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We currently live inbetween these towns and are looking to move up. Would like some inmput in comparing these towns. Comparisons we are looking at include; raising kids, schools, attitude, convenience, surrounding areas (including malls) and the such. Our price range is around 1.1 million although I will do my best to avoid the luxury tax.
It's like comparing apples to oranges. They are both excellent places to raise children. I would say what stands out is that Basking Ridge has more of a "high end country living feel" than Princeton. They both have town centers, but the Princeton one is much more busier, has many more restaurants and high end stores and has the University in the middle of it. Basking Ridge's town center is more quaint and has more unique boutique-type stores has the Short Hills Mall and Bridgewater Mall, where as Princeton has the Quaker Bridge and Freehold Raceway Mall. I think in terms of school systems, both are excellent with Princeton being a little more diverse ethnically (Asians) than Basking Ridge. You really can't go wrong with either!
I graduated from Princeton and lived in the town for a number of years, and then moved north to Randolph (not far from Basking Ridge) for my husband's work, and have been here for nearly 20 years. There's less to do in Basking Ridge than Princeton. Princeton is also peripatetic, whereas, in Basking Ridge, you are car-dependent. This means that if you live in Princeton Boro, your kids will be able to get around without you as they get older, which is a good thing. Kids need to be shuttled everywhere in the burbs. The public library is much nicer in Princeton than in most other NJ towns. I think that because the university defines a lot of what the town is about, you'll find that in general, the people there have diverse interests and are less interested in what kind of car you drive or what you're renovating next (very prevalent interests in the northern suburbs). If I had to do over, I would have stayed in Princeton, where it's okay to not have a state-of-the-art kitchen, but not okay if your kids are insulated, entitled and ignorant. I vote for Princeton.
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