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Looking to move to Montclair, Verona or Maplewood. The only homes we can afford are about 1.5 miles to a train station in any of these three towns (well in Verona, it would the eastern part of it.)
Maplewood has a jitney. Montclair and Verona do not, but if the house is near Bloomfield Avenue, maybe we can take the bus to the station? Does anyone do this?
Maplewood homes would be closer to Springfield Ave, Irvington and Newark. The Montclair homes would be in the southern part of town.
I ruled out South Orange because it seems as though taxes are even higher than in Maplewood, the drinking water isn't as good and Maplewood has the better pool. Sounds silly, but hey, it's important with kids. I read it's hard to get a pass to the MW pool if you live in South Orange.
So, which would you choose? All distances to train/downtown being equal.
Another thing is that my kids have Sept 30 and Oct 1 birthdays. They would likely be the youngest in their class. My boys would be going into 6th and 7th grade. That said they are currently doing extremely well socially and academically in our current school district, but we have to leave for a number of reasons.
If you are going to drive to the train anyway, then you probably get more for your money in Verona.
Montclair has 7 train stations and also buses to NYC throughout. You buy there to get into the city easily. Not to mention they have a lively downtown and its generally quite walkable.
Maplewood is similar in that it has a nice downtown, but only 1 train station but it does have a jitney.
Verona does have a bit of a downtown, but not as lively as the other two towns. Also, no train station and im not 100% sure of the commute options from there though i assume there might be a bus that goes to NYC around Bloomfield ave. But you get more house because of that. Sounds like Verona might be your best bet.
33 bus goes through Verona. Down Bloomfield and down the road next to Verona park to 280. Caldwell is also looking to launch a jitney that might pick up Verona residents that would go to the montclair train.
Not sure about West Orange schools. The schools I think will tip the scales as it seems as though that we'll end up over a mile to a train jitney or not. The taxes are no joke and Verona has an edge. I'm actually coming from Rockland county. If taxes are under $10k i'd be grateful! Ugh!
One other thing is my kids will be the absolutely the youngest in their classes. Their birthdays are Oct 1 and Sept 30, right at the cut iff. They'll be going to middle school and I hope the community will welcome them even though they'll be new.
You might want to reconsider South Orange. The taxes are slightly higher than Maplewood, but once you're in that ridiculous tax range, what's another $5/month? Besides, if the M/SO tax discrepancy ever gets resolved (it's discussed a lot, since the towns share a school district), your Maplewood taxes might be increased to compensate.
South Orange is switching to the company that provides water to Maplewood in the very near future. Maplewood's pool is bigger, but the membership fees are high. The South Orange pool is smaller, but it's right downtown, walkable from the train and restaurants, which a lot of people really enjoy, and it's yours for the cost of a membership card (maybe $35?).
Also, South Orange has more modest housing within walking distance of the train station. (I live in one of those modest houses.) In Maplewood, it's mostly on the other side of Springfield and not really walkable. However, there's just not much on the market right now.
Not sure about West Orange schools. The schools I think will tip the scales as it seems as though that we'll end up over a mile to a train jitney or not. .
West Orange and Montclair schools are very similarly ranked. The towns are almost identical in terms of population and demographics.
Verona is nice, but the town is way overpriced for what you get. Verona schools are ok, but nothing special. Yet you'll pay 50-100k more for a house in Verona vs. a similar property in West Orange (we considered both towns years ago and settled on West Orange - you just get more for your money here)
West Orange and Montclair schools are very similarly ranked. The towns are almost identical in terms of population and demographics.
Verona is nice, but the town is way overpriced for what you get. Verona schools are ok, but nothing special. Yet you'll pay 50-100k more for a house in Verona vs. a similar property in West Orange (we considered both towns years ago and settled on West Orange - you just get more for your money here)
When you take taxes into account im not so sure you get that much more for your money in WO. Thats really my only knock on WO. so much more of your money goes towards taxes!
I can't say I've ever been to the Maplewood pool, but the South Orange pool is great. South Orange's in included with the general rec pass at $120/family and for Maplewood you need a pool pass with is $405/family. The Maplewood pool has some small waterslides. The big difference for me is that South Orange pool has a better location, in a park and near downtown. So if you want to leave and get a bite to eat you're not limited to the concessions at the pool itself.
As far as taxes, we didn't notice a big difference when looking. We looked within each town equally (and when we started out we definitely had a Maplewood bias based off of name recognition, but as we looked further it became clearer that there wasn't a huge difference going from one to the other.
The water situation is complicated, so to save everyone a 100 page message I won't go into it here. Suffice to say, that I'm not worried for the short term and I'm sure it will be handled for the long term. Montclair is in the same situation as us, they just don't seem to be making the same amount of fuss because they hadn't been through the situation we were with EOWC in 2011.
I can't say I've ever been to the Maplewood pool, but the South Orange pool is great. South Orange's in included with the general rec pass at $120/family and for Maplewood you need a pool pass with is $405/family. The Maplewood pool has some small waterslides. The big difference for me is that South Orange pool has a better location, in a park and near downtown. So if you want to leave and get a bite to eat you're not limited to the concessions at the pool itself.
Given that this is NJ, and the pool season is, at best, about 3 months, the quality and price of the town pool is probably the last thing I would consider when determining where to buy a house. Just sayin'...
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