Cazmac

That's good advice and makes sense, thank you

Jerseygirl

In NJ employees can be fired without notice...without reason. The company may go out of business or be taken over. For whatever reason you could find yourselves in a position of having to leave the US within a few weeks. It's a good idea to get it in writing that the company will sponsor green card application asap. Some companies resist because once you have a GC in hand you are free to move to another company.

Depending on seniority your husband may be able to negotiate a decent paid notice period.

Sliv

our children are at private school here in the Uk (well the 7 year old and the 3 year old is in the same school nursery) but we are going to give the state schools a try in NJ.


We did think about Far Hills country day school but putting 3 children though is super pricey and the NJ schools look so good.


time will tell how good!!

Clahal

We just moved from the UK to NJ 6 days ago!!
We have 3 kids, aged 5, 3 and 10 months.
We're staying in temporary accommodation in Union (AVE living furnished apartments).
We just found a house to rent in Maplewood and we're hoping to secure it in the next few days!
It's a really beautiful area and the towns are gorgeous!
My husband will be commuting into NYC financial district and from Maplewood it's 50-60 mins.
Maplewood is a pretty small town with a quaint town centre with small shops and loads of lovely places to eat. It's got an arty/creative vibe which we love.
Summit is slightly further along the train line but only 15 mins drive from Maplewood. It's much bigger and has lovely shops and restaurants.
The towns are so well kept and have beautiful architecture.

Feel free to message me if you like.

We're currently waiting to hear exactly when our shipment will arrive with all our furniture etc.

It's mad (esp with 3 kids in tow) but so exciting and fun too!

😀

Jerseygirl

I think you will find Englishmum's thread/posts of interest...she lived in Maplewood.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/members/englishmum-1486/

Clahal

Thanks, I've been in touch with her via messages and she's been really helpful! 😀

JJ-NewJersey

Ridgewood. Top schools, gorgeous little town full of restaurants etc. 45 mins into the city by train or 30 mins by car to Parsippanny. Moving to NJ, big mistake not to see Ridgewood before you commit. Further south, Summit is quite similar.

n lon to ny

I am moving with children and the wife (somewhat reluctantly) to New York - I will have relocation assistance so I'm fortunate in that respect - One thing I'm trying to understand are the general living expenses. I might have overlooked a forum here - can anyone point me in the right direction please? I mean can it really cost up to USD 1000 per month for Gas/Oil and Electric etc?

Also if I've posted this wrong please let the new boy know.

Thanks

CA-NY

We've been in NJ for nearly 3 years now (from Scotland on L1 and L2 visas). We rented in Ridgewood for 2 years and as the quoted poster said it is one of the nicest towns in northern NJ in terms of schooling, housing, walkable town centre with lots of shops, restaurants etc. Housing is expensive (we paid just under $2k for 2 bed 2 family house), single family homes will start at $3.5 - $4k but it's a really lovely place to live and very popular with commuters into the city. We bought 9 months ago a couple of towns away and would loved to have stayed in Ridgewood but it's just outwith our budget to buy there. I sense that you're looking further south but happy to help if Ridgewood, Glen Rock and surrounding Bergen County town come up in the search.

Check out njmls.com for rentals.

moNYC

Hello all!

Just wanted to say hi and offer to help if I can. We moved to NJ last Christmas. My husband works in the city and we live in Summit. It is really lovely!
We have four boys - 16, 13, 3 and 1, so one in high school and one in middle school and my 3 year old starting pre-school in the fall in Millburn.
I would love to meet up or organise play dates and have a cuppa with anyone interested!

We are renting at the moment and just keeping an eye on the market. I would say renting is a good option at first to allow you to explore the different towns and see what you like. My husband is pretty happy with the commute from Summit. We nearly opted for Millburn because the schools are great and the commute good but we liked Summit downtown better and we just found a better rental here.

Anyway, good luck with your move and send a message if you want to meet up!

NJNewbie2015

Hi All,

This thread is really interesting for me since we're moving to NJ at Christmas with our two children who will be 12 and 9.

We're trying to narrow down areas and finding towns with really good schools is very important to us. My husband will be working in Edison so he doesn't need to commute in to NYC. We are currently considering Summit, Basking Ridge, Millburn/ Short Hills and Mendham ( although this may be slightly too rural) and have chosen these initially based on good school ratings.

My husband has been to NJ several times but I have never been, so we are going to visit during October half term to try and find a house. Any advice that might help us narrow our search would be very welcome please!

It is great to know that many of you are in similar situations to us. I'm excited about the move but sometimes feel pretty overwhelmed about how much we still need to finalise and sort out.......looking forward to your words of wisdom!

Thanks very much.

moNYC

Hi NJNewbie

It is huge, I know! We had the help from a relocation agent and that was brilliant! I wasn't able to come over for a quick visit before the move so my husband had to do it all which was tough on him.

From your kids ages you will be looking at Middle school and elementary. I can definitely vouch for Summit. The Middle school is great and I think 4 out of 5 of the elementary schools are also pretty good. I live across the street from Brayton and a couple of blocks from the Middle school. Every morning I see all the families walking with their dogs to drop their kids in school, it has a lovely community feeling.
Summit is very green, has lots of parks, a lovely downtown and it is mostly walkable. I used to live in Cambridge so we wanted a walkable place with a nice downtown area.

I think Millburn is similar, although the downtown is a little smaller, but the schools are also very good. You will see she you come over that these towns are all stuck together and you can hardly tell where one starts and the other ends. Short Hills doesn't have a downtown or pavements. It is also highly sought after by those commuting to NYC because it does have its own train station so if you don't need that maybe look elsewhere.

Right next to Summit there is New Providence. Slightly better prices, bigger houses and good schools but not much of a downtown but it is literally next to Summit.

I also like Chatham, quite a bit actually. It feels more real. Summit is beautiful in a heavily manicured way, Chatham just seems a little more natural with a lovely downtown area, but I think it may be one of those places that has nice and not so nice areas (which I am cool with).

Anyway, hope this helps. My kids love Summit. They made friends nearby and they walk into town together for food or a movie or just meet in the park to play basketball or football.

I love willow.com to look at houses, although not always updated, but you can get a good feel with the maps and photos. Happy to help with anything or meet up when you are around.

Good luck!

NJNewbie2015

Thanks for your advice, MoNYC.

My husband is in NJ this week and just called me to say that Summit is lovely and he thinks we'd really like it and Basking Ridge is still a contender. He's ruled out Mendham, thinking it is just too far away from his office in Edison and also pretty rural since he found that once he came off the main road, he was out in the middle of nowhere along a windy country lane for several km's which doesn't sound particularly appealing for our arrival in Dec/Jan to me!!!

Can any of you advise on shipping times from the UK for me? Our "destination services" contact advised my husband today that it would take 4-8 weeks.........hoping that you might be able to help me narrow that slightly please??! I don't mind what the shipping time is, but would really appreciate a better estimate. I know that I'll also have to factor in clearing customs and overland transport to our rental property.

Feeling excited about the move but finding it all quite daunting today too.......hope to feel better about it all tomorrow. It is reassuring to hear from those of you who have already successfully negotiated your way through all of this.

Thanks for your advice.
NJnewbie

JJ-NewJersey

Summit is definitely a good option. If you are still considering other towns you should also take a look at:
- Montclair / Upper Montclair: Our 'favorite' town in the area for restaurants, art movies. It's much more 'artsy' than all the other contenders with a very decent art gallery, if that's of interest. It's more diverse in population than Summit/Ridgewood etc. The public school system may not have quite as good a reputation. But it's a really, really nice town.
- Westfield: Very much in the Ridgewood/Summit mold. A bit further south, so this would be a really easy commute to Edison.

Good luck with your move.

moNYC

Great that he liked Summit, it is pretty nice!

Our shipping took 6 weeks. It was estimated to take 4 but the snow storms delayed the actual shipping process. From what I heard though, weather being okay and customs not too busy it could be closer to the 4 weeks estimate

Happy to help, just ask away!