Young Family Looking to Move to Bayonne (Orange, Washington: apartments, rent)

[Niayao]

Hello All,

We are looking to move to Bayonne after the holidays but we are not too familiar with the city. I have learned a bit from second-hand accounts and from visiting the forum today. However, most of the previous threads don't exactly match our situation, so I was hoping to find more insight.

Below is our information and predominantly, I want to know where exactly should we be looking in Bayonne (best parts)? Also, I heard that the area is not open-minded to minorities/newcomers - does that hold true today?

Thank you very much!

Where are you coming from? Washington Heights/Inwood Area of NYC
Why are you moving? We need a bigger place and are overpriced in the safer, nicer parts of the city.
Where will you be working? If NYC, what part of NYC? My husband works in Downtown Brooklyn and I work in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Will you buy or rent? Rent
What is your budget? $1500-$2000
What kinds of places are you looking for? Large 2 bedroom apartments; 3 bedroom apartments
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you? Hubby, 8 year old twin sons, 6 year old daughter, and English Bulldog

Do you need/want good public schools? No, our children will be commuting with us into the city. Yes, others have advised us against this but they are in an excellent school and we are not pulling them out. We have friends at their school who commute from farther south in New Jersey or from Westchester/Orange Counties and they all make it work while preserving their sanity. We are also not open to replacing our babysitter who has been with us for the past eight years and she lives in the city.

Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in:

We are looking to live in a neighborhood/area that is affordable, safe, clean, and has families with young children.

We are dark-skinned Dominican-Americans and while we do not mind being in an area that is not very diverse, we do not want to being a racist city/town. We want a urban with a suburban type of feel or suburban type of place that is open to all kinds of people.

We are interested in having kid-oriented/family-oriented activities available – recreational opportunities, extra-curricular activities(sports, dance), summer camps, etc.

Ideally, we would like to have a downtown area with restaurants and coffee shops that we can frequent as a family. However, this is not a deal breaker, as long as nearby towns can offer a downtown type of scene.

We do not care about a vibrant social scene with an abundance of nightlife options.

List three (four) things that are important to you in order of importance:

Safe and Clean
Not a close-minded/racist city/town
No more than an hour commute by car - public transportation is not an option because (a) we will be traveling with our children and (b) my hubby uses a company truck for work
Family-Oriented (weekend activities for the kids or places that I can take them nearby (sports and dance activities, library), parks)