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Hi everyone, my husband was just offered a position in Newark. I've read the relocation posts, but I really need help. We are 30-40 something both with advanced degrees, 2 very young children, Whole Foods/NPR peace-loving type. The most important thing is safety--and price! I need to be able to park at home without getting mugged at the door or have someone jump in our living room window (sorry I've read that in some posts). We have to rent but cannot afford more than 2K per month--even that is high. I don't have to be in the middle of everything, country life is ok, I just would prefer to have some type of train access to Newark/NYC so hubby doesn't waste gas $$$. I've heard Maplewood, S Orange--but are there any GOOD apts in my price range? I"ve even looked at Crystal Ridge Club in Watchung. Please please please, refer me to a good town and a few nice apts if you will!!! I keep seeing pics online, but that could be deceiving and it doesn't say anything about the particular street. And one more thing, the older apts would cost more as far as heating & elec bill right, how much does that run in the winter for a 2 bedroom? THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL WHO REPLY!!!!!!!!!
Welcome from Dixie. Bring up some sweet tea for me, please.
Maplewood, The Caldwells, Upper Montclair (my favorite), most of Weehawken, and Edgewater are my choices. Other members will chime in with different places as well.
Bills will vary, as some places have the utilities or parts of the utilities included. Let us know if you need anything else.
Hi everyone, my husband was just offered a position in Newark. I've read the relocation posts, but I really need help. We are 30-40 something both with advanced degrees, 2 very young children, Whole Foods/NPR peace-loving type. The most important thing is safety--and price! I need to be able to park at home without getting mugged at the door or have someone jump in our living room window (sorry I've read that in some posts). We have to rent but cannot afford more than 2K per month--even that is high. I don't have to be in the middle of everything, country life is ok, I just would prefer to have some type of train access to Newark/NYC so hubby doesn't waste gas $$$. I've heard Maplewood, S Orange--but are there any GOOD apts in my price range? I"ve even looked at Crystal Ridge Club in Watchung. Please please please, refer me to a good town and a few nice apts if you will!!! I keep seeing pics online, but that could be deceiving and it doesn't say anything about the particular street. And one more thing, the older apts would cost more as far as heating & elec bill right, how much does that run in the winter for a 2 bedroom? THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL WHO REPLY!!!!!!!!!
The Crystal Ridge Club apartments (right on Route 22 in Watchung, fairly close to the Netherwood and Fanwood train stations for access to Newark and NYC) are very nice. My aunt lives right down the street from them and they are close to shopping, trains, highways (22 and 78) and are part of the Watchung Hills School District, which is highly desirable.
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Finding decent apartments/hosuing in NJ at a reasonable cost is a challenge. $2000 for a decent newer apartment in Maplwood or Montclair might be a challenge. If you're willing to commute a little further, however, I'd check out Fair Lawn Commons in Fair Lawn (about a 30-35 minute commute to Newark). Nice apartments, safe neighborhood, decent town with good schools, diverse town (large Israeli, Russian, and Jewish populations, but plenty of other groups as well), left-leaning mentality among the town as a whole, easy access to highways and the train. (The train station is only a couple of blocks from the complex, an easy walk). Whole Food and Trader Joe's are both close by in neighboring towns. A 2BR apartment might be $1800 per month. A comparable apartment in Montclair or especially Maplewood might run $2100 or $2200.
If you want to live real frugally, there is a neighboring, significantly less fancy apartment complex next to Fair Lawn Commons as well. Expect 2BR rents to be in the 1300 range. But these apartments are MUCH older garden apartments and not nearly as nice.
Look on craigslist. I saw some apts and houses for rent in Westfield in your price range. It is a very nice town and the commute would not be bad at all. Plus lots of nice shops in the downtown and good schools for your kids.
Summit has some garden apartment complexes. There is a large affordable housing complex in Chatham, but I don't know about rentals. There are some really crappy garden apartments in Millburn, or at least they were crappy 15 years ago when my friend's mother suffered so much there.
All these towns are very safe and have top school systems and services and parks in the towns.
Hi- We moved here from the South 6 years ago. In fact, your post could almost have been mine, except we hadn't yet had our children and weren't looking to rent. We settled in W. Orange. Although there is no train station, we are only 4 minutes from the Orange station and down the block from a bus stop. We like it here alot. Just wanted to let you know that the towns are much closer together here than in the South. Good luck on your search!
Thanks so much everyone for your replies! I have looked on craigslist and I see a lot of ads especially from the realtors, but it's hard to know for sure if they places are ok or not. I was hoping to come up and move in instead of wasting a week worth of hotel $ while looking around. Thanks for the suggestion on Fair Lawn Common apts and Crystal Ridge Club. If anyone knows of any moderate income level affordable housing rentals please let me know too (family of 4 about $70K). Man how is it possible to raise a family with that income in NJ? With the rent, heating, and car insurance so high, I feel like we'll live paycheck to paycheck! I guess I won't be able to be a stay at home mom much longer
Oh and the sweet tea, yup I'll have to pack lots of it--and lemonade too!
Thanks so much everyone for your replies! I have looked on craigslist and I see a lot of ads especially from the realtors, but it's hard to know for sure if they places are ok or not. I was hoping to come up and move in instead of wasting a week worth of hotel $ while looking around. Thanks for the suggestion on Fair Lawn Common apts and Crystal Ridge Club. If anyone knows of any moderate income level affordable housing rentals please let me know too (family of 4 about $70K). Man how is it possible to raise a family with that income in NJ? With the rent, heating, and car insurance so high, I feel like we'll live paycheck to paycheck! I guess I won't be able to be a stay at home mom much longer
Oh and the sweet tea, yup I'll have to pack lots of it--and lemonade too!
For 70K, you might qualify for affordable housing in the Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Somerset county area. Somerset and Hunterdon County are very expensive, but Middlesex is more affordable. Northern Middlesex towns would also probably give you a 30-35 minute commute to Newark. Maybe check out Woodbridge or Edison. Both towns have lots of apartment complexes, and the rates tend to be cheaper there than in more northern parts of the state. (Although, as a northerner myself, I personally think that the northern part of the state is nicer, but there are plenty of decent central NJ towns too.)
Here's a chart of income limts for each area of NJ:
Keep in mind that wait lists are probably insanely long. Retail apartments are hard to get in NJ, let alone reduced rate units, and I would think priority would be given to low income people. 70K isn't a fortune for a family, but it's not bad money either.
It may be a good idea to contact the Coalition on Affordable Housing (COAH):
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