We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

DH said we will look no more that 20-30 minutes past the GWB. So my question is what area's are nice, moderatly priced with a good public school system. TIA

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Do you mean 20-30 min south of the GWB? VERY pricy area (Bergen County). You can look in Sussex or Morris counties, it's pretty rural and moderately priced depending on what towns you are looking at. I think Hopatcong, Dover, Rockaway, Netcong, Sparta might be decent.

I live in Central NJ (Middlesex / Somerset Cty border) and it is a 30-40 min drive to Manhattan. Have you considered looking here? FM me with any questions


Edited on 1/18 to add:

Houses in my area go from about 300k - 500k. We have a 3.5 BR house and we paid about $300k for it 1.5 yrs ago. We really like the area...

Message edited 1/18/2006 1:29:57 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

My DH and I are currently looking in NJ - we are looking in Springfield, Madison, Morristown, and Berkley Heights.

edited for spelling

Message edited 1/16/2006 9:15:35 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

We've been looking in NJ also .. specifically Bergen County.
Cresskill
Dumont
parts of Teaneck
Waldwick
Ridgewood
Ho Ho Kus
River's Edge

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

We just moved to Bedminster, NJ (the hills) in Somerset County. When we were looking we looked at townhomes in the following places:
Chatham,(Beautiful but a 2 bedroom townhome starts at 450,000)
Summit, (Great town feel, conveninet to the city (45 min. - bad that only Summit residents can park in their muni lots except for like 2 425,000 for a 2 bedroom in an apartment bldg. The apartments/condos are from the 1950s and feel older)
Basking Ridge, (where DH works, but 550,000 for a 2 bedroom, and the less expensive ones did not feel nice)
Bedminster, (this is where we live - in the hills. I would be happy to have people come here and I will show you my no furniture home) you can get a 2 bedroom for anywhere from 330,000-600,000)
Watchung, (close to Summit so that is a bonus, but nothing was available in our price range where we were looking)
Morristown, (good town feeling, but honestly the townhomes in the low 400,000s were not on the right side of the tracks if you knowwhat I mean)
Berkley Heights. (also close to Summit, but the nicer townhomes are in the 450,000 range so they were out of our range too.)

The best way to get out to central jersey from LI is to take 495 to the midtown tunnel to the Lincoln tunnel to 95 south (you MUST be in the cars/truck/bus lane (local lane) in order to get to exit 14 C (78 west) follow 78 west until you are at exit 45 (that is summit). When I drive after 10 am on a weekday it is a 30-40 minute drive to the city from Summit. In rush hour it is about an hour.

We moved here in November 2005 so we are not completely familar with everything, but if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

ETA: Basking Ridge supposedly has the best school in NJ.

Message edited 1/16/2006 10:50:27 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I was born in Jersey Ho Ho Kus to be exact.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

We live in Bergen County...Elmwood Park to be exact. I can drive to the city in about 15-20 minutes with no traffic. There are some nearby towns that I like also...Paramus, Saddle Brook, Fair Lawn. My step-daughter attends the elementary school here....it's good...not too big, good teachers. It's definitely more working class in this area....don't plan to be here forever, but it's good for now.

I'm so excited to have some more NJ girls here

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

We just moved to Essex county from NYC. We are in Bloomfield-12 miles from NYC right off of route 3 with a direct shot to the tunnel, about 25 minutes-of course add on more for traffic. (The northern most section is really nice. We are in the Oakview section and Brookdale is really good too with excellent schools).
We also really like (within essex county) Glen Ridge, Montclair, Millburn(really pricey). Parts of West and South Orange you can find good deals that are still near a train.
GOOD LUCK!!

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Do you want a house? or would a townhome, condo work?

Also, what is your budget?

Message edited 1/17/2006 11:14:54 AM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I too am a NJ girl. We live in West Orange, Essex County. Where do you and your DH work? My DH and I both work downtown manhattan so anything with direct access to midtown or upper manhattan was actually not ideal for us. We chose Essex county because we take the path to WFC and walk from there. My commute door to doo is under an hour. If we moved to Bergen or Hudson County, our commute was from 45 minutes to 2 hours! Obviously, that makes a big difference!
Best of luck!!

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I live in Basking Ridge in a Condo. We bought our 2bdrm/2bath condo at a pretty decent price and we're about 45 -50 minutes from George W. Bridge. FM me if you want more info.

Message edited 1/17/2006 2:58:52 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I live in Fair Lawn in Bergen County. I take a bus to NYC (not sure if you work there) and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour get to Port Authority (the bus goes through the Lincoln Tunnel). I can walk to the bus, but there is also a train I could take. I am about 20 minutes away from the GWB. We really like it there so far! The schools are pretty good as well.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Message edited 1/17/2006 3:07:47 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

We moved to New Providence last year - so far so good!

Our neighboring towns (and places we considered) are Chatham, Madison, Summit, and Berkeley Heights. We also looked into Westfield but decided the commute to the city would be less desirable for DH (even though geographically it's closer)...

It's about a 40 minute drive to NYC no traffic.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I've lived in Morristown for three years- we love it, lots of property, big house, and we got a great deal. But it's getting very expensive here (and everywhere!). Plus, the commute is at least an hour to Penn from here- I wouldn't recommend it.

Close to the GW is very tough- so expensive. My brother has a condo in Hackensack, but a two bedroom is over $400,000 now for a nice building. Great commute though.

The girls have mentioned a lot of great areas, but they are expensive and not less than half an hour to the city by train. Will your husband commute via the GW? Do you feel comfortable sharing your price range? House or condo?

ETA- Fair Lawn is a great option, as someone mentioned.

Message edited 1/17/2006 5:26:46 PM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Thanks for all the suggestions. We looked on the internet last night in Bergen County it was out of our price range. DH would be getting a job in Canterbury and I would be a SAHM. We dont want to move to far into Jersey because my family in LI and his family is in Queens. He doesnt mind driving 45 minutes to an hour. We are looking for a home but would consider a townhouse if it worked for us.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

I am in a similar situation with my family in LI and not wanting to be far from the city. We just bought a house in Springfield. It's in Union County so most taxes aren't as bad as Essex oir Bergen County but they aren't cheap either. You can get a nice, decent house here for the 450- 550,000 range. We are a bout 25-30 minute drive into the city with no traffic. I can get to Merrick in about an hour, an hour and 10 minutes with no traffic. And we are about 20-25 minutes from Staten Island. We also take the train directly into the city from Maplewood (a 3 mile drive) and the express train is 25-30 minutes and a local is about 35 minutes. FM with any other questions. Other really nice surrounding towns (but a little more costly) are: Westfield, Summit, Millburn, Cranford, Garwood.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Hey ladies!!

So when are we going to have a NJ GTG??

Sorry for going off topic...

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

My brother and SIL used to live in Denville. It is Morris County and beautiful there. Also try Franklin Lakes or Mountain Lakes, both are gorgeous areas in Morris County.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into

Message edited 1/19/2006 9:37:29 AM.

Re: We might be moving to NJ so I was wondering the NJ girls could help me in the areas to look into