Hi all,

My husband has a new job in the financial district in NYC and we've decided to live in NJ, within a 1 hour commute.

I've been looking at towns like Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn, Summit, Chatham. Apart from looking round on street view, it's hard to get an idea what a place is like, until we get over there.

Good elementary schools are a must for us.
We have 3 young boys..aged 9 months, 3 and 5.5.

I've also been looking a bit at Ridgewood as several of the top 100 in the Niche report are situated there.
What's Ridgewood like? How's the commute?

I just wanted to open up a discussion about people's experiences of these parts of NJ and any advice would be much appreciated!

will you be driving when you move to nj. it is necessary to drive in new Jersey. I currently live in Plainfield nj after moving from new York city. in NY you don't need a car. all those places in nj are good places and have great schools especially summit. as for activities for your boys you will need the car to get to the fun places.

Yes we both drive and will be buying a second hand car.
Thanks for the feedback on the towns.
What's the commute like from Plainfield?

the New jersey transit trains and buses take you straight into the city from each town. its a calm ride. check out njtransit.com to see how the transportation will be from the towns you listed and it should list the fare as well

Anyone moving to the Summit area of NJ...I recommend they use the search function to search for Englishmum's threads/posts. She lived in Maplewood and has written extensively about schools/transport etc.

NY is a pretty big state, and most people who live there need a car like NJ, a lot of people in NYC don't have a car (because parking is either limited / expensive). But like many in the that live in NYC (especially outside Manhattan), I have a car, while I used zip cars before I had a baby, now we kind of "need" it like anyone else does, be it for doctor visits, grocery shopping, meeting people for brunch on a weekend, and more importantly for getting out of the city to visit family.

Thanks, I'll have a look through her posts 😀

Summit is lovely and a really good rating in the school systems. Ridgewood is a nice town, they have a lot of great things for kids up around that area, speaking from experience. We lived about 20 minutes from Ridgewood before moving to where we are now.

Cant give any advice on commute as neither my husband or myself have done it....both NJ workers. Sorry :/

i am near those areas and they are all super expensive! am sure you have seen homes to rent go for 3k+ a month.

likely your hubby has a job to cover such an amount I guess.