East Windsor - Hightstown (Wyckoff, Princeton: for sale, real estate, apartment complexes) - New Jersey (NJ) - City-Data Forum

Krystal_blue · 12-10-2006, 12:34 PM

I will be moving within the next six months to New Jersey from Queens NY. My place of business will be on Route 130 in East Windsor. I'm curious as to your opinions of the East Windsor-Hightstown area. Should I look for housing there, or in the vicinity? We are a mid-30's couple with no children looking for a better (less congested) life than what Queens has become. We are looking for a 2 BR/2 BA townhouse/condo for approx. $200-$250K. Any suggestions on housing or opinions on the area?

Thanks

Krystal_blue · 12-10-2006, 12:38 PM

I forgot to add that my husband will be commuting to lower Manhattan....probably by car, but I'd like your opinions on other means of transportation as well.

christina0001 · 12-10-2006, 07:37 PM

I think there is a train station in or near Princeton Junction that goes to NYC.

East Windsor/Hightstown are nice, but crime has gone up a bit. They are having some gang-related issues, some due to the number of illegal immigrants (ex. MS-13), and some due to American-grown gangs (ex. Bloods). If you are just looking for a condo, you will have options in that price range. Twin Rivers and The Orchards come to mind, they are the two cheapest in town, but there are nicer options (not that they are bad, they are just older) - I just don't know the names of the other places. I live in Robbinsville (the town south of E. Windsor), which IMO is very nice; the new condos here are started in the upper $200s/lower $300s. You may also want to check out Cranbury, which is the town just north of East Windsor on Rt. 130, or its neighbor, Monroe Township. It's a small, cute community. Having said that, I don't want to turn you off to East Windsor/Hightstown. The area is growing, there are new businesses popping up every day, new developments popping up everywhere (north end of N. Main St. in Hightstown and Rt. 33 behind Home Depot to name two). It is certainly safe enough to walk around any time of night. There are just a couple of apartment complexes you would want to stay away from. It is certainly far less congested here than NYC! The intersection of Rt. 33 and N. Main Street at the traffic light gets backed up during rush hour, but it's nothing compared to what you are experiencing now.

Krystal_blue · 12-13-2006, 02:42 PM

Thanks for the info Christina!

Ok, now tell me....which developments do I avoid? You can pm if you want, or email me. I'd really like to know before I put money down on a place that isn't as safe as it should be.

christina0001 · 12-13-2006, 04:01 PM

I am so bad with names, but in general all of the apartment complexes in East Windsor are shady (and this comes directly from the county sheriff's deparment, not me). The condo developments are better, but I would be a bit wary of The Orchards. It's not bad but it is a mixed group as far as the kinds of people there, and I know the maintenance and management are not good there anyway. Honestly, it's pretty clear when you go, if it's a good development or not. You can tell by whether things are kept up, if there are things spray painted on the building, or if the development is dirty/littered. You'll know what you are getting into.
A quick check on a real estate website mentioned a few more developments:
Wyckoff Mills - as far as I know, perfectly fine
Twin Rivers - huge. Mostly nice folks, but in a development that large, of course you will have some bits of crime/troublesome folks. Overall, very peaceful and monitored closely by the police. I think they are building some sort of new retail/store place on Rt. 130 right outside of Twin Rivers, which will be nice.
Windsor Mills - off of One Mile Rd. I can't remember which complex that is. Some of the developments off of One Mile Rd. is really nice...and some of the developments are not. I know the condos on One Mile Rd. South, across from the WaWa, are nice and safe. One Mile Rd. itself is beautiful.
Wish I could help more. I think the best advice I can give, is to find out if most of the residents in the development you are interested in, rent or own. If it's mostly people renting, I would be wary.

Krystal_blue · 12-13-2006, 04:24 PM

I've been looking in Wyckoff Mills....it seems really nice when I've driven through there. I see a lot of the condos in the complex for sale though when I look online and it makes me wary that there may be trouble brewing there. I don't know if people are selling because they don't like the area or because of the housing boom. I've also looked in Georgetowne. That looks pretty cute too, very quaint and quiet. I've seen the Orchard, and wouldn't buy there only because the style of condo is not what I'm looking for.

I've also seen some of the Wood Mill/Windsor Mill condos online too and they look really nice. I haven't been able to get to the development yet to drive through. I'm a bit concerned about the gang issues you mentioned, but I'm glad you said it was safe to walk around at night if I had to.

I'm going to keep an eye on Cranbury and Robbinsville as well, just to keep my options open.

As for the congestion at that light...I know exactly where you mean! LOL I was just telling my husband that if you look on an aerial map, five roads meet at that intersection, so there is bound to be traffic every so often. It's nowhere near as bad as Queens though, lol.

Thanks so much for all your help.

hollikee · 12-13-2006, 04:54 PM

I know of a great townhouse subdivision that you ought to look into. You would be paying atleast the 250,00 - 300,000 dollar range though. "Georgetown" is the name of it.

Krystal_blue · 12-13-2006, 09:24 PM

I will definitely look into Georgetowne again. We drove through there and it looks absolutely adorable. Very clean, quiet.

jamienoel22 · 02-19-2007, 08:49 AM

I actually live in Hightstown and have never experienced any of the crime mentioned. My husband and I are actually moving because we have outgrown our house by two children. I will miss our perfect location between Freehold and Princeton. We are right in the middle of all the shopping you could imagine, and very close to the Turnpike which is awesome.
As far as Wycoff Mills is concerned...my boss lives there and loves it. He says it is a very friendly neighborhood where people look out for each other. His door was accidentally left open and a neighbor called him right away to let him know. I am familiar with most of the officers in town, and they haven't told me anything too out of the ordinary for any town in this area.
As my husband and I build our new house we will be renting in Wycoff Mills ourselves, because it is where I would feel safest in the area with my children. So I would recommend the complex for sure.
That is of coarse unless you want to own a single family home on a quiet street, because mine is for sale and it is the perfect started home

LOL. Only asking 300K.

NewHomeHappy · 02-19-2007, 09:31 AM

I wanted to add my 2 cents. But my memory is shot !
We lived on Dutch Neck Road in East Windsor. There are a huge amount of apt.s or may be condo's right off of Dutch Neck. It's massive. They have their own little run down Convenience store too. It's gross.

In the summer, the EW PD spend many nights speeding down our little tree lined ranch filled street towards the yucky apt complex behind us.

From what I saw: here's a visual: The parking lots are filled with old dented heaps of junk, overflowing dumpsters, cat's tearing apart garbage bags, foul-mouth kids traveling in pack , Oh and that lovely THUMP THUMP Bass sound coming from their cars.....

then there's the balcony's (yuck) overstuffed with baby carriages/grills/sheets hanging on windows....You get the picture? I wish I could give you the name of the complex. I heard they may be condo's and not just all apartments. I experienced this first hand. We left EW 2 yrs ago.

Good luck-