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Cliffside Park which is already very nice is going thru some major redevelopment. They are building a new town square. They are redeveloping the area that borders Fairview "Walker street" and that will help both towns. There is also talk of another development around the Cliffside municipal building.
All of those projects should be completed in a few years and I believe Cliffside Park and Fairview will go thru a resugence like Edgewater. I believe now is the time to buy.
To give you a little more detail. Both towns have single family homes, two family homes, multi-story apartment buildings and hi-rise apartment buildings. There's really someplace for everyone.
Three more words.......location...location...location.......: )
What are those towns like? I know they share the same high school, but is it an attractive place to live in?
in general, cliffside's a lot nicer than fairview, although the stretch of anderson ave that straddles the border between the two towns can be kinda sketchy by bergen county and cliffside standards - in other words, it feels more like fairview than the rest of town.
cliffside, as its name suggests, sits on a perch at the top of the cliffs with amazing views of the manhattan skyline, so there's a good amount of pricey real estate in the eastern part of town - luxury high rise apartments and condos, million dollar single family homes (including a handful of mansions), etc. to be honest, most of the single family homes near the cliffs aren't even that large, but they're all expensive anyway due to the views. the further west (inland) you go, the more modest the housing stock is, and the more likely you'll find a bargain. there are a lot more multi-family homes and older mid-rise apartments in the western side of town, esp. around anderson ave. the quality of the housing in this part of town can really vary; some places are really old and dumpy, and some are really well-maintained.
in general, though, the western side of cliffside tends to be more working class-to-middle class, while the eastern half tends to have a lot more yuppies, professionals, empty nesters, and others who earn at least upper middle class incomes.
demographics-wise, the town used to be heavily italian, but not nearly as much these days. the latino presence in town has steadily grown over the years, and is probably in the 20-25% range right now (mix of cubans, puerto ricans, dominicans, mexicans, colombians, etc). there's also a fairly significant east asian presence, probably in the 15-20% range (mostly korean, but there's also a smaller japanese businessman/expat population). cliffside has long had a solid number of armenians, assyrians, arabs, and greeks over the years, but i believe their numbers have decreased somewhat in recent years (i could be totally wrong about this).
the public schools in town aren't the best, but aren't the worst either. cliffside park high school is huge, so for that reason alone i wouldn't send my kids there if i lived in town (or had kids of my own). the school doesn't have a rep for being dangerous or anything, but it just doesn't stand out in any way. besides, most of the wealthier residents in town send their kids to private schools out of town.
cliffside also has a pretty decent downtown area along anderson ave, esp. along the northern stretch of town near the fort lee border. as another poster mentioned, there's a lot of stuff that's been going on there in recent years, and overall i feel the downtown is on the upswing. there's a solid number of places to eat and shop, and it's safe and eminently walkable. don't know if this matters to you, but there are a lot of east asian eateries in town, and most of them are pretty solid; the majority are korean but there are a few japanese and chinese spots as well that are good.
not really much i can say about fairview...it's probably one of the three worst towns in bergen county, although it's all relative b/c "ghetto" in bergen county would be considered "not bad" in a lot of other areas. but for bergen, yeah, it's bad. not necessarily dangerous for the most part, just kinda dirty and run-down looking. i should note that there was a violent rape in fairview fairly recently, but that kind of incident is rare in bergen county, even in the worst parts.
in terms of demographics, fairview is HEAVILY latino - the town has by far the largest latino population (by percentage) in the county; in the 2000 census, i believe it was about 37%, but i'll bet that number will be way over 50% when the 2010 census figures are released. if you walk or drive up anderson ave in fairview, probably 95% of the people in town appear to be non-white latinos. many are recent immigrants from central and south america, but i should note that there is also a core of longtime latino residents in town, mainly cuban, which is totally americanized and (to my knowledge) doesn't really interact with the newcomers. in other words, while the total latino presence in town is huge, it wouldn't be fair to make sweeping generalizations about that entire population; there's a lot of diversity with the latino community. it's probably accurate to say, though, that the huge surge in fairview's latino population in the last 15 years is largely due to non-white latino immigrants.
as for housing stock, there's a mix of single family and multifamily homes, modest (and old) mid-rise apartments, and even a couple of semi-high rises, including a nice one on bergen blvd overlooking the valley below to the west. some of the single family homes are well-maintained post-WWII split-level residences that you might see in any number of suburban towns (most of these are on the western slope of town overlooking the meadlowlands), but that's about as nice as it gets in town. most residences are older and kind of run-down looking without being entirely slummy. around anderson ave, it's a little sketchy, but not dangerous; there are a lot of day laborers who hang out during the day and early evening, but i think the overwhelming majority of those guys are harmless and are in fact just looking for work, not trouble.
in other words, fairview's not like camden, but it's a far cry from most of the rest of bergen county, too.
in general, cliffside's a lot nicer than fairview, although the stretch of anderson ave that straddles the border between the two towns can be kinda sketchy by bergen county and cliffside standards - in other words, it feels more like fairview than the rest of town.
cliffside, as its name suggests, sits on a perch at the top of the cliffs with amazing views of the manhattan skyline, so there's a good amount of pricey real estate in the eastern part of town - luxury high rise apartments and condos, million dollar single family homes (including a handful of mansions), etc. to be honest, most of the single family homes near the cliffs aren't even that large, but they're all expensive anyway due to the views. the further west (inland) you go, the more modest the housing stock is, and the more likely you'll find a bargain. there are a lot more multi-family homes and older mid-rise apartments in the western side of town, esp. around anderson ave. the quality of the housing in this part of town can really vary; some places are really old and dumpy, and some are really well-maintained.
in general, though, the western side of cliffside tends to be more working class-to-middle class, while the eastern half tends to have a lot more yuppies, professionals, empty nesters, and others who earn at least upper middle class incomes.
demographics-wise, the town used to be heavily italian, but not nearly as much these days. the latino presence in town has steadily grown over the years, and is probably in the 20-25% range right now (mix of cubans, puerto ricans, dominicans, mexicans, colombians, etc). there's also a fairly significant east asian presence, probably in the 15-20% range (mostly korean, but there's also a smaller japanese businessman/expat population). cliffside has long had a solid number of armenians, assyrians, arabs, and greeks over the years, but i believe their numbers have decreased somewhat in recent years (i could be totally wrong about this).
the public schools in town aren't the best, but aren't the worst either. cliffside park high school is huge, so for that reason alone i wouldn't send my kids there if i lived in town (or had kids of my own). the school doesn't have a rep for being dangerous or anything, but it just doesn't stand out in any way. besides, most of the wealthier residents in town send their kids to private schools out of town.
cliffside also has a pretty decent downtown area along anderson ave, esp. along the northern stretch of town near the fort lee border. as another poster mentioned, there's a lot of stuff that's been going on there in recent years, and overall i feel the downtown is on the upswing. there's a solid number of places to eat and shop, and it's safe and eminently walkable. don't know if this matters to you, but there are a lot of east asian eateries in town, and most of them are pretty solid; the majority are korean but there are a few japanese and chinese spots as well that are good.
not really much i can say about fairview...it's probably one of the three worst towns in bergen county, although it's all relative b/c "ghetto" in bergen county would be considered "not bad" in a lot of other areas. but for bergen, yeah, it's bad. not necessarily dangerous for the most part, just kinda dirty and run-down looking. i should note that there was a violent rape in fairview fairly recently, but that kind of incident is rare in bergen county, even in the worst parts.
in terms of demographics, fairview is HEAVILY latino - the town has by far the largest latino population (by percentage) in the county; in the 2000 census, i believe it was about 37%, but i'll bet that number will be way over 50% when the 2010 census figures are released. if you walk or drive up anderson ave in fairview, probably 95% of the people in town appear to be non-white latinos. many are recent immigrants from central and south america, but i should note that there is also a core of longtime latino residents in town, mainly cuban, which is totally americanized and (to my knowledge) doesn't really interact with the newcomers. in other words, while the total latino presence in town is huge, it wouldn't be fair to make sweeping generalizations about that entire population; there's a lot of diversity with the latino community. it's probably accurate to say, though, that the huge surge in fairview's latino population in the last 15 years is largely due to non-white latino immigrants.
as for housing stock, there's a mix of single family and multifamily homes, modest (and old) mid-rise apartments, and even a couple of semi-high rises, including a nice one on bergen blvd overlooking the valley below to the west. some of the single family homes are well-maintained post-WWII split-level residences that you might see in any number of suburban towns (most of these are on the western slope of town overlooking the meadlowlands), but that's about as nice as it gets in town. most residences are older and kind of run-down looking without being entirely slummy. around anderson ave, it's a little sketchy, but not dangerous; there are a lot of day laborers who hang out during the day and early evening, but i think the overwhelming majority of those guys are harmless and are in fact just looking for work, not trouble.
in other words, fairview's not like camden, but it's a far cry from most of the rest of bergen county, too.
The Parking in Fairview really sux, Cliffside isn't much better unless you are lucky enough to have a driveway.. .I am used to open space area's now that I moved away for North Begen, Fairview and Cliffside, I lived in all of those towns many moons ago and am happy to have left..... views, skylines, proximity to NYC are not of concern or care to me and do not make it ok to have overpriced homes and humongous property taxes...glad to have moved away to real surburbia also with pleny of shops, resturaunts & buisnesses, also parks, open fields & fesh air...I wouldn't move back to that area if you paid me....
Last edited by jojo1980; 08-18-2010 at 02:52 PM..
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cliffside's definitely the nicer town
). the school doesn't have a rep for being dangerous or anything, but it just doesn't stand out in any way. besides, most of the wealthier residents in town send their kids to private schools out of town.
.I am used to open space area's now that I moved away for North Begen, Fairview and Cliffside, I lived in all of those towns many moons ago and am happy to have left..... views, skylines, proximity to NYC are not of concern or care to me and do not make it ok to have overpriced homes and humongous property taxes...glad to have moved away to real surburbia also with pleny of shops, resturaunts & buisnesses, also parks, open fields & fesh air...I wouldn't move back to that area if you paid me....
