digbydog

Hi

We are moving to New Jersey. I have two boys who are 11 and 12 years old so school is important. I have narrowed down my choice of towns to live in as Chatham, Millburn/Short Hills or Summit in that sort of order. Can anybody suggest if one is better than another and the pros and cons. I want to have the "american dream" with the kids cycling, playing in the streets etc in a great environment.

I only need to go to New York once or twice a week so the commute is not an issue.

My boys currently go to International School in Europe and are only one year apart. What is the age cut off for public schools in New Jersey - I have heard it depends on each area? One boy was born 11/95 and the second boy 5/97. I dont want them to be two school years apart in the US. Any thoughts please?

Also are there many Europeans living in these towns.

Thanks in advance!!

Ridski

Well, you've picked some nice towns, let's start there. Schools systems are quite equitable between the three, though I believe Chatham is slightly better. At some point Englishmum, who lives in Summit/Short Hills should pop along and tell you more (unfortunately she's leaving for Blighty soon), as I live one town down the tracks from Millburn and have no kids, but there are plenty of Europeans and Brits in the area. One thing you'll enjoy... Each of these towns have town centers, which sounds weird until you start exploring, and realize that so many towns in NJ are nothing more than strip malls along a highway with some houses in the same ZIP code. Look forward to seeing you around, and welcome to BE!

denzil75

Welcome to BE!

We live in Florham Park, about a mile or so from Chatham and love it. Chatham is a really nice town, not sure I want to get into comparing it with Summit and Millburn as I don't really know enough about the others, I only pop to Summit to visit friends. I believe the schools in Chatham are very good, although house prices are (I think) slightly more expensive. Madison (next town west from Chatham on train line) is also really nice, it has a lovely downtown, good schools and a great YMCA and town pool. It's a great time to move at the moment especially if you are planning on buying out here, house prices are dropping and with the exchange rate you could get a great deal on a house. House prices are fairly high in these areas compared to other areas of Jersey and Morris County but that's what you get for wanting better schools and being on the commuter line to NYC. All the areas you have mentioned have big expat communities and I find there are also alot of Americans that have been transferred to the area for work.

Perhaps you should look on the town websites to get a little more information and also take a look on realtor.com for the type of houses you could get for your money. Here is a page from CNN that has some good stats on the towns you are looking at, it may help!

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL3423910.html

There are quite a few of us in the area so shout if you need anything.

Englishmum

I live in Short Hills which is part of the township of Millburn, although they have 2 seperate Post Offices and train stations and therefore have different zipcodes (Millburn's is 07041 and Short Hills is 07078). They do however share the same schools, town hall, police and fire service. If you're looking on realtor's websites you may need to look up 'Millburn township' to get listings for renting or buying in Short Hills as well as for Millburn. (Suggest you look at Burgdorff.com, Weichert.com, KellerWilliams.com and the multiple listings on gsmls.com and njmls.com which all the realtors use)


The 'downtown' area of Millburn has quite a number of restaurants as the State theatre, the "Paper Mill Theater" is just off the town centre. There is the large posh (they call it 'upscale' here ) shopping mall in Short Hills close to the border of Summit and Chatham, just off Route 124.

You would certainly get the 'American Dream' existence here (indeed there are even some white picket fences ) in any of the towns you have mentioned and all the towns have sporting activities for the kids via their schools, the town rec dept. or privately in say, soccer camps and there are activities throughout the year. There are some fabulous homes in Short Hills and Summit costing many millions, but sadly our family isn't in that league and our house is tiny LOL! I do have to say that the towns you listed are not particularly diverse; mostly 'cookie cutter' white (upper) middle class, but there is a growing Hispanic community in Summit and I often see day-labourers waiting on the street corners when I drive just up the road to go to my aqua-aerobics class in Summit most mornings.

If you would prefer to live in a more diverse community (slightly artistic/bohemian, a lively arts scene, gay and lesbian families, an ethnic cultural mix) you might prefer to check out Maplewood which is a beautiful town also with some gorgeous houses, and its 'sister' town of South Orange.

There are expats all over the place, there is an expat group in neighbouring Maplewood where there are frequent get-togethers; nationalities include Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Belgians, Swiss, S.Africans, Irish, French but not everyone goes to every event.

Our local 'rec' (recreation dept) takes kids (according to their age group) skiing and snowboarding in Pennsylvania and the Catskills NY in the winter, with the older ones sleeping over for the night.

The schools in these towns are all well-regarded but the Millburn township public schools are considered the cream of the crop of public schools in Northern NJ and amongst the best in the US. We moved here (from Singapore) when our son had just completed Junior school (UK Year 6) and went into the Middle school at US Grade 6. He was almost 12, with his birthday in October.

Our local school system has the kids finishing elementary school (infant & junior school) at Grade 5. They then go to Middle School from Grades 6 to Grade 8, roughly the academic year when they will be aged 12 through to 14. After Middle School they go on to High School (Grade 9 to Grade 12) eg. ages 15 through 18.

I honestly don't know how rigid the schools in this part of NJ are regarding admissions in regards to their age as you say you're keen to keep your sons no more than one academic year apart. I think you will need to speak with the Education dept. and each town administers its own school system, so you will need to do this for each town you're considering moving to.

This is the most recent ranking of the Best Public High Schools in the US from the respected "US News & World Report" magazine. Millburn is #97 in the Top 100 Gold Medal schools (many kids go on to the Ivy League colleges):

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educa...h-schools.html

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educa...l-schools.html

Millburn township public schools website:

http://www.millburn.org/

Town info:

http://www.twp.millburn.nj.us/content/view/46/66/


Actually Ridski, I'm not leaving town just yet! Although my husband is transferring back to London, I'm going to be living half the time here and half the time in the UK. Our son left England just after his sixth birthday and will not even contemplate moving to the UK, he won't even go for a visit.....his girlfriend, car and mates are here so he's staying put for now. I just need to work out what the heck to do about medical care....the monthly premiums are going to be $902 per month once my husband is based in Blighty...!

digbydog

Thank you all for replying so quickly and for all the links

It sounds like these areas are exactly what I am looking for. I will come out in 4 weeks time with the boys and spend a few days in the area to get a feel for the place. I believe there is a Hilton hotel in Short Hills which should make a good base.

We have lived in Hong Kong (10 yrs), Hawaii (2 yrs) and Marbella (last 9 yrs)so now is the time for something completely different and the "american dream" (with white picket fences!!) seems perfect for us now. After Marbella a little normality is well overdue

Thanks again

Englishmum

Yes - it is a very ugly red brick building and looks just like a corporate office block. However they do a very good Sunday brunch and we go there from time to time (best to get the last 'sitting' otherwise they expect you to eat as quickly as possible and leave for the next arrivals).

The SH Hilton is directly opposite the mall - (across a dangerous and non-pedestrian friendly road junction). I understand that the hotel offers a free shuttle service to and from the mall, and I often see their minibuses at Newark airport as well.

md95065

Oh yes, it would make a very good base.

There is a dire shortage of good hotels in that part of New Jersey, but the Short Hills Hilton is a definite exception - I have stayed there several times and can vouch for its qualities.

I was about to warn you that it was also not inexpensive (last time I stayed there was in 2005 and I think it was about $350 a night and up) but a quick look online suggests that you can actually get rooms for under $200 a night if you stay for a whole week, which isn't a bad deal.