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Thanks everyone for your responses. They were very informative. My intentions were not to make this post about Fair Lawn bashing. I did happen to see homes on both sides of 208, including Radbarn and the school that they have there. I wasn't considering Fair Lawn before, but I may revisit east of 208 again, we'll see. I am not sure it really fits our criteria. We really want a decent walkable downtown, and from what I saw and have read online, FL just doesn't have it.
In most of Radburn, you'd be about 3 minutes away by car from Glen Rock's downtown, and 6-7 away from Ridgewood's. Heck, you might be able to walk to Glen Rock's downtown from some parts near the border.
Glen Rock and Ridgewood are both great, and, yes, overall, the towns are nicer than Fair Lawn. But the houses near the Glen Rock border in Fair Lawn are almost the same as the houses over the border, and Radburn Elementary School comes pretty close to the quality of Glen Rock's elementary schools.
But you're going to save at least a bill (100K) by buying a comparable house in Fair Lawn.
In most of Radburn, you'd be about 3 minutes away by car from Glen Rock's downtown, and 6-7 away from Ridgewood's. Heck, you might be able to walk to Glen Rock's downtown from some parts near the border.
Glen Rock and Ridgewood are both great, and, yes, overall, the towns are nicer than Fair Lawn. But the houses near the Glen Rock border in Fair Lawn are almost the same as the houses over the border, and Radburn Elementary School comes pretty close to the quality of Glen Rock's elementary schools.
But you're going to save at least a bill (100K) by buying a comparable house in Fair Lawn.
I never quite understood the importance of a walkable downtown. It's a nice perk, but I can't imagine it ranking so high on someone's list of wants.
In most of Radburn, you'd be about 3 minutes away by car from Glen Rock's downtown, and 6-7 away from Ridgewood's. Heck, you might be able to walk to Glen Rock's downtown from some parts near the border.
Glen Rock and Ridgewood are both great, and, yes, overall, the towns are nicer than Fair Lawn. But the houses near the Glen Rock border in Fair Lawn are almost the same as the houses over the border, and Radburn Elementary School comes pretty close to the quality of Glen Rock's elementary schools.
But you're going to save at least a bill (100K) by buying a comparable house in Fair Lawn.
Thanks. I will keep that in mind. While GR and RW are great towns, I think I am priced out. I will keep an eye, but I am reading some good things about the towns on the Pascack Valley Line, north of River Edge. I am going to go check them out this week-end.
I never quite understood the importance of a walkable downtown. It's a nice perk, but I can't imagine it ranking so high on someone's list of wants.
It's a personal preference and what you are used to. I now live in NYC with my wife and son. Pretty much all our lives we have lived in cities with a population of 3m-15m. We walk a lot, and not for exercise. We walk to grocery store, restaurant, to run errands, etc. My car has been driven for only 2k miles in the last 1.5years and most of it is for driving around to find parking spot. Is it for everyone? Obviously not, but we like it. So we are trying to compromise and find a town in NJ that will offer some activities within walking distance.
It's a personal preference and what you are used to. I now live in NYC with my wife and son. Pretty much all our lives we have lived in cities with a population of 3m-15m. We walk a lot, and not for exercise. We walk to grocery store, restaurant, to run errands, etc. My car has been driven for only 2k miles in the last 1.5years and most of it is for driving around to find parking spot. Is it for everyone? Obviously not, but we like it. So we are trying to compromise and find a town in NJ that will offer some activities within walking distance.
That's all understandable. But you do know that in moving from NYC to suburban NJ there will be some things you will have to adapt to. As someone else here mentioned, driving 5 mins to a neighboring town with a more vibrant downtown will be much less of a hassle than what you probably envision. Even the cost of paying for an Uber to get to and from these places may be justifiable when you consider how much you'll save on the purchase price of your home. I'm not saying this merely to critique your preferences, but to let you know that perhaps you're overestimating how much walking you'll actually be doing once you move to NJ. And just to add my two cents about Fair Lawn, it really is a nice place to live. I have family there and they all love it. Best of luck to you in your home search!
I never quite understood the importance of a walkable downtown. It's a nice perk, but I can't imagine it ranking so high on someone's list of wants.
That is one of those amenities that some people insist upon before buying a home, but rarely avail themselves of after the purchase. It's a nice feature...in theory...
That is one of those amenities that some people insist upon before buying a home, but rarely avail themselves of after the purchase. It's a nice feature...in theory...
I think it's cause of our proximity to Nyc. Having some good restaurants/bars/stores around is nice, but I don't necessarily need to be able to walk there from my house.
Fair Lawn has always been the less good looking sister of Paramus. It's a nice, quiet suburb, the homes are avg size, but it has a bit of an old dilapidated feel to it. most of the landscaping is bare minimum, you know mow the lawn, water the random bush out in front, weeds growing out of the cracks in the driveway.
I never got the walkable downtown thing. Most of the time if you buy in a town with a walkable downtown your not actually buying in an area of town that is walkable to the downtown.
Fair lawn is a very good town. Drive around you will see more and more of these capes being built into large expanded capes. It's definitely more diverse and the school ratings may have declined a little bit but fair lawn if anything is getting more on the upscale side than it used to be (still not an upscale town). Anyway its a great place to live.
Fair Lawn has always been the less good looking sister of Paramus. It's a nice, quiet suburb, the homes are avg size, but it has a bit of an old dilapidated feel to it. most of the landscaping is bare minimum, you know mow the lawn, water the random bush out in front, weeds growing out of the cracks in the driveway.
very true....fair lawn just has an overall eehhh feel about it. its a good town, but the housing stock and lack of tree lined streets just make it look blah compared to towns around it.
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