Reply to Uncertain what to choose between NoVa, NJ suburbs of NYC and NJ suburbs of Philadelphia

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Thanks much for your replies. According to the map even a commute from Sewell NJ to Haddonfield would be around 40 minutes. So clearly living on the PA side is not an option.

We almost drove up to both the Philly and the Northern NJ area this weekend, but because of the snow I'm glad we didn't.

Are the schools generally a lot better in Northern NJ than in Southern NJ?

Thanks again.[/quote]

I grew up in South Jersey and have close ties there still, so I can speak to that. Even though mapquest says a Sewell to Haddonfield commute is 40 min, it really won't be as draining as a 40 min commute in NoVa or North Jersey bc there's simply less population density there; I wouldn't even attempt a daily commute from the Main Line/Phil suburbs. Schools in Northern NJ generally rank higher, but if you want to be in SJ -- the top 4 districts are Moorestown (different from Morristown in North Jersey), Haddonfield, Cherry Hill and Voorhees; those 4 compete very well with the rest of the state and all of those are commutable from DH's job in Sewell.

One thing no one has brought up -- what industry is your DH in and how excited is he about this offer? If he's in medicine or anything healthcare related -- ignore this, as South Jersey and Phil have become huge medical areas. But the economy in EVERYTHING else is pretty stagnant in South Jersey regardless of what locals believe -- business, engineering, and law; there are lots of professionals there working at jobs that are far less challenging that what you'd find in NYC and DC and for less pay -- likely bc they are from SJ and don't want to leave. Point is, if you go with an offer in SJ, you DH should be 100% certain re the job, the company and the bosses/coworkers. If he gets there and in 1 yr decides it's not for him, there's a huge chance you'd have to move to another area or back to DC or whatever. Moving has its costs obviously, keep in mind the housing market in SJ is nothing like NOVA. Sure you get a lot for your money, but selling a house there is no easy feat. I have friends in NOVA who have sold homes within 1-2 weeks of listing even when the economy was in the tank; in SJ -- it is not at all uncommon for a house to sit on the market for 1-2 YEARS -- simply bc you don't have people moving into the area since there isn't much job creation. Local south jersey folks won't tell you this stuff bc they tend to be very tied to their community -- much more than DC/Nova -- for many/most, they were born and raised there and wouldn't dream of dealing with the stress of NYC or DC -- so in their minds Phil/South Jersey is the best there is.[/quote]

The stagnant economy thing includes Philadelphia -- not just the SJ suburbs BTW.[/quote]

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