Rutherford vs Ridgewood (Bloomfield, Montclair, Westfield: schools, restaurant, stores)
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As a follow up, we checked out ridgewood past weekend. Some observation:
The residential neighborhood is as expected - clean well maintained lawns, quiet, and looks nice. However I did not get the sense the area is over the top wealthy like someone mentioned where kids in high schools are driving around in bmws. Most parked cars are just normal and area seems middle class, which is a good thing imo.
Housing stock - really wasn't impressed. We looked at a few just below 800k and they all need considerable rennovation, very old houses. 900k-1M has some new construction and rennovated, but nothing fancy and the living room spaces are all on the small side. We didn't check anything above 1m as don't want to go higher than that.
Downtown - this was probably my biggest disappointment, as I heard so much about ridgewood's downtown. But it was just a few streets with a bunch small stores, most sell stuff you will never need. There are decent number of restaurants but they are all mostly dark and empty except the pizza places. Compared to Hoboken/jersey city waterfront it wasn't even close.
Side story, I went into a lobster place and the girl told me sorry we only take reservation customers today with a smile, I looked around all tables were empty except 1 which had a couple eating. Very confused I told her ok can I make a reservation for later today then? She responded sorry has to be few days in advance. I looked around the empty restaurant again and said ok you guys must be very busy as I left.
We also saw a few houses at waldwick which is just a 5-10 min drive away, there for around 600-700k you can get a fully rennovated house. I honestly can't tell the difference between neighborhoods except the houses seem a lot cheaper.
Overall I really wasn't too impressed in term of the value - what you get for the price at ridgewood. Waldwick seems more reasonable given it's almost the same neighborhood. Again just my personal view not to offend anyone.
As a follow up, we checked out ridgewood past weekend. Some observation:
The residential neighborhood is as expected - clean well maintained lawns, quiet, and looks nice. However I did not get the sense the area is over the top wealthy like someone mentioned where kids in high schools are driving around in bmws. Most parked cars are just normal and area seems middle class, which is a good thing imo.
Housing stock - really wasn't impressed. We looked at a few just below 800k and they all need considerable rennovation, very old houses. 900k-1M has some new construction and rennovated, but nothing fancy and the living room spaces are all on the small side. We didn't check anything above 1m as don't want to go higher than that.
Downtown - this was probably my biggest disappointment, as I heard so much about ridgewood's downtown. But it was just a few streets with a bunch small stores, most sell stuff you will never need. There are decent number of restaurants but they are all mostly dark and empty except the pizza places. Compared to Hoboken/jersey city waterfront it wasn't even close.
Side story, I went into a lobster place and the girl told me sorry we only take reservation customers today with a smile, I looked around all tables were empty except 1 which had a couple eating. Very confused I told her ok can I make a reservation for later today then? She responded sorry has to be few days in advance. I looked around the empty restaurant again and said ok you guys must be very busy as I left.
We also saw a few houses at waldwick which is just a 5-10 min drive away, there for around 600-700k you can get a fully rennovated house. I honestly can't tell the difference between neighborhoods except the houses seem a lot cheaper.
Overall I really wasn't too impressed in term of the value - what you get for the price at ridgewood. Waldwick seems more reasonable given it's almost the same neighborhood. Again just my personal view not to offend anyone.
Will checkout Rutherford soon and report back.
I'm surprised that the houses you saw in Ridgewood needed work at 800k. I could see if we were talking 500k, or even 600k but not 800k. There are definitely homes in Ridgewood that don't need work in the mid-600's up. I suspect your going to find a lot of the Rutherford homes will need work as well. However since you seem to be looking a higher price point, you may not find a lot of properties like that.
As far as the BMW remark you made I suspect you didn't look in the Heights section or Old Country Club section of Ridgewood. (Both these are west of the train tracks). Those two neighborhoods are a big factor as to why people say Ridgewood residents are so wealthy.
I'm glad you found some properties you liked in Waldwick. I think the biggest differences between Waldwick and Ridgewood are the schools, downtown, and "town name" which explain why Waldwick housing prices are lower. By no means is Waldwick a bad community--it just doesn't have the reputation of Ridgewood. However, I agree with you Waldwick definitely offers you more house for your money and better upgrades than Ridgewood could at your price point.
Last edited by rural_urban; 07-03-2015 at 06:08 PM..
You might consider checking out the Radburn section of Fair Lawn. It is a couple stops closer to Secaucus from Ridgewood and catches most of the express trains that serve Ridgewood. Schools are comparable to Waldwick and the housing stock is newer than what you'd typically get in Ridgewood. More bang for the buck as well. As you observed, Ridgewood's reputation creates a feeding frenzy that pushes housing high relative to what you'd get dollar for dollar in other solid towns.
I'm surprised that the houses you saw in Ridgewood needed work at 800k. I could see if we were talking 500k, or even 600k but not 800k. There are definitely homes in Ridgewood that don't need work in the mid-600's up. I suspect your going to find a lot of the Rutherford homes will need work as well. However since you seem to be looking a higher price point, you may not find a lot of properties like that.
As far as the BMW remark you made I suspect you didn't look in the Heights section or Old Country Club section of Ridgewood. (Both these are west of the train tracks). Those two neighborhoods are a big factor as to why people say Ridgewood residents are so wealthy.
I'm glad you found some properties you liked in Waldwick. I think the biggest differences between Waldwick and Ridgewood are the schools, downtown, and "town name" which explain why Waldwick housing prices are lower. By no means is Waldwick a bad community--it just doesn't have the reputation of Ridgewood. However, I agree with you Waldwick definitely offers you more house for your money and better upgrades than Ridgewood could at your price point.
We only focused our search within 5-10 blocks of the downtown train station, as I wanted to be close to the train station, we checked out a few houses in the mid 700k range, they look good on photos but in person, you see it was just a fresh coat of paint, there are cracks everywhere, kitchen/bathroom are all old, basement is unfinished etc.. basically all requires quite a bit of work.
As for the houses we checked out in waldwick they were all built in 2005 or newer and fully renovated, they are only 5-10 min drive to ridgewood downtown so to me it seems not make a difference. The area is identical to ridgewood neighborhoods.
You might consider checking out the Radburn section of Fair Lawn. It is a couple stops closer to Secaucus from Ridgewood and catches most of the express trains that serve Ridgewood. Schools are comparable to Waldwick and the housing stock is newer than what you'd typically get in Ridgewood. More bang for the buck as well. As you observed, Ridgewood's reputation creates a feeding frenzy that pushes housing high relative to what you'd get dollar for dollar in other solid towns.
i heard about radburn but never looked into it, thanks i will do some research and check it out.
We only focused our search within 5-10 blocks of the downtown train station, as I wanted to be close to the train station, we checked out a few houses in the mid 700k range, they look good on photos but in person, you see it was just a fresh coat of paint, there are cracks everywhere, kitchen/bathroom are all old, basement is unfinished etc.. basically all requires quite a bit of work.
As for the houses we checked out in waldwick they were all built in 2005 or newer and fully renovated, they are only 5-10 min drive to ridgewood downtown so to me it seems not make a difference. The area is identical to ridgewood neighborhoods.
Ridgewood has had a train station since the 19th century, so yes, the homes would be older in that area. There are beautiful houses in Ridgewood, but those neighborhoods would run you $1 million and up. There's also Midland Park, which is sort of a sister town to Waldwick. More of a small-town feel.
Sorry to hear your report about Ridgewood's downtown. I know some places closed when the recession began, but it used to be a very vibrant place in the evenings, with restaurants with outdor seating, people walking around, etc.
I am originally from that area...but now I live near Red Bank in Monmouth County, which really DOES have a vibrant downtown! Too far away for you, though.
In term of neighborhoods, i understand both towns are nice. But can someone who lived in both give some pros/cons of each? I see rutherford is closer to nyc in term of commute but ridgewood seems to have a better downtown area and schools.
I grew up in Upper Saddle River and my husband and I have chosen to raise our family in Rutherford. It has a charming small town feel with very good schools, and a nice downtown. We moved here in 2010. The commute to NYC is very convenient with bus and train to Manhattan. It's about 27 minutes door to door for the bus, and 30 minutes for the train (I've timed it). Ridgewood is closer to 45 minutes. It's mostly middle and upper middle class with housing prices fast on the rise. There was a great New York Times article written about Rutherford that accurately depicts the town in detail. The lots are smaller than in Ridgewood but still have nice yards and a nice "green" feel with several parks in the town. The streets are tree lined. Would highly recommend this town and we are very happy living here.
Heights section of Ridgewood is the uber wealthy. 1.5M houses and up. A more vibrant downtown than Ridgewood is Westfield and Montclair. Westfiled is more chain stores but Montclair has some and is getting more. Montclair has the better restaurant scene.
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