| Author | Message | ||
     Newjackfam |
As my wife and I have been riding around with our real estate agent, we have seen houses both in South Orange and Maplewood. Our agent tells us there is no difference between the two towns, but we just wanted to see if we could get an insider's perspective on any differences (if there even are any). We are currently living in Park Slope, but are looking for a new area that is family oriented where we can get more space and raise our son. We are grateful for any advice, opinion, insight, etc. | ||
| John |
I am a Maplewood resident so I vote for Maplewood. But if you want an honest answer you may want to try going to a meeting of the Newcommers Club of Maplewood and South Orange. Talk to some people there. It sounds like you've visited both towns but if you havn't done it without your realtor you may want to do it again and see where you feel more comfortable. | ||
| Wilbur |
Newjackfam, as a Maplewood resident, I vote for Maplewood too, but let me tell you why we came here. We chose to live in Maplewood because we fell in love with its cute village, beautiful park right next to the village, and easy walk to the train. South Orange felt a little less appealing in terms of its downtown, with all the traffic that streams down South Orange Avenue, and also seems to have more large apartment buildings, giving it a slightly more urban feel. Maplewood Village really is set apart from any major thoroughfares, and its movie theater, fish market, post office, etc is like a throwback to the 1950s or something. In our three years here, we have spent much time in both South Orange and Maplewood -- our pediatrician is in South Orange, we go for bagels almost every weekend there, etc -- but we are happy with our choice. That said, the towns really are similar, and because they share a school district, they're like "sister towns," very closely linked and intertwined.There are very beautiful homes in each town, and each town also has a big selection of affordable houses. Good luck and welcome to the area. | ||
| Nilmiester |
Does anyone from anywhere else move here? What is the deal with Park Slope? Do we only market to Park Slope people? (No insult to new family and either town will suit you just well!) | ||
| New2so |
Wilbur explains it well - I wanted a less suburban downtown feeling and therefore preferred SO over Maplewood. Another difference I perceive, although some on the board would beg to differ - SO feels more racially integrated to me on a street by street basis than does Maplewood. | ||
| Njjoseph |
I concur with Wilbur! Whenever I need something Maplewood doesn't have (store-wise), I can go to S. Orange or elsewhere. One of the big plusses in Maplewood is the jitney. If you plan to commute to the city, you can live further from the train (translating into somewhat less expensive, and often larger houses for your money). Plus, you don't have to walk up and down the steep hills, which do get tiring if you're carrying bags from the supermarket, etc. | ||
| Dave |
Don't forget SO has two train stations. | ||
| Tracks |
I live in S. Orange. I do use both downtowns. You do not have to live in Maplewood to go to their "cute" downtown. Find the house you like the most and do not worry about which downtown you use. Both have their advantages. Both towns have their disadvantages. Good luck | ||
| Sac |
One of the appeals for us of living in this community is being able to walk to many destinations - schools (although we transferred to SB and lost that option), church, train station, shopping, etc. You may want to consider which of these or other "services" it would be valuable to have within walking distance and then consider this as you evaluate various homes in either town. When we looked for our current home, we already lived in Maplewood and didn't look anywhere else as we were already pool members, members of a church, etc. and were very happy with those things. But I think that you will be happy with either town if you find a home you like in a neighborhood that appeals to you. Good luck searching! | ||
| Nottimallen |
Some parts of South Orange are closer to the village part of Maplewood than many streets within Maplewood itself. I vote for looking at your proximity to the things that are important to you, rather than designating one particular town. Some people live on the border of the towns and can walk to either train station and town center -- a real plus. | ||
| Newjackfam |
We want to thank everyone who has responded to our posting. We didn't expect so many responses and everybody's advice and observations have been incredibly useful to us. It's great to know that the two towns co-exist so well, and just the fact that people were willing to share their perspectives has made us very excited to move there. p.s. note to Nilmiester: maybe when they stop slipping those "Move to beautiful Maplewood/So. Orange" flyers under our windshield the Park Slope refugees will stop coming p.p.s. we decided on a great house in So. Orange | ||
| Nilmiester |
Newjack- Good luck to you. This board is a bit skewed towards Maplewood based on one of Dave's polls to the left. I suppose we are actively marketing to Park Slope which is good for both towns but I think we need a bit more diversity, at least politically. Does anyone know who is doing this marketing? Is it the CCR? How can we market to other areas too? | ||
| Jem |
Nil, Just curious. What areas do you have in mind? | ||
| Newjackfam |
Nils, we were joking about the flyers, we actually read the article in the Times a couple months ago, and there is alot of word-of-mouth info. passed along in Park Slope. Also, what's CCR? | ||
| Nilmiester |
Jem- What area did you think I meant? I don't have a specific area in mind, just broader than Park Slope with people of more diverse political views. It has an impact on our town politics and makes the numbers game here even worse. Maybe companies who re-locate employees or and other parts of NJ like Hoboken or Northern NJ. Newjack- the CCR is the Community Coalition on Race. There is tons of information on it. Just keyword search CCR. | ||
| Jem |
Nil, I sort of suspected that you were hoping to recruit conservative republican types, and I think it would be a really hard sell, especially considering the obvious bitterness about the community that spills out on this bulletin board from folks of the more conservative persuasion. Your sense of being an embattled minority is amusing, because in probably 99% of the communities in this state and in this country, you'd be very comfortably in the majority. We liberals have to feel comfortably at home someplace, don't we? Places like the current incarnations of the Upper West Side, Park Slope, Hoboken, Maplewood/South Orange, and Montclair are few and far between - well, actually those places are, thankfully, geographically close - but I think you know what I'm getting at. Will you simply not rest until every last one of us arises in the morning convinced that Ronald Reagan sits at the right hand of God? | ||
| Townie |
Nil, You could try dropping leaflets over Staten Island. k. | ||
| Nilmiester |
Jem: I didn't mean Republicans and I certainly am not convinced that Ronald Reagan sits at the right hand of God. It's that kind of attitude I can do without. Libertarians are fine and true independents. We have enough liberals here. They are running our schools. | ||
| Townie |
Newjackfam, Here's a link that describes the activities of CCR: http://rutgers-newark.rutgers.edu/occ/Connections/April/giving.html Welcome to the area! | ||
| John |
Wow!!! How did a question about which town to move to turn into a battle over the liberal left (who don't think everyone has to see things their way?????) and the republican right wing (who don't think everyone has to see things their way?????) Anyway these two groups have more in common than they like to admit. But getting back to the original post... Welcome to the neighborhood Newjackfam. Even if you did choose SO over Maplewood. I hope you will enjoy it. And I still recommend you stop in on a Newcomers meeting. | ||
| Spw784 |
Welcome to S.O/M... how old is your son? re: walking to everything... just because a school is nearby, unfortunately, doesnt always mean that is the school your child/ren will attend. The way the lines are drawn, a child living just 4 blocks from Clinton School may end up at South Mountain. | ||
| Joancrystal |
We chose our house on location. No streets to cross to get to the pre-school - one street to cross to get to the elementary school, two streets to cross to get to the library, three streets to cross to get to the middle school, etc. Our son really enjoyed that freedom. He was the only one in his preschool class to walk to school by himself! I would focus more on the block you choose than the town. Try for one with at least some children your child's age since blocks here tend to go through stages. Good luck. The most important thing is that you select a house which just feels right. | ||
| Beach |
Please Nil, try not to take the bait next time. I saw that rant coming a mile away. | ||
| Nilmiester |
Yes, Beach, you know she thought I meant Bensonhurst. Then all the pieces of her world would fall right into place, smugly too. | ||
| Ejt |
Especially since we all know there's no ROOM left at the right hand of God since they shoved Bill & Hillary there 8 years ago, much to their surprise and His chagrin I'm sure! |
