or startups. There are a few tech companies in NJ - I think more are in the SaaS space. Jet.com (a very well funded start-up looking to compete with Amazon) is getting ready to launch this year and their HQ are in NJ, but that's the most high profile one I can think of.
Westfield, from what I have read does not have a midtown direct line, and we are trying to keep to that for ease of commute, but please let me know if what I have read is not correct.
We have also read there are problems parking in some train stations the closer in to NY we get -- which stations should we stay away from?
And yes, 70 minutes on the train, not door to door, from Basking Ridge. Husband is totally fine with this (if it was me, I'd need to be closer.)
Last edited by waywarddaisy; 03-18-2015 at 04:10 PM..
Westfield, from what I have read does not have a midtown direct line, and we are trying to keep to that for ease of commute, but please let me know if what I have read is not correct.
We have also read there are problems parking in some train stations the closer in to NY we get -- which stations should we stay away from?
And yes, 70 minutes on the train, not door to door, from Basking Ridge. Husband is totally fine with this (if it was me, I'd need to be closer.)
FYI, the financial district is at the southern end of Manhattan. Midtown direct trains take you to, as it says, midtown. So, your husband would need to take a subway after getting into Penn Station. The alternative is to live on a Hoboken line town (Bergen County), where Hoboken is the end station. From Hoboken, the PATH train is a quick ride to southern Manhattan. Taking Hoboken -> PATH is probably faster than Penn Station -> Subway. There is something important to understand regarding those 2 alternative commutes, especially if you are committing to a house purchase. Midtown Direct trains travel one of the oldest and busiest rail corridors in the country. Infrastructure is aged and delays are very common. Hoboken train lines are less busy and delays are less common. Your mileage may vary, but I tend to think the Hoboken -> PATH route will be more reliable and less delay prone than Midtown Direct -> Subway.
Another thing you should take into account is that property taxes are pretty high in virtually all good school districts. Not sure how we stack up against LA area, but do be cognizant of the bill - they don't go down.
Towns you might consider in Bergen County: Mahwah, Ramsey, Waldwick, Glen Rock, Ridgewood
Westfield, from what I have read does not have a midtown direct line, and we are trying to keep to that for ease of commute, but please let me know if what I have read is not correct.
We have also read there are problems parking in some train stations the closer in to NY we get -- which stations should we stay away from?
And yes, 70 minutes on the train, not door to door, from Basking Ridge. Husband is totally fine with this (if it was me, I'd need to be closer.)
Westfield doesn't have a midtown direct line, however I'm pretty sure it's rumored to get one in the coming years.
FYI, the financial district is at the southern end of Manhattan. Midtown direct trains take you to, as it says, midtown. So, your husband would need to take a subway after getting into Penn Station. The alternative is to live on a Hoboken line town (Bergen County), where Hoboken is the end station. From Hoboken, the PATH train is a quick ride to southern Manhattan. Taking Hoboken -> PATH is probably faster than Penn Station -> Subway. There is something important to understand regarding those 2 alternative commutes, especially if you are committing to a house purchase. Midtown Direct trains travel one of the oldest and busiest rail corridors in the country. Infrastructure is aged and delays are very common. Hoboken train lines are less busy and delays are less common. Your mileage may vary, but I tend to think the Hoboken -> PATH route will be more reliable and less delay prone than Midtown Direct -> Subway.
Another thing you should take into account is that property taxes are pretty high in virtually all good school districts. Not sure how we stack up against LA area, but do be cognizant of the bill - they don't go down.
Towns you might consider in Bergen County: Mahwah, Ramsey, Waldwick, Glen Rock, Ridgewood
You're absolutely right, I misspoke. He WOULD take Hoboken>PATH. This is a result of living in suburbs my whole life. I have been confused by the train lines, probably not for the last time. Now I have to go research Bergen County!
Re: property taxes, yes, they're ridiculous. Twice what we pay here, but schools appear to be at least twice as good. California schools, even in our supposedly "great" school district, leave much to be desired. I don't think this is a house we will ever own outright/retire in, so I'm less worried about the taxes for now....until I get the bill probably.
Smiled a bit at your concerns about getting to stores like Target and Trader Joe's. You can't swing a cat in New Jersey without hitting the usual chain food stores or department stores. Don't worry about that. If you are in commuting distance of Manhattan, everything you need is a short drive from your house.
New Jersey is very diverse racially, culturally, and spiritually, so don't worry about that, either. Christians of all types, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Pagans/Wiccans, atheists, agnostics, and probably others I have forgotten about all are represented. I know there are some parts of the country where the first question someone will ask you is, "What church do you go to?" You are not likely to be asked that question here.
vrfex gave you some good suggestions for Bergen County. I am from that area and commuted from Ridgewood to the World Trade Center for a couple of decades. It took about an hour and 10 to 20 door to door. The train trip is a pleasant commute.
FYI, the financial district is at the southern end of Manhattan. Midtown direct trains take you to, as it says, midtown. So, your husband would need to take a subway after getting into Penn Station. The alternative is to live on a Hoboken line town (Bergen County), where Hoboken is the end station. From Hoboken, the PATH train is a quick ride to southern Manhattan. Taking Hoboken -> PATH is probably faster than Penn Station -> Subway. There is something important to understand regarding those 2 alternative commutes, especially if you are committing to a house purchase. Midtown Direct trains travel one of the oldest and busiest rail corridors in the country. Infrastructure is aged and delays are very common. Hoboken train lines are less busy and delays are less common. Your mileage may vary, but I tend to think the Hoboken -> PATH route will be more reliable and less delay prone than Midtown Direct -> Subway....
That is no longer exactly true. Whenever there are delays in the crumbling two 150 year old tunnels under Hudson, NJT redirects a lot of midtown direct trains to Hoboken. That creates an absolute havoc in Hoboken since the old terminal is not really designed for this number of people. Also, PATH becomes ridiculously overcrowded and all of these factors also delay the commute through Hoboken. This situation is likely going to get worse as the infrastructure continue to age and the majority party in Congress prefers to invest in highways. Thank the glorious Governor of the state for canceling AC tunnel which would've been ready in 2018. I guess most people in NJ are OK with this situation since CC was decisively reelected.
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Now I have to go research Bergen County! 
