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I agree Paramus is prettier overall compared to Fair lawn. But commute is big advantage FL has over Paramus, and the reason why I landed up in Fair lawn (I started my house hunting in Paramus). Considering affordability, what we got for the money, commute to NYC, school system side by side with Paramus, Fair lawn won hands down for me. If driving to a job in NJ was an option, may be I would have gone with Paramus.
Overcrowding in FL should be fixed by 2020 once the $25 million budgeted additional space/infrastructure is completed. The referendum was passed the voting last year.
Between what is the average class size in Paramus elementary schools. In fair Lawn, its typically 20/21 and 25 is considered overcrowding.
Paramus to me is an amorphous, shapeless American suburb. It has no core, no central street, nowhere to walk. It is bisected by busy highways. Some areas of it do have pretty houses and mature trees. But again, there is no where to walk and I think not every house even has a sidewalk. I am not interested in such an environment.
I don't think you can compare another "decent" town to Radburn, however much independence or friendship you remember from childhood.
You can't compare another section of Fair Lawn to Radburn either,because of the unique planning of the Radburn community as a pedestrian community, not dependent on cars.
That's why you can't see the activity of the kids in the park and paths from your "car driving by".
Cars get enter into the main section of Radburn; that's the whole point.
I should add that when I was 10 my family moved out of Radburn to a much "more decent" (perhaps in your opinion) town in NJ. Higher socioeconomic status of the families, bigger homes, etc.
While I also had friends there and walked to school with them, we had to cross streets and therefore couldn't walk alone at such a young age as I had in Radburn.
There was also nothing like the sense of community we experienced in Radburn.
The experiences were really not comparable and Radburn was a far superior place to grow up.
Shoshanarose, what town did you move to after living in Radburn? What made it different?
Paramus to me is an amorphous, shapeless American suburb. It has no core, no central street, nowhere to walk. It is bisected by busy highways. Some areas of it do have pretty houses and mature trees. But again, there is no where to walk and I think not every house even has a sidewalk. I am not interested in such an environment.
Paramus without the walls and shopping area is quite boring and lack of community. There's hardly any community events or gathering places such as the park or some kind of marathon or town fair. It's all because of the shopping districts. It's basically a high end version of the Elizabeth City.
Paramus without the walls and shopping area is quite boring and lack of community. There's hardly any community events or gathering places such as the park or some kind of marathon or town fair. It's all because of the shopping districts. It's basically a high end version of the Elizabeth City.
not true!!! the main events take place by the community area by the public library. Plus many events happen at petruska park by the recreation center.
Fair Lawn is a tough town to beat when it comes to home prices and the quality of education in the public schools. Plus it doesn’t have the “snob” factor that is pervasive in many Bergen County towns. It’s part of the “last stand”, if you will, of truly middle-class areas left in that area. Some others that kinda come close are:
Rutherford (slightly more expensive houses than FL)
Hasbrouck Heights (FL schools have a higher edge)
Midland Park (slightly more expensive than FL and increasing by the day)
Waldwick (same as Midland Park)
It's not time consuming, literally njmls.com , zillow.com etc give a very simple list of the houses sold. Niche is not a valid source to use. lol they rated fair lawn as 2nd best in bergen county? HAHAHAHA! u have to be blind or a fool to believe that. look up test scores, graduation rates, etc. And yes property taxes being low helps bring up the value in Paramus, but people are also paying that much because of the schools and the amount of resources they have. People investing that much money don't just buy for the sake of it. Fair lawn is a good town, especially for lower middle class - middle class. But it's not a good return on value if you are upper middle class, especially if you want to sell your more expensive house down the line (with taxes only going up and up) . it comes down to which class level a person or family is in. People that bought houses for 800k in 2007 in fair lawn are only losing money selling it today because of the 20k taxes on them now.
Fair Lawn is a tough town to beat when it comes to home prices and the quality of education in the public schools. Plus it doesn’t have the “snob” factor that is pervasive in many Bergen County towns. It’s part of the “last stand”, if you will, of truly middle-class areas left in that area. Some others that kinda come close are:
Rutherford (slightly more expensive houses than FL)
Hasbrouck Heights (FL schools have a higher edge)
Midland Park (slightly more expensive than FL and increasing by the day)
Waldwick (same as Midland Park)
Fair Lawn can’t be beat.
Hasbrouck Heights and Midland Park don't have train stations in town. That is a huge downside to me... I feel that Rutherford is slightly more upscale than Fair Lawn with a very nice downtown area. Not sure how the schools compare...
I suggest you read the discussion we had. you said RUN DOWN spilt levels were going for 600+. None of the examples you have given me are run down. and the only source that matters is the official report from the government, sites like greatschools are nonsense. fair lawn is experiencing an overcrowding issue with no end in sight and look at the values of the homes in paramus. people are spending a million + non stop in paramus, but somehow the school system is no good....guess those people buying are dumb? money talks, everything else is opinion. fair lawn is a good town...is it better than paramus when talking about value? no. is fair lawn the best choice for an affordable town, yes! it offers great perks for not a high price.
Hasbrouck Heights and Midland Park don't have train stations in town. That is a huge downside to me... I feel that Rutherford is slightly more upscale than Fair Lawn with a very nice downtown area. Not sure how the schools compare...
As a person who lived in Midland Park and commuted by train for decades, I can tell you that town border lines don't make as big a difference as actual location. Ridgewood train station was 2-1/4 miles away. I walked two or three minutes out of my house to where the 164 bus stopped and took the six-minute ride to the station. It was a shorter distance than some people actually living in Ridgewood had to get to the train.
Sometimes I walked to the station. Smaller-town feel and lower prices with the same commute.
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