north Edison vs West Windsor vs south brunswick (East Brunswick, Princeton: townhouse, buying)
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I'm looking for house in N. Edison, South brunswick and WW-plainsboro. From the research it seems WW district is better than both S. brunswich and Edison. I commute to NYC to work so train or bus is ok in all 3 of them.
In school digger, JP stevens High school in edison is way higher than both WW schools. Not sure how accurate it is.
I also heard WW school mostly focused on STEM scores due to high population of Asian. Not sure about S. brunswich or edison.
Demographic wise, edison is too heavy towards south Asian than the rest 2.
Anyone can share some insight among these 3 area?
EDIT: also it seems Mercer country doesn't have any magnet school.
If you commute to NYC, you do know that West Windsor is further away than the other two. I know one person who commutes from Princeton and it's a 80min commute into NJ that costs over $400/month in terms of NJtransit and subway fares. North Edison is the closest which should be a 60min commute into Penn.
WW_Plainsboro schools are better than North Edison schools which are better than S.Brunswick schools. North Edison has almost fully Indian students compared to WW and SB. All these schools are good.
WW_Plainsboro schools are better than North Edison schools which are better than S.Brunswick schools. North Edison has almost fully Indian students compared to WW and SB. All these schools are good.
WW is 37% Asian. Edison is 43.19% Asian. South Brunswick is 35.91% Asian. You won't notice the difference for the most part.
West Windsor's schools are much better than the other two in academics and most extracurricular activities. South Brunswick's marching band is competes on a national level.
If you commute to NYC, you do know that West Windsor is further away than the other two. I know one person who commutes from Princeton and it's a 80min commute into NJ that costs over $400/month in terms of NJtransit and subway fares. North Edison is the closest which should be a 60min commute into Penn.
By train:
West Windsor to NYC: ~55 minutes.
Edison to NYC: ~50 minutes.
You might want to check with your friend, but the difference in time on a train is only about 5 minutes.
For all practical purpose there is not much difference between south brunswick and N Edison. W Windsor is definitely better school district and I would choose that over other 2 if money is no concern. If it is, you will love South Brunswick. Though all 3 towns lack diversity with heavy concentration of Indians which is big negative IMHO to have well rounded kids.
Thanks everyone for the reply. I researched ww for a while and have friend living there complaining their exclusive focus on stem subjects.
I can choose cheaper townhouse to meet the budget and just want a good public school. I know you still can meet some bad apples even in a good public school given how bad the system works. But mostly what I want is the alike parent peer group.
I'm also looking at Cranbury for their access to Princeton high. That town doesn't have too many Asian.
It seems there is no magnet high school in Mercer County as friend buys cheaper house and put money into kid k-8 private schooling.
@practicalposts
What's your ideal town to raise well around kid?
Express train from n Edison to NY Penn: 40min
Express train from ww to NY Penn: 55min
Suburban bus on route 130 from s Brunswick : 60 min
Thanks everyone for the reply. I researched ww for a while and have friend living there complaining their exclusive focus on stem subjects.
I can choose cheaper townhouse to meet the budget and just want a good public school. I know you still can meet some bad apples even in a good public school given how bad the system works. But mostly what I want is the alike parent peer group.
I'm also looking at Cranbury for their access to Princeton high. That town doesn't have too many Asian.
It seems there is no magnet high school in Mercer County as friend buys cheaper house and put money into kid k-8 private schooling.
@practicalposts
What's your ideal town to raise well around kid?
Express train from n Edison to NY Penn: 40min
Express train from ww to NY Penn: 55min
Suburban bus on route 130 from s Brunswick : 60 min
In central jersey, I like East Brunswick, Cranbury, Monroe, South Brunswick, Robinsville, Hillsborough, Marlboro/Manalapan, Freehold/Howell in that order.
Marlboro is too elitist or as I hear and apparently has drug problem. May be anecdotal, once went to Marlboro court for traffic ticket and saw well to do white kids arguing with prosecutor about drug charges.
West Windsor, Montgomery, North Edison and upto some extent South Brunswick, asian parents are focused on academics at expense of other development areas that kids should be exposed to. Of course I won't mind buying in West Windsor but I will not pay 50% premium. North Edison is just too old and run down compared to other towns mentioned.
Montgomery for lack of convenience is my last choice.
Last edited by practicalposts; 02-15-2016 at 09:10 AM..
I also look at cranbury, actually there is a good house I'm interested there, but worry a bit about sending/receiving agreement with princeton HS expiring in 2019.
Another concern is while cranbury has bus to PABT and NYC downtown @ 8A park & ride, there is no bus to Jersey city. I guess princeton junction train is the only option.
Do you know more about above 2 items? Thanks.
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