| Author | Message | ||
     Thetruth07040 |
Ok..I'm sure I'm gonna get hammered over this one but here goes: I am trying to understand what is really going on on this side of town. By "this", I mean the area East of Springfield Ave. Over the last couple of years, I have seen many house in this neighborhood sell. Yet, I don't think I have seen one non-minority family move IN. I understand and appreciate the concept of cultural diversity in a town but will that diversity soon consist of white and black ghettos, essentially divided by Springfield Ave? (or if you quibble, Valley Street) Why are there so few white couples moving into this neighborhood? | ||
| Alceste |
Has the most recent census report for Maplewood/SO been released yet? | ||
| P_Man |
In a word - FEAR! Just look at the incident that occurred this past Friday in my neighborhood. | ||
| Alidah |
What happened? | ||
| P_Man |
Please see the thread about after school violence. | ||
| Harold |
Could it be "steering" by the realtors? Or could it be the perception by the majority of citizens that the east side is the "bad" side...to be avoided??? Check out the Ave. itself....not many white families shopping there. Why????? | ||
| Bill |
My wife and I have rented in the Hilton area for several years and just purchased the two family home we rented in this past November. I'm sure the realtors steer prospective buyers. It may be because they try to show houses within the person's price range. If an African American asks to see houses in the $300-$400k range, they probably won't show them the Hilton area. I don't know..never been in that situation. We are very happy with our decision. We have wonderful neighbors and the streets are always quiet and clean. Although we are white and probably the minority in our area, we've never had a reason to feel like a "minority". We judge our neighbors and others by their kindness, sincerity and compassion and have always found these traits in just about everyone we've met "on the East Side". Sometimes I wonder where these characteristics are in some of the conceited, snub your nose, selfish, hypocrits in other areas of Maplewood. Just because you make money doesn't mean you make a good person. | ||
| Nakaille |
Bill, welcome to the neighborhood. Isn't it nice to live in a town where being minority white in a neighborhood is really okay? When we moved into the Orchard section 9 years ago I had the same experience. Bacata | ||
| Cfa |
Bill You'll find conceited, snub your nose, selfish, hypocrits in your neck of the woods also. Not only will you find them in Maplewood, you'll also find them in every single town in the United States. Please don't make it sound like the people in your area are any nicer than the rest of Maplewood. I'm sure they are nice, but my neighbors are WONDERFUL and I'm on the "west side" | ||
| Harold |
Bill, welcome......and you hit the nail right on the head! | ||
| Thetruth07040 |
Frankly, I too agree with Bill. For the most part, my neighborhood is wonderful and the neighbors are just fine. I didn't mean my posting as a condemnation but rather a curiosity. There is still the part of me that fears a bit, having seen what has occurred in what were predominantly white or at least mixed neighborhoods in Irvington, Orange, East Orange etc. They are NOT places I would choose to live or feel safe in today. I agree with the comments about realtors "steering". I also believe that they either intentionally or unintentionally (innocent until PROVEN guilty) drive down the value of houses in this part of town to get quick sales and rapid turnover. I am concerned about the number of multiple families living in single family houses here. There seems to be some pretty strong evidence that it is going on. I doubt this is the case on the other side of town. I love my house and in fact am thinking of doing some major improvements on it. I just hope that when it does come time for me to move, I don't owe more than I can sell it for! Am I crazy? | ||
| Bill |
cfa.. Yes, there are "nasty" people everywhere. That is why I qualified my statements with "...I wonder where these characteristics are in someä and ã·in other areas of Maplewoodä. I have had conversations with many people in Maplewood and the minute I mention that I live on the OTHER SIDE OF SPRINGFIELD, I almost ALWAYS get·Oh, you live THERE?! or Oh, I donât shop in THAT area or I donât know anything about THAT area. I know for a fact that every person that has made these condescending comments to me come from the West side of Springfield. Thatâs definitely not to say there are great people there also, but it seems that many Westsiders have this ingrained feeling that just because the East has less expensive homes, the people there are that much ãlessä than they are. Letâs not even go to the black/white thing. Why is Springfield Ave. not held in such high regard?·because ãitâs in a bad area and I wonât go there ã. Thatâs what I hear all the time. A woman questioned why the Farmers market wasnât in the Village and said she wonât go there because itâs on Springfield Ave. No real reason, just because itâs on Springfield Ave. Thetruth07040· Iâve had the same feelings ever since I considered buying my home in Hilton. But, the overwhelming factor that made my wife and I do it was the people. Look around the Hilton area, there are mostly hard working middle class families that take care of their homes and have a sense of community. Of course there are some exceptions, but this is where your participation and voice comes in. Take part in the Hilton Neighborhood Association. Theyâre a great group of people concerned about their home life and the future of their community. I know they have petitioned the Township to address the multi family issues and other concerns, but things take time. I believe the Township has already demolished some unsafe/problem houses. I still believe we made the right choice in moving to Maplewood and the ãEastä side. We will personally make every effort possible to keep our neighborhood a GREAT neighborhood. | ||
| Beach |
I'm convinced my daughter wasn't invited to a classmate's birthday party because we didn't live on the "right side of town". Still burns me up to think about it. Some parents should be ashamed of themselves in this town. | ||
| Algebra2 |
Harold, Bill, "thetruth", Beach ..... Are you guys serious? When I was looking for a house in my price range I looked on both "sides" of town, I bought one on the west side which, consequently, was less than the ones on the east "side" of town. WOW. I must be a conceited, selfish, hypocrit who shuns small children by not inviting them to my birthday parties. Bill, sorry but you are a spiteful nut. Why in God's name would you assume that people on one side of town think that those on the other side are "much less than they are"???? People like you all are the ones who cause race problems. This whole thread sickens me. | ||
| New2so |
I've told this "racial steering by realtors" story before, but this seems like a good place to repeat it. We are an interracial couple (Asian-White). When we were looking for homes we gave our realtor, who was Black, our price range and she pulled up MLS profiles of all the houses in that range with the features we wanted in the M/SO area. When we went through the profiles we asked to see a number of houses that, as we later found out, turned out to be on the "East Side" - in the area above Springfield Avenue, to the left of the town of Irvington, and to the right of the park. She told us, and I quote, "I don't think you'll like those houses." We looked at each other and we looked at her and said, "Why not?" She looked a bit sheepish and said "Well, I guess I could show them to you." P.S. We wound up ditching her and dealt directly with the owner to buy a house on a very diverse street in SO. | ||
| Tjd |
I grew up in this town and on the OTHER side of town. (I am in my twenties now). My best friend lives on the west side and I have not felt any anomosity when I was growing up. However, I have heard some remarks about the OTHER side of town at the train station in the morning recently. I was sitting on the bench in the station, waiting for my train and I heard two people talking down that side of town. Apparently, one of them had a reason to be there and made some rather derogatory comments like "I can't believe that this town has a part of town like that." I was infuriated, but didn't think it was worth my speaking up, especially since it was time to go and wait for my train in order to actually get a seat. Looking back, I wish I had said something. Obviously, these people either thought I was stupid or that I did not live on the side of town they were disparaging. It's so frustrating, but I will never regret my childhood here. It's a shame that people like them exist here. | ||
| Mem |
Tjd, I grew up here as well, in the "middle", and I didn't notice any distinction or bias between sides of towns. To us it was all one Maplewood, with South Orange as our friendly neighbor. I think it is a more recent phenonemon with regard to people moving here from out of town. As far as what these arrogant people say and how they behave, what comes around will go around. | ||
| P_Man |
When I first started looking for a house I was told by our financial planner, "You definitely want to stay west of Ridgewood Ave." Not knowing much about the area that is where we started to look. We then expanded our search to the middle and the fringes of Maplewood. After living in Queens for a number of years we didn't feel comfortable in the areas that you are speaking of. And BTW we are an Asian and white couple as well. I actually lived in Chatham for two years prior to buying a house in Maplewood and when the found out two co-workers (who are Black and live on Boyden) both responded with shock that I would be moving from Chatham to Maplewood. They both insisted that usually it was the other way around. Then about two months after moving in we were returning from my parents house at Christmas (they live in NY) and we decided to see if there was an easy way to get to our home using the GSP. So we exited at Springfield ave and proceeded to Maplewood. It was late, around 1:00 AM and what we witnessed in that short period of time was nothing short of amazing. Cars racing around without regard to pedestrians, ignoring stop signs and in two cases red lights. Another raced up on our right and passed us using the spaces usually reserved for parked cars and the final thing we saw was a white Acura integra, suped up of course, stopped at a light. The door opened and not one but two bags from a fast food establishment were deposited in the middle of the street, then they just rolled on through the red light. I know one evening does not provide a good "sample" but who can blame me for not wanting to live in that type of area? Am I a racist for not wanting to expose my child to that type of behaviour? The real reason that we wanted to move to a more diverse community was to expose my youngest son to that type of environment. My eldest son who looks a cross between hispanic and asian spent the better part of 3 months eating alone in the cafeteria of Chatham HS because he looked different. I didn't want my youngest to have to put up with that. So to call everyone who chooses not to live in that neighborhood ignorant or snobbish is unfair. Everyone has a right to choose to live where they are most comfortable. It is wrong to put down where another person lives and if you think people in Maplewood are snobby try living in Chatham. The first and only time our neighbor spoke to us was after hurricane Floyd, and even then it was only because a tree on our property had fallen onto theirs. The wife had the audacity to come over and introduce herself by saying, "Its nice to meet you, didn't you just move in?" We had been there for more than two years. | ||
| Mem |
Speaking of demographics: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg Use scroll to see everything. | ||
| Jem |
Talk about sprawl!! Pretty scary. |
