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Can anyone recommend a nice town in Bergen County that has a nice walkable downtown, good schools and train and proximity to NYC?
The hubby and I are thinking about moving closer to Oakland, NJ where he's starting his new job. I work downtown so can take the Hoboken path train...
We've looked at the following but have heard negatives about each:
Ridgewood - snob factor
Glen Rock - high taxes
Westwood - possibly?
Thanks in advance!
Westwood is fine, I'm not sure what negatives you've heard about it. Hillsdale and Park Ridge (and parts of Montvale) will also give you "a nice walkable downtown, good schools and train and proximity to NYC"... Pascack Valley line runs right through these towns. Also, Emerson is pretty good. Oradell, too. In addition to the PV line of the train there are plenty of buses, including express buses, to Port Authority.
Don't know how urban you care to get, but Fort Lee is nice also, but very urban.
Good luck! Feel free to ask if you have other questions.
Thanks BergenCountyJohnny, I checked the Westwood train to Hoboken and it's a 50 minutes ride! I was hoping to cut it down to 30 mins. Glen Rock seems to fit the bill but the taxes are no joke.
Thanks BergenCountyJohnny, I checked the Westwood train to Hoboken and it's a 50 minutes ride! I was hoping to cut it down to 30 mins. Glen Rock seems to fit the bill but the taxes are no joke.
I'll check the others you recommended too.
Interesting... it's 50 minutes from my town, Park Ridge, to Hoboken. I got this for Westwood:
Depart : WESTWOOD at 7:37 AM
Board : Train 1612 toward HOBOKEN
Arrive : HOBOKEN at 8:18 AM
Fare Regular Child/Senior/Disabled
Bus $0.00 $0.00
Rail $6.50 $3.00
Transfer Fee $0.00 $0.00
Total $6.50 $3.00
Emerson and Oradell would be shorter trips, but not quite 30 minutes. They are nice towns, too, though, and probably a bit more affordable than the others I listed. River Edge is a good one, too, but no "walkable downtown" really.
My Town is next to Westwood and has 2 Bus lines and is 30-45 mins Walking Distance form form Westwood Train Station. But my Town can a little more Expensive then the towns along the Pascack Valley line , unless you want to live in the Condos in my town.
Can anyone recommend a nice town in Bergen County that has a nice walkable downtown, good schools and train and proximity to NYC?
The hubby and I are thinking about moving closer to Oakland, NJ where he's starting his new job. I work downtown so can take the Hoboken path train...
We've looked at the following but have heard negatives about each:
Ridgewood - snob factor
Glen Rock - high taxes
Westwood - possibly?
Thanks in advance!
Another option might be Hawthorne, which is in Passaic County but borders on Fair Lawn and Wyckoff. It has a walkable downtown (with a movie theater) and some lovely old-fashioned treelined streets. The train to Hoboken was around 40 minutes, and Hawthorne residents can get a sticker for $2.00 for the year and park on the streets by the train station. It also has easy access to Route 208 to get to Oakland. The other great part of Hawthorne is its huge, well-kept town pool in the summer.
I have no info on the schools, as my daughter was out of hs when I lived there.
Let's see...
Requirementsnot in order of importance
1 Good public school district (I assume public)
2 Train (30 min to nyc?)
3 Proximity to NYC
4 Walkable Downtown
Personally I think meeting all four requirements will be pretty tough. I think if you are willing to sacrifice one, it'd be much easier and broader choice. Giving up train for bus or ferry will definitely better fit your other 3 criteria and broaden number of towns you can look at. There are towns nearby NYC you can get into city 30-45 min by bus and less by ferry if you opt out of train.
For example, if you gave up train for bus. Leonia, Fort Lee pops into my head right away.
If you gave up walkable downtown, Edgewater is additional choice.
If you decide to send kids to private or charter school then places like Jersey City become pretty viable too.
Ramsey or Oradell check them out. Both have train, both have walkable towns and main street with shops. Oradell being Kinderkamack Road, Ramsey being Main Street. Both have nice selections of houses. No snob factor!! Perfect for you.
Ramsey or Oradell check them out. Both have train, both have walkable towns and main street with shops. Oradell being Kinderkamack Road, Ramsey being Main Street. Both have nice selections of houses. No snob factor!! Perfect for you.
Didn't think of Ramsey--yes, I second that as a good choice.
Can anyone recommend a nice town in Bergen County that has a nice walkable downtown, good schools and train and proximity to NYC?
The hubby and I are thinking about moving closer to Oakland, NJ where he's starting his new job. I work downtown so can take the Hoboken path train...
We've looked at the following but have heard negatives about each:
Ridgewood - snob factor Glen Rock - high taxes
Westwood - possibly?
Thanks in advance!
Sorry, I had a chuckle about this. You'll get hit with high taxes wherever you live in Jersey. There are so many taxes here, you won't ever know what they're all for. And by the way, we have one of the most mismanaged state governments and we're severely in debt.
If you can live with that, then here are some more thoughts:
The Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes area closest to Oakland are very suburban. They DO have a walkable downtown, but you'd probably have to drive to get there and they are quite small. Ridgewood/Westwood are nice, very walkable areas and i don't know where you're getting this snob factor idea from. there are snobs everywhere. plus, you shouldn't make important decisions like this because you're worried about a few snobs.
Ridgewood has a high Korean population. Don't know if that's important for you, but for many Koreans I know, it is. Fort Lee does as well. Palisades Park has a **** load (you will literally feel like you're in Korea walking down Broad Ave). Englewood has a very decent downtown, and if you have the dough, Englewood Cliffs is an affluent neighborhood not too far from downtown Englewood itself.
As for schools, the reason why so many Koreans move to Bergen County is because of the high quality of education here. Ridgewood High, Northern Highlands, Cresskill High are all ranked very highly nationally for HS. For private schools, you can consider DwightEnglewood (very expensive) or Saddle River Day School (also expensive). There are Catholic schools that are strong in sports, like Don Bosco in Ramsey, Bergen Catholic in Paramus, Paramus Catholic in Paramus, St Joseph's in Montvale. I forgot the schools for girls, but there's IHA and Holy Angels. Plus, you can always try to get your kids into Bergen Academies in Hackensack, where you test into one of their several academies and tuition is free. It ain't easy though.
The nice thing about this area is that you're never more than 10 minutes away from a train stop to take you to Hoboken.
To help you better, can you also list some of your interests and priorities (as in what you are or are not willing to sacrifice)? If you haven't lived in NJ before, understand that it's going to be quite expensive.
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