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We have been making visits to the area and viewing places because we are moving to the area within a month. We have been looking on craigslist for rental properties within our price range($1400 or Less). We have found places on there in a few neighborhoods that seem okay and have actually visited a few of them. I wanted to know where some of you would rank these neighborhoods and maybe tell me some positives and negatives. These neighborhoods are: Bayonne, West New York, Union City(visited), Jersey City(visited the city, but not the neighborhood), North Bergen(drove through, but didn't take a good hard look, heard good things tho.), Lodi(visited), and Passaic(I know basically nothing about this area). We do have two children, but only one is of school age and he is only in kindergarden and moving in a year is a possiblity so school is kinda important, but not that big of a deal. Saftey and convinece are the biggest concerns.
We have been making visits to the area and viewing places because we are moving to the area within a month. We have been looking on craigslist for rental properties within our price range($1400 or Less). We have found places on there in a few neighborhoods that seem okay and have actually visited a few of them. I wanted to know where some of you would rank these neighborhoods and maybe tell me some positives and negatives. These neighborhoods are: Bayonne, West New York, Union City(visited), Jersey City(visited the city, but not the neighborhood), North Bergen(drove through, but didn't take a good hard look, heard good things tho.), Lodi(visited), and Passaic(I know basically nothing about this area). We do have two children, but only one is of school age and he is only in kindergarden and moving in a year is a possiblity so school is kinda important, but not that big of a deal. Saftey and convinece are the biggest concerns.
Out of all the places you listed, Bayonne, and Lodi are definitely the "safest". Bayonne has a bit of a reputation of being a bit "trashy", but you will definitely not fear for your life there. Two good supermarkets, a number of post offices, including a main one. One thing I would suggest is to make sure your private landlord is not a scumbag...there are many of those, apparently...which would explain why the rents are reasonable. Police also seem to be very responsive.
Lodi, is very near Clifton Commons, which will offer a Barnes and Noble, a nice movie complex, Sports Authority, Target, Chilis, Applebees, a Stop and Shop and also a Costco about a quarter of a mile away. Very safe suburb.
Jersey City...the only "safe" part of it will be the waterfront, Newport area/downtown (where the financial firms are as well as the Manhattan yuppie transplants). The part I used to live in "Greenville/Lafayette" was not that bad, but it does have its scary parts (especially the other side of Lincoln Park by the the Duncan Projects). West New York, North Bergen, Union City (same difference IMO), is pretty much nothing special and seems to have a story every other week about illegally trafficked women busted for prostitution. Finally, Passaic is a dump. Period.
IMO, you may want to also check out Belleville, Bloomfield, Montclair, Nutley (all Essex County, but good towns with decent rents). You will find safety and convenience in those towns as well.
Last edited by HeckOutOfNJ; 07-05-2009 at 03:45 PM..
Reason: misspelled Duncan
We have been making visits to the area and viewing places because we are moving to the area within a month. We have been looking on craigslist for rental properties within our price range($1400 or Less). We have found places on there in a few neighborhoods that seem okay and have actually visited a few of them. I wanted to know where some of you would rank these neighborhoods and maybe tell me some positives and negatives. These neighborhoods are: Bayonne, West New York, Union City(visited), Jersey City(visited the city, but not the neighborhood), North Bergen(drove through, but didn't take a good hard look, heard good things tho.), Lodi(visited), and Passaic(I know basically nothing about this area). We do have two children, but only one is of school age and he is only in kindergarden and moving in a year is a possiblity so school is kinda important, but not that big of a deal. Saftey and convinece are the biggest concerns.
Jersey City is not a neighborhood, it's several neighborhoods (at a very coarse level -- Greenville, Bergen-Lafayetee, Journal Square, the heights, and downtown)
Downtown Jersey City is an excellent pick, but a long shot on your budget.
Jersey City is not a neighborhood, it's several neighborhoods (at a very coarse level -- Greenville, Bergen-Lafayetee, Journal Square, the heights, and downtown)
Downtown Jersey City is an excellent pick, but a long shot on your budget.
Have you considered Essex County ?
Yeah, I have looked into Essex county. I have been keeping an eye on the rental market for about a year now and right now there isn't a whole lot there like there was a couple months ago (I'm very disappointed in that) most things there I have found in my price range has been either in Newark(I actually looked at a place there the house was beautiful inside but the neighborhood was scary looking and this was at about 11 o'clock on a monday morning) and a lot of the others I am interested in are represented by brokers, the main one I keep running in to is rental store usa and I don't know if I can trust a rental company or not. I know there are a lot of different sections in Jersey City. The sections that have places in them that I am looking at are the heights and also bergen-lafayette(which on the internet looks really nice).
Out of all the places you listed, Bayonne, and Lodi are definitely the "safest". Bayonne has a bit of a reputation of being a bit "trashy", but you will definitely not fear for your life there. Two good supermarkets, a number of post offices, including a main one. One thing I would suggest is to make sure your private landlord is not a scumbag...there are many of those, apparently...which would explain why the rents are reasonable. Police also seem to be very responsive.
Lodi, is very near Clifton Commons, which will offer a Barnes and Noble, a nice movie complex, Sports Authority, Target, Chilis, Applebees, a Stop and Shop and also a Costco about a quarter of a mile away. Very safe suburb.
Jersey City...the only "safe" part of it will be the waterfront, Newport area/downtown (where the financial firms are as well as the Manhattan yuppie transplants). The part I used to live in "Greenville/Lafayette" was not that bad, but it does have its scary parts (especially the other side of Lincoln Park by the the Duncan Projects). West New York, North Bergen, Union City (same difference IMO), is pretty much nothing special and seems to have a story every other week about illegally trafficked women busted for prostitution. Finally, Passaic is a dump. Period.
IMO, you may want to also check out Belleville, Bloomfield, Montclair, Nutley (all Essex County, but good towns with decent rents). You will find safety and convenience in those towns as well.
I have looked at the neighborhoods you mentioned, but have had some issues. I found a couple nice places in Montclair and Belleville but they are through a rental broker company and I don't know what to think of them yet, and another one in Belleville doesn't have a phone number, I can only email through craigslist and they never reply back. But I have only heard good things about Montclair and Nutley and heard mixed things about Belleville and Bloomfield.
The sections that have places in them that I am looking at are the heights and also bergen-lafayette(which on the internet looks really nice).
You realy should go there and take a closer look before making a choice !
Bergen Lafayette isn't very nice -- of the 5 neighborhoods I mentioned, it is worse than all of them besides Greenville.
Jersey City heights is at least sleepy and reasonably safe, but not as desirable as what you will find in Essex County for comparable rent.
btw, the "mixed things" neighborhoods Essex County like Belleville and Bloomfield are safer and more upscale than Jersey City heights (not even going to get started on Bergen-Lafayette)
If safety is the primary issue, avoid Passaic. It's not on the same level as Newark or Irvington, but it's a very poor town with some very rough and dangerous parts. The quality of life is well below average and there are multiple street gangs all across town.
You realy should go there and take a closer look before making a choice !
Bergen Lafayette isn't very nice -- of the 5 neighborhoods I mentioned, it is worse than all of them besides Greenville.
Jersey City heights is at least sleepy and reasonably safe, but not as desirable as what you will find in Essex County for comparable rent.
btw, the "mixed things" neighborhoods Essex County like Belleville and Bloomfield are safer and more upscale than Jersey City heights (not even going to get started on Bergen-Lafayette)
I plan on getting to all of them it is just that my list is currently consist of about 25 places so I won't be able to check them all out at night when the real truth of an area comes out. I have heard all about the varying neighborhoods of Jersey City and will make sure I see those ones day and night before I choose one of those. I was unaware that Bloomfield and Belleville were better than the Heights tho. That's why I started this thread so I can learn more about the area and know what to expect so I can set up my list accordingly. Thanks for the info.
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