House hunting and TOWN hunting is hard. HARD hard hard. Especially for young families who understand their wants and needs now, but have a hard time knowing what they'll need from their town 5, 10, 15 years down the road. A cute walkable downtown can add quite a bit of money to the price tag of a home, so is it worth it? Well, that depends how much you want to rely on a car. Do you want your middle and high school aged kids to be able to get to school, sports, activities, dates, and jobs on their own? Would it be nice to walk to the drug store, the movie theater, and the municipal pool? If your answer is YES to these, as it is for me, then a walkable town with decent public transportation should be high on your town requirements list.
Lucky for you I'm neck deep in research for our own hunt, so I thought why not put together a blog post that makes it easier for myself and others in the search! This will actually be the first in a series of town shopping posts... this is the New Jersey Bergen & Essex Counties edition! I hope you find this helpful, and please PLEASE leave a comment below if you have any insight to offer! Did I get a statistic wrong? Do you have a town I missed that is worth considering? Sharing is caring guys!!
MONTCLAIR, NJ
- Feel: Urban suburban mix. Large and bustling downtown (not just a small main street), personally Bloomfield Ave is the cutest downtown area I've been to, I love love LOVE it!!! Has 4 "districts": Montclair Center is the most urban and modern; Upper Montclair is a bit more dated but still cute and convenient walkable main street; Walnut and Watchung are smallest.
- Size: 38k residents
- Location: Essex County
- Niche Rankings: (A+) Public Schools, (C+) Crime & Safety, (A) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A+) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- Key Amenities: 3 train stations on Montclair-Boonton NJ Transit line (about 45 minutes to Penn Station, no transfers). Community Pool $250/family. YMCA of Montclair. Live shows at The Wellmont Theater. Hospital (Mountainside Medical Center). Montclair Art Museum. Edgemont Memorial Park. Nearest gymnastics team: 3.2 miles to Diamond Gymastnics in Verona. Upper Montclair ranked #4 best place to raise a family in NJ.
RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY
- Feel: Sparse suburban feel. Super cute and lively downtown, not just a simple main street.
- Size: 25k residents
- Location: Bergen County
- Niche Rankings: (A+) Public Schools, (B) Crime & Safety, (B) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A+) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- Key Amenities: Ridgewood Train Station on Main/Bergen and Port Jervis Lines, about 1 hour 15 minutes to Penn Station, transfer at Hoboken or Secaucus. Ridgewood YMCA. Graydon Pool ($130/adult, $120/child, $15/day). Whole Foods Market and Stop & Shop in downtown area. Nearest gymnastics team: 2.7 miles to Elite Gymnastics in Hawthorne. 4 miles to Paramus Park Mall. Ranked 7th best school district in New Jersey and #6 best place to raise a family in NJ.
WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEY
- ​​Feel: Urban Suburban mix
- Size: 11k residents
- Location: Bergen County
- Niche Rankings: (A) Public Schools, (B) Crime & Safety, (A) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- ​Key amenities: Westwood Train Station (transfer in Hoboken, 1 hr 15 min to Manhattan). Trader Joe's. Nice parks, cute downtown. Active rec department with festivals and outdoor movies. Nearest gymnastics: 4 miles to Eastern National in Paramus.
GLEN ROCK, NEW JERSEY
- Feel: Sparse suburban feel. Nicely sized downtown, not just a main street. Recommended often as a cute walkable town commutable to NYC.
- Size: 11k residents
- Location: Bergen County
- Niche Rankings: (A+) Public Schools, (A-) Crime & Safety, (B) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A+) Good for Families, (C+) Cost of Living
- Key Amenities: Glen Rock Municipal Pool ($400/family). Thielke Arboretum and some other nice parks. Nearest gymnastics team: 1.4 miles to Elite Gymnastics in Hawthorne. 5 miles to Paramus Park Mall. Train station on Main/Bergen County Line, about 1 hour to Penn Station, with transfer at Hoboken or Secaucus. ​
RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY
- Feel: Dense suburban feel.
- Size: 18k residents
- Location: Bergen County
- Niche Rankings: ​​(A) Public Schools, (B) Crime & Safety, (A) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- Key Amenities: Rutherford Train Station on Port Jervis line - 30 minutes to Penn Station (transfer at Secaucus). 4 miles to The Meadowlands (MetLife Sports Complex) and SEA LIFE Aquarium. 2 miles to Costco & Target. 5.5 miles to Teterboro airport. 2 miles to Medieval Times. Nearest gymnastics team: 3.5 miles to Meadowlands Gymnastics Academy in Hasbrouck Heights.
CALDWELL, NEW JERSEY
- Feel: Urban suburban mix
- Size: 8k residents
- Location: Essex County
- Niche Rankings: (A-) Public Schools, (B-) Crime & Safety, (A-) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A-) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- ​Key amenities: Caldwell University, Grover Cleveland Park. NO train station. Nearest gymnastics club: 2 miles to USA Twisterz (West Caldwell) or 4 miles to Diamond Gymanastics in Verona.
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VERONA, NEW JERSEY
- ​Feel: Urban Suburban mix
- Size: 13k residents
- Location: Essex County (borders Montclair to the west and Caldwell to the east)
- Niche Rankings: (A) Public Schools, (B+) Crime & Safety, (B) Ethnic & Financial Diversity, (A+) Good for Families, (C) Cost of Living
- ​Key amenities: Verona Park. Verona Community Pool (with waterslides). NO train. Diamond Gymnastics.
OTHER Cute Walkable Family-Friendly Towns in New Jersey (which I deemed too far out of our desired area, but you may love):
- ​Allentown NJ
- Asbury Park NJ
- Bayone NJ
- Cape May NJ
- Clinton NJ
- Cranbury NJ
- Cranford NJ
- Frenchtown NJ
- Haddonfield NJ
- Hoboken NJ
- Jersey City NJ
- Lambertville NJ
- Madison NJ
- Maplewood NJ
- Morristown NJ
- Princeton NJ
- Red Bank NJ
- Somerville NJ
- South Orange NJ
- Spring Lake NJ
- Westfield NJ
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So what do you think?! Do you live in one of these towns? Do you recommend it or have another that should be on the list!? Leave a comment below and I'll update the post!!
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