R. Lawrence

Hoboken, NJ

The eminently walkable and relatively parkable (compared to Manhattan) Mile Square Town allows you to live an urban / suburban double life, shopping and getting all your needs met in town without getting in the car, or getting in the car to hit the supermarkets and big box stores nearby (or the Japanese Mall!)

Ethnic outposts that survived gentrification such as El Flamboyan Restaurant - great Spanish Caribbean food, and the old Italian groceries and bakeries still hanging on too

Beautiful downtown Garden St

Living next to the Hudson River but just a short train ride from lower Manhattan

Maxwell's

The conservative nature of our gentrification, heavily driven by Wall Street and also with a suburban character - I envy the more liberal urbane Park Slope or exponentially artsier Williamsburg and Greenpoint

Incredibly high rents and condo prices

The flooding and companion sewage stench (especially downtown west side, where we live)

Baby stroller phalanxes

The Cake Boss line (for Carlo's Bakery - which was nothing special at all until the television show)

Lori Scinto

Tenafly, NJ

Great parks and lots of green (big trees, etc.)
Proximity to the city
Walkability to services
Decent bus service to Manhattan
Farmer's market

A town council and mayor that seem to constantly practice pork barrel politics - including a $4 million police station renovation and police who make 6 figures
Twice a week garbage pickup
Generally unfriendly people (except for fellow dog owners :0)
Car culture
High taxes

kathy

pequannock,nj

it is my hometown and some of the people i grew up with and their folks are still here
it is beautiful and historical with lots of places to walk and hike
i can walk alone anytime any street and feel safe-as long as it isn't flooded
it is the only place in the world named pequannock
the best h.s marching band, football team and swimming hole are here

it is getting crowded and too built up
sort of under diversified
also getting very expensive and lots of people from here can't afford to stay here
there is no ocean here
the beach is closed in the winter

Perth Amboy

1. Amazinging beautiful waterfront that almost no one outside the city knows about.
2. Great diversity of population.
3. Long and interesting history dating from about 1684.
4. It was the place where my family started when emigrated to US in early 1900s.
5. Someone once baked brownies and put them out for the public during a City Council meeting. Come on. Where else you gonna get that?

1. Increasing problems with crime.
2. Quality of life issues such as noise and vandalism are a problem--combined with crime (real or preceived) continuing to drive out middle class
3. Property taxes are incredibly high and have just been raised again this quarter to cover money not received from state; large low income and lower middle class population is at limits of ability to pay; people being driven out
4. We are an Abbott district, so there are school issues.
5. Lack of participation in community issues by a public that often seeems disengaged and ill-informed (some language issues here because many people don't speak English); cronyism and past corruption in city government with all sorts of negative consequences

Ronne Bassman-Agins

Fort Lee

First, I wish I could be in Montlcair on the first. Sadly, I cannot.

1. My home and view of the GWB and my terrace and the spa amenities. Sadly, my husband died 3 years ago. His ashes are under the bridge that came to be so much a part of our lives, the one we so loved, and I still do.
2. Walk or ride over the bridge to NYC.
3. Good for healthy walking.
4. I have always worked with kids in urban communities. Wish I knew more about the Asian community in Fort Lee.

1. Traffic
2. Due to traffic, I take as much care as possible in inviting people to visit, to dine, to enjoy. I do not like to inconvenience people.
3. Even before the rececession, the poor business quality and ethnic divide and the old Helmsley mess.
4. There are dedicated people for decades who try to tout the history here and make it work. Sadly, it has not been done and there is little to write home about.

Nelida Bravo

Montclair, NJ

1. The beauty of its location
2. Proximity to New York City
3 Convenient transportation
4. Our many parks and areas of recreation
5 Upper Montclair Village
6. The Stonefield section, where I live.
7 My cosmopolitan neighbors - We come from Japan China, Turkey, India, Goa,, Wales, Argentina, our Russian spies! they blended in perfectly; African americans, various inter racial couples.
Children that can play in the street and parents that watch them

1. The taxes

Other than that, none. Therefore I added a few more to my likes.

Tim Beadle

Jersey City, NJ

1. The people are GREAT. It's like Brooklyn without the hipsters and Hoboken without the frat boys.

2. I can get anywhere in Manhattan faster than my friends in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and in some cases, even Manhattan!

3. We're right on 78 so I can be in PA in less than an hour. I work in the suburbs so the location is perfect for part-time study in the city (45 min to Columbia) and teaching the suburbs (50 min to work).

4. Great parks, farmers markets, summer concerts, local artisans and local bars. I can go to Zepplin Hall for a big party or any number of small corner bars for something more low-key. There's always a market and a concert in the summer.

5. The rent is great! Bigger and less expensive than anywhere in the city or Brooklyn with easier access.

1. Property taxes are HIGH. I could not afford to purchase property even if I could make the mortgage.

2. The Holland Tunnel: constant traffic, noise, and gridlock if it backs up.

3. The PATH on weekends: I take back everything I said about transportation if it's a Saturday or Sunday!

4. Schools: great city and as a teacher I would LOVE to work here. When you take away the private and magnet schools, the normal school system is urban and broken. Like I said, the people are fantastic. You will see tons of families with young kids, but not many over Kindergarten age.

5. Snow removal: But then again, maybe last winter was a fluke....

Kathryn Weidener

Hillsborough, NJ

1. My house
2. local YMCA
3. County Library branch
4. farm stands & preserved farmland
5. Roads we can still bicycle on

1. Too local (I'm one of those people who believe we really don't need to have 566 municipalities and 21 counties and the resultant # of cronies to pay)
2. High property tax
3. Too many Mc Mansion developments
4. People who throw trash from cars
5. No good Chinese restaurant

Kamila Wysocki

Montclair, New Jersey

In no particular order:

1. Environmental policies; many residents could be classified as "tree-huggers" (my obviously rich neighbor has a clothes line in her backyard for crying out loud! - where else you will see that?)

2. Social and cultural diversity, general acceptance of different lifestyle choices, people of all walks of life seem comfortable here;

3. Ethnic diversity, general friendliness between people, lots of inter-racial couples;

4. Safety; cultural events; general laid-back atmosphere; decent schools; proximity and excellent bus/train connection to Manhattan; not boring to look at as it has some of the most beautiful houses in the area;

5. Gazillion restaurants.

Now I know that I sneaked in more than five - what can I say, Montclair is truly great!

1. One of top towns on tax stress index (ratio of median property tax to median household income);

2. Uneven sidewalks.

Can't really think of anything else...

Kathleen

Cranford, NJ

1. Great bars. The Office, Riverside Inn, Kilkenny and the Cellar are all within walking distance of one another--and most homes.
2. The Cranford Swim Club.
3. Nomahegan Park
4. Camaraderie. When friends get sick, Cranford residents ALWAYS pitch in to help families dealing with sickness and death. It is a close knit community.
5.Cranford Movie Theater--sometimes gets cool documentaries

1. Cranfordtalk.org
2. Cranford Crossing. A development built downtown to bring in retail and boost town's economy, but is still mostly empty.
3. Stereotypes for those who live on the North side and South side of town
4. Cranford has an unusual amount of adults who die of cancer or related illness at young ages. There's little divorce, but a lot of widows/widowers.
5. Everything is closed by 10pm

Mark Gavagan

Mendham

1. Bucolic with lots of preserved open spaces

2. Many terrific and interesting people

3. Good (not great) proximity to NYC

4. Great schools

5. Organic farmer's market

1. Too homogenous

2. Ticks (many in my family have had lyme disease)

3. Lack of sidewalks on main road makes walking difficult and unsafe.

4. Does not have a a pedestrian-oriented "downtown" retail area similar to Morristown's Green with a sit-down coffee shop.

5. A few selfish/rude people

Jennifer

Montclair

I love Montclair:

-for its diversity
-for its cultural life--it has an urban/suburban feeling
-for its proximity to NYC
-for its beautiful old homes
-because it feels like home, even for a transplant like me

I don't like Montclair:

-because it is still segregated in many ways
-because it costs a lot to live here
-because there are many empty storefronts
-because there is a cultural trend to over-schedule kids

mary kay rosteck

montclair nj

It's gloriously beautiful in an old-fashoned way.

The residents are of many races, creeds, colors and gender orientations, which makes for a very interesting mix.

There are bookstores and cultural events of all sorts.

The schools provide a solid education.

There are lovely parks and neighborhoods, which encourages taking long walks.

Lucy Curci-Gonzalez

Leonia NJ

Schools
Beautiful old houses &trees
proximity to NYC
great neighbors
diversity

Bergen County blue laws
traffic all the time
NJ Transit no train and a 30 minute bus ride often takes more than 1 hr
lack of local shopping big box and poor economy killing local walkable shopping
lack of shopping diversity

Maya

Ridgefield Park

Friendly neighboors.
a lot green areas to execise.
parks are full of wild animals -- birds, squirrels, deers, and rabbits.
very safe and close to NY
great library.

No many things to do.
need a car to get around.
No many choices to dine.

Angeline Echeverria

Passaic, NJ

Great public transit to the places I need to go, very diverse, cheaper rent than other nearby areas, local businesses

People fighting in the street, congestion on Main Ave, there's no walkway along the river, bad recycling pick-up

Liz

West Caldwell, NJ

Topography
Small Town Feel
Proximity to NYC
School System
Town Services: Pools, Garbage, Snow Plowing, Recreational Activities for Children

Small Town Mentality
Politics not in sync with my views
Cronyism
Property taxes (although lower than other Essex County towns)
Lack of good local merchants

Cathleen

Hillsdale, NJ

1. Hillsdale offers terrific public amenities i.e. DPW services, very helpful police department, beautiful library and swim club,, summer band concerts, nice playgrounds, wonderful summer camp programs and excellent k-12 public schools.
2. Small in size making it very convenient to shop locally and to always run into familiar faces
3. Its a beautiful, safe place to live
4. Not an especially transient town...there are many long-time residents

1. "Newer" residents have brought in shallow values i.e. expensive cars, build larger homes, take kids out of school to go on cruises or island vacations
2. Commuter railroad now runs through middle of town on weekends
3. Increased traffic on local roads
4. Kids don't walk to school anymore ...they are driven to school by their parents
5. Taxes are high ( but they do pay for all of our terrific public schools and services)

Laura Giles

Montclair, NJ

1) Great restaurant options
2) Very interesting and friendly people
3) Vibrant schools
4) Pretty older homes and trees
5) Great park system

1) People running schools not transparent
2) Too much drug use
3) Roads are poorly maintained
4) Politically undiversified
5) Taxes are ludicrously high

Hazel

Hoboken

1. A mile square of beautiful walkability (bike rider heaven!)

2. 3 different public transportation options for NYC (warning: ferry is $8 ONE WAY)

3. If you like to vote, we have a lot of elections!

4. Fascinating history and a great museum!

5. Beautiful waterfront!

1. Political corruption (Hudson County)
2. Maybe be overdeveloped or will be soon.
3. One square mile with over 50K+ residents; probably approx 20K+ dogs. (Extrapolating from national statistic of 39% own one dog; 28% of dog owners own 2 dogs) It is a lot of dog waste to deal with.
4. The parking will age you.
5. A recent influx of new residents: white, well-off, Republican. See: luxury high-rises along waterfront. Where money goes, Republicans usually follow. This is probably true for many towns of Hudson County (Jersey City and West New York) Harrison, while not on the waterfront, is another working class, largely Hispanic community that is seeing high-end development. My neighborhood has gone from over half Hispanic to overwhelmingly white: where did my Spanish neighbors go?