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We have been looking at houses in the Cranford/Westfield area and have noticed that you can get alot more for your money in Scotch Plains. I know that there is only the Fanwood Station and then there is the bus option (we are not big fans of buses) . I was wondering how much further the commute was from Scotch Plains, depending on the difference in timing we will consider S.P. as an option.
How long does the commute take on the bus?
Do people drive to Rahway from S.P. to get the train from there?
Could you drive to Westfield and do daily parking from there?
We have been looking at houses in the Cranford/Westfield area and have noticed that you can get alot more for your money in Scotch Plains. I know that there is only the Fanwood Station and then there is the bus option (we are not big fans of buses) . I was wondering how much further the commute was from Scotch Plains, depending on the difference in timing we will consider S.P. as an option.
How long does the commute take on the bus?
Do people drive to Rahway from S.P. to get the train from there?
Could you drive to Westfield and do daily parking from there?
What about driving on 78 to the Path train?
I suggest you thoroughly research Scotch Plains. A friend of mine moved out of Scotch Plains and although he was not very specific, his reasons were along the lines of high taxes, surrounded by low income areas, and lesser performing schools.
Scotch Plains - Fanwood is a very good school district, so I'm not sure what your friend was referring to.
I don't think Scotch Plains taxes are any higher than similar neighboring communities (although all of them have ridiculously high property taxes).
We have friends in Fanwood and they love it. They both commute to the city. The commute is pretty much the same as the commute from Westfield -- after all, it's just one more stop on the line. Maybe it adds another 5 minutes each eay. You're still looking at essentially all the same commuting options, and still looking at a 75 to 90 minute commute each way, depending on where exactly in NYC you work.
And you're still looking at the same likely price declines for 2009, so maybe it's good you're taking your time ...
Daily parking is easier to find in Fanwood than Westfield, which is pretty much surrounded by Scotch Plains.(or I should say, if you use Fanwood you can proably sleep 15-20 minutes later and still find a spot)
Since the school system is combined, most people in the area pretty much see the two as one town. The school system is very strong...I truly cannot see it being the reason for someone to move. Fanwood has higher taxes than SP.
There are parts of SP I personally would avoid, and house prices pretty much reflect that.
I grew up in Westfield, and lived in SP for 5 years as an adult. As long as you stay east of Park/Martine, you're totally fine. There are also lovely areas west of Park/Martine but some are not - so it would take more study to see if you are comfortable with the neighborhood.
For your sake, consider Fanwood the hole in the SP donut. There are no Fan. schools - it's the Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district, which is excellent.
"Lesser-performing schools" is a joke of a term: Westfield and Cranford rank higher because all of the studies use test scores as a criteria - and guess what? Neither of those towns have nearly the diverse a population as SP-F schools. There are many more types of students and families attending SPF - and taking those tests, so the average SPF score ends up lower. But doesn't diversity provide a totally different and unique form of education in itself?
This is what a friend of mine was told about the difference between Westfield and Scotch Plains: buy a house in SP (or Fanwood) and just use the Westfield downtown. The people in SPF are generally friendlier and less keeping-up-with-the-Jones's.
For your sake, consider Fanwood the hole in the SP donut. There are no Fan. schools - it's the Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district, which is excellent.
There are no Fanwood schools as there are no SP schools. There are certainly schools located in Fanwood. I'm not sure what you meant by that comment.
It's funny you call Fanwood the hole in the donut...many people would argue Fanwood is the jewel in the middle - and are willing to pay higher taxes pretty much for namesake only. They are both lovely towns.
We just moved to Scotch Plains into the Reserve. We moved here to establish a family at some point and move away from the city. One of the main reasons we moved here was because of the strong school system. My husband and I both commute into the city. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes door to door on a good day. We take the 114X which stops along Mountain Avenue. Usually getting into the city in the morning is a lot faster than coming home. We're usually in the city in about 45 mins. I do know you can take 78 to route 21 which somehow gets you to the Harrison PATH station. I haven't done that but I know that it is possible. One positive about taking the bus into the city is that parking is in a residential neighborhood so it is free and there are always spots available. Good luck!
The schools in scotch plains/ fanwood are supposed to be very good. We were also looking for a home there. We found the taxes to be higher in fanwood. As far as scotch plains taxes, the one area where taxes are real high is on the south side, around cooper avenue, rahway rd., etc. where every home has at least an acre of land. The homes are very expensive there. But there are other areas where the taxes are lower. All the towns, cranford, westfield(very high taxes), fanwood, scotch plains all have generally higher taxes, than say areas further south. We are having a hard time finding a decent home there because we are looking at homes in the 400,000-500,000. range. The homes in that range either need fixing up or they are on a busy street. Most of the really nice homes we can't afford. We saw some nice splits in fanwood, however, but the taxes were too high. In general it's a good town....nothing to worry about.
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scotch plains/fanwood
