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i disagree... i know its a great town but i sometimes feel unsafe when i am walking in the eastern areas near Seton Hall & irvington avenue. aggressive drivers making a loop through the small area of SO on the newark border, headed back towards newark.
Not being critical of you Midwesterns45, just think you may have a moving car phobia. I was wondering about the fast moving cars thing as I have been through 4 seat belt check points in SO in the past 3 weeks, and every time I drive around in SO it seems there is a cop at every turn. I have to say that the cops tend to be nicer in SO than other towns from my experence, actually give warnings to drivers who make small stupid mistakes, unlike other towns which seem to have their police force setup more as revenue agents rather then public servants.
This got long, but of the towns in that area I very much like SO and Maplewood.
Not being critical of you Midwesterns45, just think you may have a moving car phobia. I was wondering about the fast moving cars thing as I have been through 4 seat belt check points in SO in the past 3 weeks, and every time I drive around in SO it seems there is a cop at every turn. I have to say that the cops tend to be nicer in SO than other towns from my experence, actually give warnings to drivers who make small stupid mistakes, unlike other towns which seem to have their police force setup more as revenue agents rather then public servants.
This got long, but of the towns in that area I very much like SO and Maplewood.
South Orange is pretty much what you make it to be. If you have children in the school district or particullary in the high school or middle school and they are level 2 or 3 students (not honors or AP classes) then I suggest you watch them very carefully and be on top of their teachers and what they are learning.
A lot of those classes are filled with rowdy children and lazy teachers who give up on them because of their behavior and apathy towards learning. The Education in the public school district of maplewood/south orange can either be a disappointment or a great reward.
The downtown or business district isn't great. The downtown is located on very busy old South Orange Avenue. A lot of cars speed on this road and the businesses aren't great. Unless if you have a chain don't expect a place to last much longer than a year or so (est 2004) The rent is very very high and with all the ex Park Slope residents coming in, you would think that the businesses would be more hip and mom and pop. If you are ever touring the town just drive up and down SO Av and see how many windows are empty or sealed up. It's slightly distressing..
neighborhoods: All areas of south orange are very low in crime (despite the prioximity to the Vailsburg section of Newark) you may see some spill over crime on the east side of south orange but its little to none. The most desirable areas of SO are probably Newstead ( on top of the reservation hill on the far west side of SOuth orange) In Newstead there are many ranch houses, large stone and traditional colonials. Most houses up there don't go for less than 1 million and the property taxes are outrages!
Another good area with a little more diversity than newstead is Montrose (just north of seton hall located on the northeast side of south orange) Over the past 10 years the houses there have been restored and it's now an historic district. There are many victorians with porches.
south orange can be a good place to live you if you make it a good place. If you have children in the district..get involved and care for your community. You have to be comfortable with diversity in this town. Any other questions just write to me and ill respond. I hope i was helpful in regard to your post.
I am thinking of moving to South Orange. I have kids attending elementary / middle school. Can you please tell me how these schools are - how they do academically / in extra activities? Would greately appreciate any feedback, Thanks.
I am thinking of moving to South Orange. I have kids attending elementary / middle school. Can you please tell me how these schools are - how they do academically / in extra activities? Would greately appreciate any feedback, Thanks.
I think that most here will not be that possitive on them actually.
If you drive east on Rt. 10 a little ways past Seton Hall you run into East Orange. I did this one summer day just to try and take Rt. 10 all the way from Morris County into Newark. Yeah I was kind of bored that day!
Well when you get to East Orange there is garbage all over the streets, people standing on street corners staring in your window as you drive by, people laughing at you as you drive through because they know you're not a local (well maybe they were just laughing at my appearance?).....either way it gets pretty intimidating if you're scared of thug-looking african americans.
That is one of the lone areas in this country where I have said you know what its time to turn around and get the hell outta here. I never made it to Newark that day.
That's the nice thing about Maplewood and South Orange--it's a self-selecting population, racists and wannabes move out fairly quickly, especially once kindergarten rolls around.
I have lived in South Orange for many years, first in a home and now in a small apartment because the children grew up and went to college. The town is beautiful...much nicer than West Orange and/or Maplewood. We have lovely parks, in which concerts are held on summer evenings and children sled in winter. S.O. commuters have easy access to the Midtown Direct railroad line, which transports them into New York City rapidly. S.O. shares a very good school system with Maplewood (my own children successfully went on to graduate from Ivy League schools), and the two police departments cooperate to keep our streets safe. I find it interesting that a previous poster compared S.O. unfavorably to Montclair because that town also borders a very unsavory area and is not as convenient to New York City.
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schools in South Orange
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