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Hello Everyone. My finace and I are looking for a home in central nj near the Garden State PKWY or turnpike. He lives and works currently in Hackensack, NJ. I live and work in Mt. Laurel NJ. We both are unfamiliar with Central NJ. Can you advise of any areas with good middle/high schools in the 250-300 range. Thank You!
Close to the Turnpike and Parkway, decent schools, and $250-300k...hmmm....
Woodbridge comes to mind, as it's the only place in the state that the Turnpike and Parkway cross. $250-300k will get you an older, 3br, 1 ba Cape Cod in several sections of town, and the schools are decent. Property taxes are reasonable (by NJ standards). I'd look in Woodbridge proper, Colonia, Fords, and Iselin for starters.
Both of your commutes will be rather crummy- the better part of an hour for him, and an hour + for you, but that's about the best you're going to do when you're working so far apart.
The best place in Central NJ is the old section of Fords near New brunswick ave.
Access to Newark airport, train stations, instant acess to rts 1,9, 27, 35, 287, turnpike, parkway, rutgers, MCC, Keane, ferry to Manhattan, etc, etc, plus a town with an old style main st and stores, bank, PO, etc, etc. Sandy Hook in 30 minutes. Staten Island in 5 minutes. Round Valley for the states best fresh water fishing in 40 minutes. Fish for strippers and blues in 5 minutes in Raritan bay. Go fishing on a party boat 5 miutes away. Rails to Trails in progress runs nearby.
No broken down sections or falling down buildings. Live on Ryan st or East William and have a distant view of the river.
Woodbridge twnshp has very good schools. Any place else in the township and you are 'landlocked' compared to old Fords.
Metuchen and bordering sections of Edison work nicely.
Hi, this forum is very informative. I'm currently looking to buy a property in Central NJ, looked at some homes in Woodbridge and Avenel but I've been reading negative comments about Avenel. The prison and rise of crime is worrying me. Do you think Fords is a good place?: school system, safety, development potential etc. Any more suggestions on areas in Central NJ which has reasonable commute to NYC (1-1.5 hr is fine to me)? We are not very keen on a large indian population area (nothing about racism). Our budget is around 200-250k for a single family home, 2 bedrooms work fine. Please give me any insights, its very much appreciated.
I lived for 10 years in Edison and as suburban towns go, it's pretty solid. Good school system, 2 major malls, major university nearby, close to major highways, approx 1 hour away from NYC.
But, property taxes are extremely high and their are some odd issues such as the roads, which are of horrendous quality. Plus, their is an abundance of cops (far too many for the towns size, IMO). Their are a number of condo-type places that could probably fit within your price range, but I think an actual home would be a little more expensive.
Also, when I said good schools, I am primarily talking about J.P. Stevens High School, which is located in North Edison. Even though their is no official north-south divide, N. Edison is generally considered the better of the two. I don't know what the numbers are for Edison High School (the South Edison school), but at J.P. around half of my class got accepted to Rutgers, which is a solid state school.
Is there a train that runs into Hackensack? You could always live in Hamilton, your husband could take a train from there and your commute to Mt. Laurel would be about 30min. But that's only if there's a train that runs there.
Check out Highland Park. It might be a little pricier than you wish but it's schools are unrivaled in Central Jersey
Not a fan of Highland Park, I hate driving through there, always on my guard for the cops which thank god I never had to deal with personally, but my best friend who was born and raised there has told me many stories about the HP cops. Sometimes we visit his uncle who lives there, or frequent White Rose System for a burger and shake at 2am after the bars in New Brunswick close, otherwise I tend to stay away.
It is a desirable area though, but very expensive to say the least, esp on the north side.
All of the Brunswicks are good though, East Brunswick has a reputaton for being the snob capital of Middlesex County, but North and South are fine too, and less snobby though there is more of a mix here, which I personally like.
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My refrain.......
