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.
My wife and I have been house hunting for months now in NJ (I am originally from northern Jersey). We are moving from the city so, like everyone else, commute and good schools are big for us. Our search has taken us from Maplewood to South Orange (taxes too high), Cranford to Scotch Plains, Rutherford, Bloomfield, Metuchen, Colonia, Westfield, etc. As you know, inventory is low and it's all about making compromises on a budget of 450K.
After seeing many, many houses, we stumbled upon one we LOVE in Springfield. It's close enough to the Millburn train station where I could ride my bike within ten min or quickly hop on the jitney to Short Hills. All in all, after physically testing the commutes, it would be better than that of Cranford/Scotch Plains/Fanwood door to door.
I know the town doesn't have a lively downtown, but with Short Hills, Millburn and Maplewood so close, it seems like that wouldn't be much of a problem. Schools appear to be fairly good too, with previous years being ranked very high.
Why isn't Springfield more popular? Taxes and home prices seem very reasonable overall. This has happened for me in previous houses where I found something out about the location or house at the 11th hour that was a deal breaker, and I don't want it to happen again, so any advice on safety, schools, major issues etc would be very helpful!
I live in Springfield and am happy with the town. I am not close enough to the Short Hills or Millburn train stations, so I take the 114 bus. Since you are close enough to ride a bike there, your commute should be pretty good. Those stations have direct lines into NYC.
The downtown itself is pretty much non-existent. They are working on a downtown redevelopment program, but I have no idea when anything will actually happen. The good thing is that Springfield is right in the middle of all of the downtown areas of Millburn, Summit, Westfield, and Cranford. If you are willing to venture out a few more miles, you can get to Maplewood and South Orange easily enough.
Thank you very much for a response. Any thoughts on the schools? Probably going to move forward with the offer - it doesn't seem like there are any huge negatives.
I know the school rankings took a bit of a hit in the last NJ Monthly ranking, but were very high before that. I am not clear on what happened. I've heard that the issue was that the high school did not report all of the students' test results.
I have kids in 1st and 3rd grades, and am very happy with the school experience so far. The teachers are great, and the school offers extended hours before and after for a reasonable price. They have full-day kindergarten and offer half-day PreK for a small fee.
Springfield always strikes me as a boring town. Like it has no personality.
People always say things like, "It's not far from Millburn and Summit",
but no one says anything ABOUT Springfield.
That is very true. At least socially, it seems like there is a lot going on around Springfield, just not necessarily in it. Maybe Morris Ave could use a face life? Appreciate the honesty!
That is very true. At least socially, it seems like there is a lot going on around Springfield, just not necessarily in it. Maybe Morris Ave could use a face life? Appreciate the honesty!
I agree with this, but this (along with no train station) is one of the reasons Springfield is cheaper than the surrounding towns.
They are planning on redoing the Morris Ave downtown area, but in the meantime, there are plenty of nice places to go in the neighboring towns.
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.
