Can someone help me decide where to live near New York City?

Question

Can someone from NYC or New Jersey tell me which of these towns would be the best for a single young mom of a 10yr old son??? Secaucus, NJ-- Linden, NJ-- East Brunswick, NJ-- Elmsford, NY. I need a safe place that is pretty close to NYC? Or would I be better off just living in NYC?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

One of the best towns to live in would be Millburn.  The schools are great and there's direct train service to the city.  Most people in town work in Manhattan.  It's expensive though.  

Other possibilities which are nice would be Summit, Chatham, Madison, New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Gillette, Stirling, Westfield, or Cranford.  All have train stations which make for easy commuting.  Most of these are still rather expensive, but all of their schools are excellent.

East Brunswick has good schools, but it does not have a train station.  There is an express bus however.  Verona or Livingston would be in this category as well.

Secaucus and Linden are more affordable, but the schools are not great.

North Brunswick is a very safe place with good schools, but you'd have to drive to a train station from there.  Not too far -- New Brunswick stations are close.

One other place you might want to try is Fanwood or Scotch Plains.  The schools are good, and the rent might be more affordable than some of the others I mentioned.  

Good luck!

Answer 2

nassau or suffolk county is all suburbs.  thats where i live, there are bad neighbors and rich neighbors and everything in between.  it takes me 20 min to queens, 40 min to manhattan, by train or driving.

Answer 3

Well, if you want to live in NYC you should deffinitely go to Staten Island. It has the best public schools && Manhattan is a ferry ride away. I live in Staten Island && I love it but If you'd like to live in NJ you should go with Secaucus or east Brunswick. My cousin lives in Pennington which is the next town over from east brunswick && she loves it it is a well safe, calm community. secaucus has many schools for your son there is about 5 elementary schools for just that town its pretty crowded but with gas prices, driving && experiance i'd say go with Staten Island NYC