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With all of your connections to PA, you’re really looking in the wrong state for retirement in my opinion. I don’t knock much about NJ, but unless you are retiring from a municipality connected to this state, it is definitely not a retirement-friendly location.
I’ve never lived more than 2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean my whole life, but you best believe in true retirement I’m going west or south. NJ taxes us until we die with very little exemption. You’re losing a ton of money compared to PA if you retire here.
My recommendation? Move to PA and buy a small beach house here with the money you’d be saving on state and real estate taxes!
My complaint about North Carolina are the breweries. While craft beer hit its peak in 2015 seems like North Carolina decided, lets not invest into restaurants because they have Cracker Barrell but build a brewery of every corner. After a short time being there you never want to go to one ever again.
Just keep in mind with the Jersey Shore that while June thru September are great months to be down there, the Jersey Shore is a cold gray skied ghost town for 8 months of the year.
Madison and many towns in North Jersey have beautiful downtowns, Madison has probably a skewed demographic to older people (families moving there in their late 40s, early 50s) due to the high prices and schools, but its one of those places that once people get their last kid finished with highschool they sell and move down south to retire.
You do realize that many of us live near enough to the ocean and visit it all year to know that's not true, right? Not sure why you would therefore try to get away with saying such a thing The beaches and ocean can have beautiful days all year round--yes, some of them are cold, but the skies are gray 8 months? And ghost towns?
Why do you make up stuff like this? It only makes you look silly, and when you say things that are untrue, other things you say may not be taken seriously even if they are valid. Aren't you old enough to have been taught this?
OP, unfortunately, like all forums, there are Debbie Downers and people who thrive on negativity here to the point where they will actually LIE to reinforce it. Don't pay any attention. When in NJ, I go to the beach regularly all year round, and I have a good number of photos taken at the shore on gorgeous days in December, January, February, March...to prove it.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,776 posts, read 15,776,851 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lancers
9K? My son lives in Cary and his place is assessed over 500K and his taxes are only 6K. What town you in?
The cost of the property tax on cars in NC is more than made up by the lower cost of car insurance.
I live in Chapel Hill. Our property taxes are much higher than those in Cary. You're right about car insurance. I forgot about that! Although Pennsylvania has high car insurance, too. I remember how much it went down when I moved out of PA many years ago. Thanks for the reminder.
You do realize that many of us live near enough to the ocean and visit it all year to know that's not true, right? Not sure why you would therefore try to get away with saying such a thing The beaches and ocean can have beautiful days all year round--yes, some of them are cold, but the skies are gray 8 months? And ghost towns?
Why do you make up stuff like this? It only makes you look silly, and when you say things that are untrue, other things you say may not be taken seriously even if they are valid. Aren't you old enough to have been taught this?
OP, unfortunately, like all forums, there are Debbie Downers and people who thrive on negativity here to the point where they will actually LIE to reinforce it. Don't pay any attention. When in NJ, I go to the beach regularly all year round, and I have a good number of photos taken at the shore on gorgeous days in December, January, February, March...to prove it.
Can't rep you again. Love the shore in the Winter.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,776 posts, read 15,776,851 times
Reputation: 10881
Quote:
Originally Posted by Airborneguy
With all of your connections to PA, you’re really looking in the wrong state for retirement in my opinion. I don’t knock much about NJ, but unless you are retiring from a municipality connected to this state, it is definitely not a retirement-friendly location.
I’ve never lived more than 2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean my whole life, but you best believe in true retirement I’m going west or south. NJ taxes us until we die with very little exemption. You’re losing a ton of money compared to PA if you retire here.
My recommendation? Move to PA and buy a small beach house here with the money you’d be saving on state and real estate taxes!
Well, we were mostly checking in PA, partially for those reasons. Unfortunately, the towns that we love in PA are pretty pricey, especially Doylestown, which was probably our highest ranked town. Even with tax savings, we couldn't afford a shore house. That's why when I stumbled onto the New Jersey board (I cannot even remember why I started to read it) and read about Red Bank, I thought to myself that it might be worth it to pay the extra cost of living there to have easy access to amenities we love like NYC and the shore.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leps12
Red Bank is good. Another option closer to Bucks County for your family would be Somerville. Great downtown and a train as well, just like Red Bank. Even closer to Bucks County and also fitting the criteria would be Princeton, but it is quite expensive, and you are paying a premium there for things like top notch quality public schools which you will not be using. You could consider neighboring
Somerville looks really nice! See this is why I love New Jersey. So many cute towns. Yes, Princeton is very nice (we were actually there in March when I last visited my parents), but is so expensive, and like you said, we don't need the great schools. We will be back in the area later this summer and may have time to check out a few more towns, although if we like and can afford Red Bank, its proximity to the beach is a real plus in my book. Thanks for the suggestion.
Somerville is a town that has enjoyed a consistently upward trajectory for the past 8 years or so. It began to be a restaurant destination town quite a few years ago, and that situation has improved even more over the past few years. Storefronts that once housed musty low-rent collectibles stores have largely given way to more upscale retail stores and restaurants.
The amount of upscale rental and condo units that have already been erected have had a very positive effect on Somerville's walkable downtown, and more rental and condo projects are on the drawing board, thus assuring that the downtown business district will continue to expand in quality as the local population grows. There is also an active art scene, which helps to attract young professionals.
Try to visit Somerville on a Friday night. Between the Classic Car Cruise-In, and the crowds flocking to its many good restaurants, the town is really hopping on Friday nights.
Somerville looks really nice! See this is why I love New Jersey. So many cute towns. Yes, Princeton is very nice (we were actually there in March when I last visited my parents), but is so expensive, and like you said, we don't need the great schools. We will be back in the area later this summer and may have time to check out a few more towns, although if we like and can afford Red Bank, its proximity to the beach is a real plus in my book. Thanks for the suggestion.
Sorry my post before cut off. What I meant to say was for Princeton, check out neighboring town Plainsboro. Still very close to what you desire with Princeton’s downtown and train all just a short drive away, but much more affordable.
You do realize that many of us live near enough to the ocean and visit it all year to know that's not true, right? Not sure why you would therefore try to get away with saying such a thing The beaches and ocean can have beautiful days all year round--yes, some of them are cold, but the skies are gray 8 months? And ghost towns?
Why do you make up stuff like this? It only makes you look silly, and when you say things that are untrue, other things you say may not be taken seriously even if they are valid. Aren't you old enough to have been taught this?
OP, unfortunately, like all forums, there are Debbie Downers and people who thrive on negativity here to the point where they will actually LIE to reinforce it. Don't pay any attention. When in NJ, I go to the beach regularly all year round, and I have a good number of photos taken at the shore on gorgeous days in December, January, February, March...to prove it.
I've lived in NJ an aggregate of 38 years and I am just keeping it real. Summer versus winter are night and day at the Jersey Shore. Half the businesses close down the week after Labor Day and 25% more close down around early October. What is left are just the open local spots and depending on the town you live in there might be a 25-99% reduction in people living in the town. Redbank is more of a transitionary town where you have people living full and also as a vacation home. MightyQueen might have more information on how many people leave the town and businesses close down come the fall.
Come about November the sky turns gray, it gets dark early and relatively stays that way through April, then it just rains in April and May you and you will get all 4 season, sometimes in a day. Of course you will get occasional sunny, cold days. The water temperatures in NJ doesn't get warm enough to comfortably go into the water until mid-july and water temps peak in September. This time of year the Jersey Shore operates at 60-70% capacity of the people from Memorial day until after July 4th when the real summer starts.
If you don't believe me on the overcast sky's, it literally looks like a bell curve for sunny days (see the link). In a 10 day stretch in summer we will see ~7 days of sun and in a 10 day stretch of winter we will see ~3 days of sun. On June 8th we have 50% of days forward don't have overcast increasing with sunny days peaking on September 3rd where we have a 65% chance of a sunny day. This goes back downhill until November 8th where we have a 50% chance of overcast again. As each day passes we have more days of overcast until January 12th where there is only a 36% chance of having a sunny day.
There is definitely a best of both worlds would being out in the Poconos for the winter, as the cold air in the mountains hits differently than in the low lands, and the Jersey Shore for the summer. If you could swing that you would definitely be golden. In my opinion Red Bank/Jersey Shore and the Poconos are far superior than sleepy Bucks County.
OP something else to consider if you're looking at the Jersey Shore, would be Manahawkin. I'm not an expert in retirement, and older age demographics, but Manahawkin apparently is pretty known for their 55+ communities, and to be honest Manahawkin sits a little bit inland but are near the best beaches in the state. Obviously you might be a bit a distance from the city, but could be worth the costs assuming its more affordable and nature.
Last edited by DannyHobkins; 06-13-2022 at 01:01 PM..
I would agree that most Jersey Shore towns are quite empty in the off season. I think the off season has somewhat shrunk through to the point that you still get decent traffic into mid October and some people will do day trips in May prior to Memorial Day when you get appropriate weather, although still nowhere near the summer peak.
There is a stark difference between towns though. Some, but not all, towns along the NJCL actually support commuters who may choose to live there year round. Asbury Park is an exemplary town where they have supported year round living through their food and drink, music, and arts scene and doing lots of events and festivals centered on them to draw visitors year round. Point Pleasant Beach does a few off season festivals. Long Branch can draw off season crowds from the students at Monmouth University. But others like Bradley Beach, Spring Lake, Manasquan, Sea Bright, and even party destination Belmar seem highly seasonal.
Once you get south of Point Pleasant, it is almost exclusively purely seasonal except for a Atlantic City. I feel “ghost town” more or less does apply here. There is no commuter train to support a massive amount of people thinking about living year round besides those in the immediate local economy, and it is just too far away. Living in towns on barrier islands with one road in and out like Seaside Heights or anywhere on LBI are super inconvenient for whenever you have to leave, so people commuting elsewhere in NJ, Philly, or NYC would not want to live there. As it stands, the Philly oriented shore towns pretty much have no city commuters, not even Atlantic City, the only one connected by train. The distance is just too much, and Philly’s smaller size cannot support the extensive commuter sprawl the way NYC can. Towns surrounding AC like Ventnor and Brigantine house some year round commuters. You got the odd thing here and there like a polar bear plunge event, Christmas in Cape May, or a random festival in Wildwood, but beyond that, it is quite empty.
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