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My husband & I are looking for a town in New Jersey that's close to NYC that fits the following criteria. I am not from New Jersey and know little about it.
1) 30-35 minute commute to NYC by train/bus
2) AMAZING school district (with a great soccer team). I prefer not to do private or move for HS.
3) close to the airport since my husband travels a lot
My husband & I are Irish American and would prefer to have a community that's diverse (Irish, Italian, Jewish, etc). Our budget is 900k-one million.
Unfortunately, commuting from NJ to NYC takes much longer than most people could imagine if they are not familiar with the area. Even if somebody lives in Hudson County, NJ--which is directly across the river from NYC--it could take 30-35 minutes to get to the city. And, the schools in Hudson County are...not good. As a result, I can't think of any communities that meet your criteria.
If you can expand your acceptable commuting time to 45-60 minutes, then there may be some possibilities for you.
I agree with Retriever. There are a very limited number of towns within a 30-minute train ride to NYC and none of them have schools that anyone would consider "amazing". What is more important to you, great schools or commute time? You could live in a town like Montclair, South Orange, or Maplewood and have a commute around 45-50 minutes by train, but the schools are more average in those towns.
If we extended the commute to 45 minutes, what towns would you recommend? I heard Bergen County was nice.
45 minutes would only get you lower Bergen County. Rutherford is going to have the best school system out of that area, but I don't know if you would consider it fantastic and super amazing. It's solid for lower grades.
Depending on where he needs to go in NYC, the bus that can get you to Port Authority Bus Terminal (42nd and 8th) in about 35-45 minutes. The train, if you live close enough to the train station, can also get you to Hoboken, and then you need to transfer trains to get to 33rd St. Or, at Hoboken, you can take the PATH to get to WTC. That was just around 45 minutes when I tried it.
Below is the rail map. You can plug any town you're interested in into Google Maps directions, select Public Transit mode, and it'll give you door-to-door public transit time. Most people find the green and orange lines are going to have the best schools for the shortest commute, hence $$$$$$.
I agree with Retriever. There are a very limited number of towns within a 30-minute train ride to NYC and none of them have schools that anyone would consider "amazing". What is more important to you, great schools or commute time? You could live in a town like Montclair, South Orange, or Maplewood and have a commute around 45-50 minutes by train, but the schools are more average in those towns.
Average? Maybe these aren't "amazing" school districts, but they are FAR above average.
So it seems like I need to extend the commute to 60 minutes if I want an amazing school district with 9s & 10s. My family is from Long Island & Westchester, so I would like to still be somewhat close to them, that's why I figured northeast jersey might be the best option.
Average? Maybe these aren't "amazing" school districts, but they are FAR above average.
It's relatively subjective based on what ratings you look at or what ratings you choose to believe. Montclair lately has been ranked outside of the top 100 high schools. In my opinion that is "average".
It's relatively subjective based on what ratings you look at or what ratings you choose to believe. Montclair lately has been ranked outside of the top 100 high schools. In my opinion that is "average".
Agreed. There are a bunch of metrics that can differ in opinion, so it's a bit dicey. For the record, I would definitely say that South Orange/Maplewood is stronger than Montclair.
Another thing to remember though is that New Jersey routinely gets touted as having among the best school systems in the nation. So, even then, what may be considered "average" in New Jersey is still quite a good school overall.
To me, in this area, what would strike me as an "average" level kind of school would be, say, Fort Lee. Again, this is still stronger than the average school nationwide, but for New Jersey, I would say that's a good example of truly average.
As to the OP, I would be totally fine recommending South Orange or Maplewood. It will definitely hit the diversity bill as well. A few other options might be Verona and Livingston for Essex County as far as not being too far away from NYC.
Now, if you really do want the elite of the elite schools, look at Millburn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, North Caldwell, and a few others in Essex County and Northern Bergen County. These are very wealthy, and therefore expensive, towns. You can find homes for $1 Million, but here they will probably not be anything special.
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