Buying a house- trying to find a town that fits (Union: school district, college)

[honestmoe]

300-350k (possibly more depending on taxes)

3+BR 1.5+Bath

1500+ Sq ft

Wife works in Wayne, I work in NYC (14th st, Union Square). Currently do the NJTransit bus to PABT then subway downtown. Want to keep commute from NYC to home under 2 hours one way (currently have 90 minute commute home)

Family oriented town (have 3 young kids), Schools need to be decent

Does not need to be diverse we're Irish/Italian

Have considered- Lincoln Park non flood zones, but am concerned about flooding in town. Like the rural feel without being a West Milford-ish distance away from the city

Totowa- reasonable taxes but some flood issues. Not as rural though.

East Rutherford- but don't know much about it other than taxes are reasonable and traffic is probably bad on football sundays. Obviously not as nice as Rutherford from my research but more affordable.

Any input/ideas appreciated, thank you

[HudsonCoNJ]

Those are all ok options, except they don't really offer good schools (except for maybe Lincoln Park which I admittedly know nothing about)

With that budget I would be looking at Fair Lawn. Train station right in town would make your commute under 90 mins to Union Square and 20-25 mins to Wayne. Good school district and nice family oriented town with community center.

You're probably looking at $7500-9000 in taxes for a house in that price range

[ansky]

You could try West Orange. There are definitely houses in your budget that meet your criteria. It would be about a 20 minute drive to Wayne. To get to NYC you could get right on I-280 and drive to Harrison and take the Path train to 14th St.

[eqt2010]

Caldwell/West Caldwell might fit your needs.

[honestmoe]

Thanks for the replies lots of good ideas there thank you. Few questions:

Do the Caldwells share a school district? Full day kindergarten? Quick search shows of good houses in this area for us. Best way to NYC- Montclair train depot? Any difference between the Caldwells?

West Orange- I have family there but have heard the high school is not good and you need to send your kids to private which is big $$ I dont know how true that is or isnt

Fairlawn looks nice will look into that as well

Any thoughts on Saddlebrook?

Again I appreciate the input

[jobaba]

Pompton Lakes.

There's a park and ride that goes into the city not too far.

[honestmoe]

Pompton Lakes has "the plume"

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by honestmoe

Pompton Lakes has "the plume"

Lol. Only makes a difference if you're on well water.

[nykstevenyg]

At that price you may be able to live in Wayne in a non flood zone and they have a train park and ride. West Orange is a covient location easy access to Wayne (takes me less then 25 minutes and I am on the other side of west Orange by Northfield.) You could just park in Harrison and take the path right to 14th street by changing trains (one fare) at JSQ. The elementary schools are excellent in most of the town and have been improving which would hopefully improve the high school over time. The high school has a high graduation rate, college rate and tons of AP classes. The issue is that it draws from the whole town including the lower income part and many people don't like the environment of the high school and its also huge 2k plus students. Fair lawn is a great town schools rated well however most houses are built on top of one another. Saddle brook is OK but Fair Lawn is definitely nicer. I would also look into Verona and Cedar Grove.

[Taluffen]

Since you seem to be more inclined toward "rural" areas I would advise looking towards Budd Lake westward. I used to live in Wayne but bought in Little Falls, however like Totowa and subsequently West Orange, Verona and Cedar Grove etc there are really no rural areas in that neck of the woods. That being said, those towns may have homes within your budget and offer a shorter commute and you get more property than most towns to the east. If a large yard is important then go west young city-dataer.