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After almost a year now in NJ (previously from MI), we are looking to possibly purchase a home in the next year. This site has been extremely helpful with each step towards our transition to NJ. Thank you! We currently are renting a SFH in Westfield and love the town. We are in a good elementary school district, but the one thing we've noticed is that there is still a small % of racial diversity. DH has been commuting to WTC and doesn't mind the 85-90 min commute. Our 2 DC, 3 and 5yo currently attend a school in Short Hills. We love the school and love the diversity.
We are considering moving again to a specific neighborhood in Short Hills in the Glenwood Elementary school district. Does anyone have specifics/stats on the essex county property taxes/avg home prices for that area? We are trying to figure out how much more would our year costs increase if we moved from our currently locale. The SFH that we are renting approximately is in the 600/650K range. With the housing prices down, could we even afford a SFH in that range in this area of Short Hills?
Our primary reasons to consider moving to SH is the public school, the higher % of diversity. Westfield, IMO has a much more practical downtown and community offerings, but we are uncomfortable with the possibility that our children would be 2 out of a handful of minorities in the entire elementary school. DH suspects that his commute from Short Hills to WTC would be only 5-10 min shorter. Any thoughts on that? He drives to Harrison and takes the PATH to WTC.
And, is it true that there will be a midtown direct from Westfield to the city in 2016?
Our 2 DC, 3 and 5yo currently attend a school in Short Hills. We love the school and love the diversity.
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Our primary reasons to consider moving to SH is the public school, the higher % of diversity. Westfield, IMO has a much more practical downtown and community offerings, but we are uncomfortable with the possibility that our children would be 2 out of a handful of minorities in the entire elementary school.
Huh? Short Hills is a tony section of Millburn (and part of the Millburn school district). The demographics of Millburn and Westfield are very similar:
Millburn
88.91% White, 8.40% Asian, 1.10% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.04% of the population.
Westfield
89.98% White, 4.08% Asian, 3.88% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.82% of the population.
- stats pulled from Wiki but I believe the cites are to U.S. Census data.
I think any difference in "diversity of skin color" you may have noticed in your brief and small experience is an anomaly, not representative of the towns as a whole. If you like Westfield, I would stay there. I agree it's got a much more practical downtown, and why fix what isn't broken, especially if you think you're making any material change in the demographics that's just not going to happen. If you want more of a mix of skin colors, you should look at Maplewood/South Orange.
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DH suspects that his commute from Short Hills to WTC would be only 5-10 min shorter. Any thoughts on that? He drives to Harrison and takes the PATH to WTC.
That's probably true, you always have to look at these things on average, and it depends also on the time of day/night you're commuting, but it's a little shorter from Millburn/Short Hills. Knowing both commutes fairly well, it's not a factor that would really influence me one way or the other.
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And, is it true that there will be a midtown direct from Westfield to the city in 2016?
2017 was the last I heard, but yes, it's in the works. They are building another NJ Transit/AMTRAK rail tunnel under the Hudson River to increase capacity between NJ and NYC, and once they do that they will start running some trains on the Westfield line into NYC (they also need to make some other investments, such as a train that can run diesel on the unelectricfied tracks up to Newark, and then switch over to electric power to make the final leg into NYC which only allows electric-powered trains to enter).
Unfortunately $600,000 isn't going to get you much of anything in Short Hills. It's just a super-expensive community. The median home price in Millburn is $970,000 while the median home price in Westfield is $640,000. There are only 5 or 6 listings at $650,000 or below in Millburn, none of them are in Glenwood, and none of them look all that great frankly. As far as property taxes, pretty much identical for both towns. Homes in the $600,000-$700,000 range would be about $11,500 in taxes.
I would look elsewhere though, as the selection in this price range is so limited in Short Hills.
Last edited by Viralmd; 01-06-2010 at 04:50 AM..
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I think the commute would be much easier from Millburn/Short Hills. Shorter and easier, if going by train. The schools are better in Short Hills. If you happen to be Asian, I think you'd like Short Hills better...there are quite a few Asian children in the school there. I've heard the school district in SH is EXCELLENT/TOP/very professional; I've heard Westfield is more like "good/solid" but behind the times in some areas where Millburn is a leader in educational excellence.
[font=Garamond][color=Gray][i]The demographics of Millburn and Westfield are very similar:
Millburn
88.91% White, 8.40% Asian, 1.10% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.04% of the population.
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Well, actually it may be so, but if you can understand my viewpoint, I see the children walking to and from schools in Millburn and Westfield during the weekdays, there is a very apparent difference. Just to support my opinion, here's what I'm looking at (from Great Schools website):
Glenwood Elem (SH): 86% White, 13% Asian ,<1% African American, <1% Hispanic, n/a rating on Native American. Wyoming (Millburn): 74% White, 17% Asian, 2% African American, 6% Hispanic, n/a rating on Native American.
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DH and I are also considering Millburn, since it's also close to 78, and in the same school district. The ONLY reason we were wondering about SH is that we just happen to have school friends that live in the Glenwood sub in SH, and like the particular neighborhood vibe. It has neighborhood block parties, ice cream socials, etc.. The lots appear to be closer together (less property tax?) than the sprawling mansions in other areas of SH. Thus far, we're priced out of SH at the moment it seems...
And to reply to Snuffybear, yes we are Asian and would like our children not to be the only Asian in their class. There's some truth to the statement that Asians tend to migrate towards the top school district in general. It is a little unnerving for us personally to have our children be the only minority in the few community programs that we have participated in; even as friendly as the residents of Westfield tend to be.
DH commute is bad in the morning, b/c of the 22-GSP-280-78 traffic. So its 90 min door to door. But b/c he comes home late at night, it's down to 75 min to Westfield (and we are on the closest side to 22 -as it can take another 20 min to get from the N side to S side of Westfield).
Does anyone reside in Millburn? Can someone tell me about what it's like living in Millburn? Community offerings, general vibe of the town, etc...?
Just curious, if you live in Westfield, how come your kids are in school is Short Hills? Is it private? If so, then just live somewhere like Maplewood, and still send the kids to the same school. Maplewood is more diverse, but the schools are not as good as either SH or W.
Just curious, if you live in Westfield, how come your kids are in school is Short Hills? Is it private? If so, then just live somewhere like Maplewood, and still send the kids to the same school. Maplewood is more diverse, but the schools are not as good as either SH or W.
We initially moved last winter to Summit for a brief period, and we searched for pre-k schools in a 5 -10mile radius that would have an opening in pre-k for our 4 yo that would fit our needs. Their school happened to be the only one that fit our requirements and scheduling needs. It has alot of students from SH/Maplewood/S.Orange/Livingston/Summit, etc. so there is a good diverse ethnic representation. It only goes up till K, and we are planning to enroll our children in the public school afterwards. We do wish that Maplewood schools were as solid as Millburn/SH/WF, we'd move there in a heartbeat.
I just visited our home elementary school, and while a lovely school, it was very uncomfortable to see that there was one lone minority (Asian) in the entire 1st and 2nd grade classes. Since Westfield's home prices are much better for our budget, it is something that we may have to accept in the long run.
If you want good schools, a decent commute to WTC, affordable homes (by NJ standards) and a higher asian population, look at North Edison. Metuchen might suit your needs as well, as it's got a similar housing stock to Westfield and a similar downtown (though smaller). Both towns have convenient train access to the PATH at Newark.
The Wyoming and South Mountain sections of Millburn, are close to Westfield prices (though still more expensive for what you get). Short Hills is considerably more expensive than Westfield, though the part of glenwood south of the train station is a little more reasonable (still about $800k for a 3 bed 2.5 bath or small 4 bed 2.5 bath on a small lot).
I've been doing the commute to downtown nyc from short hills for a year now and in my opinion, it is a MUCH better than the commute from Westfield for these reasons: 30-32 minute ride from short hills to hoboken on train, followed by 8 minute ferry ride (or 11 minute path ride). The train to hoboken is never crowded, people for the most part are polite and quiet on the train - it's very peaceful and relaxing.
The popular option from westfield is the train (17-24 minute ride) to newark and switch to Path - some people don't mind the Path - service is frequent and reliable - I used to take the Path on the Newark line and i hated it - trains are incredibly crowded and people are pushy, rude (not to mention don't smell that great ). taking the train from short hills to hoboken, the path from hoboken is better than the newark one and the ferry from hoboken, which i usually take is straight awesome (though pricier).
bottom line is i find the commute from millburn/short hills much better but so do a lot of people - one of the reasons why short hills is so expensive.
The Wyoming and South Mountain sections of Millburn, are close to Westfield prices (though still more expensive for what you get). Short Hills is considerably more expensive than Westfield, though the part of glenwood south of the train station is a little more reasonable (still about $800k for a 3 bed 2.5 bath or small 4 bed 2.5 bath on a small lot).
Thxs to everyone for your info. We ended up nixing SH. It was just too expensive for us. Looking into the sections of Millburn that you mentioned as well as Westfield. Even considering now Cranford, lovely town and much, much better home prices.
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). taking the train from short hills to hoboken, the path from hoboken is better than the newark one and the ferry from hoboken, which i usually take is straight awesome (though pricier).
