Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, I am moving to Newark soon to attend graduate school at NJIT. Can someone please tell me how the area around the school is? Thank you!
Oh, my God not Newark. See the thread "Worst Towns in NJ". There is a lot said about Newark; unfortunately, not very nice things.
You might not want to go there after reading that thread. My friends say it's too dangerous to be out once the sun goes down in Newark.
Please, don't let these people fool you. Newark is going through a major redeveolpment. Downtown Newark boom is becoming something that many people are now going to experience. Here is a link to a website called "WireNewYork.com". This site talks about major urban projects going on in the NYC area. Here is a link about Newark. It's long, but reading through it should give you a feel about the city.
NJIT is located just west of downtown Newark in a section called University Heights where there are also campuses/buildings for Rutgers as well, and Essex County College and UMDNJ are also nearby. Newark as a whole is rough and dangerous city. There's no way around it. It gets it's reputation for a reason, but the fact of the matter is that there are quite a few parts that aren't as bad as the reputation would have you think the entire city is. It's an urban area, and as such, wherever you are, you should always exercise basic street smarts.
Because of the universities in this particular area, it's somewhat safer than most of Newark with a higher police presence, and when you're actually within the confines of the campus, it's like another world, just as there is a large gulf between most colleges and their surrounding cities. The area is also undergoing a lot of revitalization as NJIT and Rutgers are expanding and purchasing surrounding buildings to use for dorms and classrooms and the like. If you're going to live off-campus, I would recommend the Ironbound district which is a bit to the Southeast of downtown and Penn Station. It's a large Portuguese/Brazilian mecca that has tons of restaurants and is very lively and pretty safe. I would say that's your best bet within the Newark city limits in terms of a somewhat cool and safe neighborhood. If you're willing to look outside of the city of Newark, the suburbs of Kearny, Belleville and South Orange are all safer and nicer and within five miles or so from the campus. Even Harrison and East Newark which are right across the river could be possibilities although they're a little rough-around-the-edges, they're safer than Newark. I'm not trying to necessarily steer you away from Newark; it's just that Newark is a bit of an acquired taste and not really for everyone.
I can handle that, as I know every city has its issues. Thanks for the info on Ironbound district, etc. Currently I'm looking at a few apartments that are 1 or 2 miles away from campus on all directions and was mainly wondering if that radius around the campus is still somewhat of a "safe zone". Are there any areas of Newark that I should definitely avoid at all costs?
Well, I won't say avoid at all cost, that is a little too extreme. But sections of the city that you could be more on the lookout is Vailsburg, parts of the Westside, Weequahic, parts of Dayton (though it has an amazing park, Weequahic park), Fairmount can be iffy at times, Springfield or Belmount sections you need to look out at times. Other then that, Newark is pretty much okay. You have to think of Newark, as most people would think of Brooklyn. A large diverse place, with high density of people.
Two of the apartments I'm looking at are located on Mount Prospect Ave. a little bit east of Branch Brook Park.
Is this near any of those areas you mentioned? Sorry for the silly questions but this is actually a big help because I am coming from out of state and will have limited time to pick out a place and get situated. Thanks again.
Two of the apartments I'm looking at are located on Mount Prospect Ave. a little bit east of Branch Brook Park.
Is this near any of those areas you mentioned? Sorry for the silly questions but this is actually a big help because I am coming from out of state and will have limited time to pick out a place and get situated. Thanks again.
Nah, that's not near the areas that I said. The area you're looking at is North Ward. Roseville and Forest Hills make up the North. That area around Branch Brook Park isn't bad. Besides, Branch Brook Park is nice, ( in the spring you'll see the park's Japanese Cherry blossoms Festival. The second largest in the nation, behind DC) Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart is near there. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Newark, and the fifth largest cathedral in the US. Here are some pics that I've found on wikipedia and emporis.com:
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
See the thread "Worst Towns in NJ". There is a lot said about Newark; unfortunately, not very nice things. 
