Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Native Washingtonian here, so maybe I am biased, but everyplace I've been in New Jersey just seemed dingy and lower class, and all anybody did for fun was go to NYC. It's like there is nothing else to do. To get a coffee, I had to go to some nasty A&P. Ugh. No way.

You have obviously never been to one of the many charming towns in NJ.

OP, remember the TV show Ed, about a guy moving back to an idyllic, quirky Midwest town, high on charm. All the filming of the town scenes were NJ towns. Much of the intro was filmed in Westfield, but there were other towns too. I never knew there were such charming towns until I married into family that lived up there. I have never seen a charming town around here come close. There are other things I like about DC, but it is not true that it is all "dingy and lower class".

Charming towns in NJ?!?!?!? Let me guess, you still believe in Santa Claus?

Anonymous wrote:Native Washingtonian here, so maybe I am biased, but everyplace I've been in New Jersey just seemed dingy and lower class, and all anybody did for fun was go to NYC. It's like there is nothing else to do. To get a coffee, I had to go to some nasty A&P. Ugh. No way.

You have obviously never been to one of the many charming towns in NJ.

OP, remember the TV show Ed, about a guy moving back to an idyllic, quirky Midwest town, high on charm. All the filming of the town scenes were NJ towns. Much of the intro was filmed in Westfield, but there were other towns too. I never knew there were such charming towns until I married into family that lived up there. I have never seen a charming town around here come close. There are other things I like about DC, but it is not true that it is all "dingy and lower class".

I really miss our 4000 sq ft circa 1915 colonial home on a half acre in Montclair. No way could i afford that home in DC or close-in MoCo or NOVA. Too bad our property taxes there were 30k/year.

Anonymous wrote:This is a no-brainer. The answer is never NJ.

If you have the job and can pay the taxes, NJ towns like Summit, Westfield and Montclair put MD to shame. That's the no-brainer.

This is a no-brainer. The answer is never NJ.

DC native whose husband is from the border of Red Bank and Middletown. The property taxes there are not as bad as what you're hearing from PPs who are mentioning Chatham, Madison, Rumson, etc. But the schools are not that great either. Everything is local up there and is countywide here, that is a lot of the discrepancy. Property taxes are not the only reason to move. We have made a great life here (in MD, neither of us would ever live in VA.) However, that area is a very attractive one should we move back toward the city.

OP, you're obviously going to get a biased opinion on a DC forum.

I have friends who live near Red Bank and love it. It's a great town and near the beach and NYC!

Just moved to MOCO from NJ. I lived in Rumson NJ and it is a very beautiful family friendly town with fantastic schools. I had a 4/3 bath 3500 square foot house and my property taxes were 9000 a year. The town offered great services and the majority of my taxes paid for my local public schools which were terrific. It is a trade off in terms of money--property taxes are high but housing prices are lower in NJ. Houses in the Dc area are very, very expensive and there is a lack of inventory.

It really depends on the part of NJ. I love towns like Montclair, Millburn, Maplewood, and Chatham. They have older downtown walkable areas and great commutes. Taxes are extremely high though.

OP here.

WOW! Sounds like we should stick with DC! We will already be financially strapped for awhile, so I don't think we can take on all those extra expenses in NJ.

Thanks for all the info!

Anonymous wrote:If property taxes are the deal breaker, I'd look at Bucks County, PA. Frenchtown, NJ is on the border 40 miles from Edison. And it sure is purtty.

No way. That commute would be hideous. I love that part of NJ/PA, but you just can't drive to and from there to Edison every day and not want to kill yourself after a week.

Maybe, just maybe, depending on your husband's tolerance for commuting, you could consider the Hillsborough/Somerset/Bridgewater or Readington/Whitehouse Station/Clinton areas. The schools are good to very good. Or the West Windsor area--very good schools there, too, but housing prices are a lot higher.

If property taxes are the deal breaker, I'd look at Bucks County, PA. Frenchtown, NJ is on the border 40 miles from Edison. And it sure is purtty.

FYI, Red Bank will be expensive. While the schools are not that good, it is soo close to the beach, or what's left of it. Metuchen and Middletown, eh. While I love the town-feel of many NJ towns, I am not sure if that town feel is worth $10,000 more per year, every year, till you die. I would go Nova.

My sister lives in one of the NJ towns you mentioned and without a doubt, move to NoVa. Her taxes are high, she doesn't get much value for what she pays and I do like her house/street she lives on but it's a small, older house. Personally, I find Edison to be an eyesore. Like another poster mentioned, it just seems dingy.