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I know there are many similar threads on here about areas to move to in NYC area but I think mine is different enough from the others to post my own. Me and my fiancee are planning to move to the area in about a year from Pittsburgh, I am 24 and she is 22 but we have a child and another one that is due next month. We like to do things that most people our age like to do but we also have to consider that we have a family too, so we are looking for somewhere in or around the city that has the city feel but is safe enough for a family(if that makes any sense). From what I heard in other threads places in hudson or bergen counties in new jersey my be good for what we are looking for, but is hard to find nice places for middle class status people. Schools and crime are important but I don't expect the schools to be the best or crime rates to be the lowest, I am really only concerned about violent crimes, gangs, and drug traffic. We are planning to check out places in the spring and summer, so I wanted to know what areas would be best for us to visit. Not being from the area any information would be appericiated. Thank you.
Cliffside Park/Edgewater, NJ (Bergen County) very close to the city, phenomenal views
Clifton/Nutley, NJ (Passaic County)
Union County, NJ
Middlesex County, NJ
South Shore, Long Island
Rent is cheapest in NJ, so I would recommend renting in NJ for a year to see whether you like the NY metro or not and so you can save some dough. Don't waste your money breaking the bank to live in a trendy area only to find yourself cramped and unhappy and putting your family at risk. Realtors often deceive people into buying into sketchy neighborhoods. Since this is your fiancee, you might want also some extra space to get settled together, and with the kids, in addition to getting acclimated to the faster pace of life here. Only you know what is safe for you and your family.
If you eventually want to move into the city proper, or buy a house/condo somewhere, you will know more about the area to do so by living here first. Also many of the blue collar areas in this city are very ethnic immigrant oriented, so if you want to live in a Chinese area or Jewish area where many signs are often not in English, then you can do so, but if your an outsider this may not be the best thing. Much of Brooklyn and Queens can be culture shock, the Bronx isnt a place for outsiders to jump into cold, and Staten Island might as well be Rhode Island as far as getting into the city and its kinda dumpy anyway.
Cliffside Park/Edgewater, NJ (Bergen County) very close to the city, phenomenal views
Clifton/Nutley, NJ (Passaic County)
Union County, NJ
Middlesex County, NJ
South Shore, Long Island
Rent is cheapest in NJ, so I would recommend renting in NJ for a year to see whether you like the NY metro or not and so you can save some dough. Don't waste your money breaking the bank to live in a trendy area only to find yourself cramped and unhappy and putting your family at risk. Realtors often deceive people into buying into sketchy neighborhoods. Since this is your fiancee, you might want also some extra space to get settled together, and with the kids, in addition to getting acclimated to the faster pace of life here. Only you know what is safe for you and your family.
If you eventually want to move into the city proper, or buy a house/condo somewhere, you will know more about the area to do so by living here first. Also many of the blue collar areas in this city are very ethnic immigrant oriented, so if you want to live in a Chinese area or Jewish area where many signs are often not in English, then you can do so, but if your an outsider this may not be the best thing. Much of Brooklyn and Queens can be culture shock, the Bronx isnt a place for outsiders to jump into cold, and Staten Island might as well be Rhode Island as far as getting into the city and its kinda dumpy anyway.
Thanks for the info. I was under the impression that Long Island was expensive, is that just a false out of towner assumption or is there any truth to that statement? Yeah I was planning to rent for those reasons and also that I heard that it might be the best thing to do in the metro anyway. I noticed Edgewater on the map and wondered how it was, so it is interesting that it is one of the areas you named. Where is Cliffside Park in reference to Edgewater?
I am tempted to say that the best place in the NYC area for the middle class is Pittsburgh.
But people will tell you that it can be done here, it's just tough.
Pittsburgh does tend to have more middle class than most cities(percentage wise) but it isn't the best place for some one in her field(public relations/advertising) and only has one school in the area that has my major (meteorology) and that isn't really in Pittsburgh it is in California,pa. and that is about 45 minutes to the south of town. So nyc is good because she would have a better shot at finding a job, I can trasfer to one of the verizon centers in the area, and rutgers campuses are easily reachable.
Thanks for the info. I was under the impression that Long Island was expensive, is that just a false out of towner assumption or is there any truth to that statement? Yeah I was planning to rent for those reasons and also that I heard that it might be the best thing to do in the metro anyway. I noticed Edgewater on the map and wondered how it was, so it is interesting that it is one of the areas you named. Where is Cliffside Park in reference to Edgewater?
Long Island is expensive, especially the North Shore. Places like Massapequa are reasonable but that is very far. Dont even think about Westchester County.
Jersey has the highest tax RATE, but the house prices are significantly lower, so the tax usually comes out to less than that of LI. A 400k house in Clifton with a nice little yard can cost an easy 600-700k in much of Queens and LI. Queens will have low tax but the trick is affording a house. You have to go out to Eastern Queens and that is a long commute to Manhattan. The Bronx and Brooklyn are overpriced in hip areas and pretty expensive in the hood too.
Edgewater is very nice, and getting expensive but still has affordable places. This is very Manhattan like as a few entertainers and Yankees players live there, and the ferry is RIGHT there. Cliffside Park is right next to Edgewater and basically sits above Edgewater on the Palisades. You walk to the edge of the street and can see all of Manhattan from high up. Its a very nice town too. HOUSES (not condos) can be had in the 300s. West New York and Fort Lee might be decent too, but I dont know much about these.
You also mentioned schools. Rutgers is affordable and blows away NY schools with the exception of NYU and Columbia, but those are extremely pricey.
Word of advice: Save your money to be able to afford to really enjoy the city in your spare time, instead of getting caught up in overpaying for some hip neighborhood. People give bad advice on here because they want to get wealthier, white outsider types to fill in their sketchy Brooklyn or Queens neighborhood. As someone who lives in NY to be with family, I am giving you the most reasonable area (price and safety wise) to be close to Manhattan, period.
People give bad advice on here because they want to get wealthier, white outsider types to fill in their sketchy Brooklyn or Queens neighborhood. As someone who lives in NY to be with family, I am giving you the most reasonable area (price and safety wise) to be close to Manhattan, period.
I think you have a chip on your shoulder. If you are going to make huge sweeping generalizations about the advice on this board, then please give some concrete examples. Sure, I can think of one or two people hyping some neighborhoods that maybe don't deserve to be hyped as much as they are, but I would say 80% of the posts on here where people are talking about their own neighborhoods are written without the kind of bias you are alleging.
I think you have a chip on your shoulder. If you are going to make huge sweeping generalizations about the advice on this board, then please give some concrete examples. Sure, I can think of one or two people hyping some neighborhoods that maybe don't deserve to be hyped as much as they are, but I would say 80% of the posts on here where people are talking about their own neighborhoods are written without the kind of bias you are alleging.
I agree.
DITC: This is the poster who was ripping on Bay Ridge before and you're pushing Clifton? Nothing against Clifton, but if Bay Ridge doesn't have the Manhattan scene people supposedly want, how does Clifton? And Bay Ridge is not sketchy at all.
Most of Clifton is pretty nice, but its just a typical suburb in NJ.
Bay Ridge has very similar demographics (actually they are eerily similar: working class white ethnics, Arabs, and Hispanics), but is in Brooklyn so everything is more dense, walkable, and has much better public transportation.
Most of Clifton is pretty nice, but its just a typical suburb in NJ.
Bay Ridge has very similar demographics (actually they are eerily similar: working class white ethnics, Arabs, and Hispanics), but is in Brooklyn so everything is more dense, walkable, and has much better public transportation.
True enough, but there are an increasing number of professionals in Bay Ridge. A lot of suits riding the train to lower Manhattan, not all working class.
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