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My wife and I have been living in Clifton for 4 years (Right after we got married). We have a son due in September and are just wondering what the future of Clifton is. We live in the Richfield section (In a house). Off Clifton Avenue in-between Van Houten and Allwood Rd. Where do you see Clifton in say 10-15 years???
You live in a nice part of Clifton. The elementary schools are numerous and sorted by district and are pretty good. HS is another story...I have family members who were happy their kids were done with HS a few years ago as they said everything was on the decline with the retiring of some great teachers over the years and incoming ones not so great. The HS is huge and mixes everyone in Clifton into one. Clifton in the northern and northeastern parts are becoming more diverse.
On a side note there's a great place by you that makes baked empanadas that I just can't get enough of! Its on Market St called Spanish Empanadas Grill...I sure hope that place is still around in 10-15 yrs.
Clifton has about 30 years left before the downturn. I've lived in it my whole life and it's been a slow drip with the trouble creeping in.
When we chose to buy our house, having lived here we knew the last couple of decent sections. First and foremost anything South of Paulison Ave ( from the Pathmark down to Rt.3 , Allwood Road ) is still pretty good.
Allwood section is still nice, though there are issues with some of the Richfield Apt. people, but it's very few and far between. When we lived off Olga B. We had no problems with the kids going out at night or reason to worry.
Anything opposite ( Paulison Ave to Main Ave and in between )that we didn't want to live in for 2 reasons. First, The kids would have gone to CC Middle School, which is a war zone and second anything down there is either in the police blotter or I pick up on my local police scanner.
Paterson / Passaic seem to be held at bay by the sections for now, but I fear it's going to creep in. Already my kids have had students they were in class with removed because of non-resident parents putting their kids into Clifton schools. It's only going to slowly get worse.
I went to CHS relatively recently, and my kids aren't there yet. We may move because of this. CHS has gotten, worse is the wrong term, but it's " tougher ". The kids are fighting/assaulting each other, girls are being assaulted in stairwells, lots of the good teachers are retiring and the new ones are just fresh cannon fodder.
Take a ride around 2:45 down to Colfax Ave and watch the kids leave school. You'll get a better picture of my concern.
The below video was shot 30ft from Paulison Ave. In the end the cop was cleared of any wrongdoing. Mostly because of what wasn't shown on this video ( the kid being pulled off another, the cop separating him and then the kid gong back for more ).
I agree with comments above. Clifton is on decline. Like any other city, it does have some very good sections and some very good section but most of the town is still pretty good. They are building a lot along Route 3 so it going to be a good shopping hub. With all that money coming in, maybe they will invest some more in their schools and improve the HS, which is in real bad shape.
Part of the problem also is that a lot of Clifton's jewish population send their children to private schools and are not very concerned about the quality of schools.
With housing price so low, a lot of families looking for better places are moving out of Clifton to other places and lower income immigrant families are buying those houses.
I agree with comments above. Clifton is on decline. Like any other city, it does have some very good sections and some very good section but most of the town is still pretty good. They are building a lot along Route 3 so it going to be a good shopping hub. With all that money coming in, maybe they will invest some more in their schools and improve the HS, which is in real bad shape.
Part of the problem also is that a lot of Clifton's jewish population send their children to private schools and are not very concerned about the quality of schools.
With housing price so low, a lot of families looking for better places are moving out of Clifton to other places and lower income immigrant families are buying those houses.
You can't fix the high school by throwing money at it. One thing some folks haven't caught on to yet, is money doesn't fix the quality of people - garbage in, garbage out. Clifton taxes are nearly as high as surrounding areas, yet the garbage is still there. Why? Would doubling the taxes help? Not at all. What they need is a zero tolerance policy - you "f" up, you are "out permenantly". You go out and commit crime, guess what - toss your azz in a nice jail cell.
How does Bloomfield's situation compare to that of Clifton? I feel they are similar in some ways, with both having nice sections of town and both having areas I'd never live in. High schools seem iffy for both as well. Was wondering if one of the two is considered "better" or if they are for the most part equal?
How does Bloomfield's situation compare to that of Clifton? I feel they are similar in some ways, with both having nice sections of town and both having areas I'd never live in. High schools seem iffy for both as well. Was wondering if one of the two is considered "better" or if they are for the most part equal?
It's a toss-up (I'd take Bloomfield over Clifton), but if the student knows to avoid the trouble-makers, then they should be able to do well no matter where they attend. It's funny, for all the talk about this town being better than the others, you don't see successful people originating only from those towns. In fact, I haven't seen one high ranking influential figure in government, private or public sector having trumpeted "I'm from Montvale/Ridgewood/Summit, Westfield/Essex Fells". Usually it's the snobs who are blowing their horn. The one good thing about this country is everyone is given a "fair shot". There are successful people who come from the "poor or mediocre or so-so" towns as well, in fact, I'll wager that those who have to overcome adversity turn out better than the 'ner well - to - dos.
There are successful people who come from the "poor or mediocre or so-so" towns as well, in fact, I'll wager that those who have to overcome adversity turn out better than the 'ner well - to - dos.
I totally agree with this. A lot of children growing up in nicer, safe, isolated towns fail when it comes to real life. Based on my experience, I've seen lot more successful people coming out smaller middle class towns where children are street smart and know how to "handle" stuff.
And on top of that, overly protective parents are making things work for these children, and our schools are going more and more on "everybody wins" mentality because parents can't see their children lose.
You can't fix the high school by throwing money at it. One thing some folks haven't caught on to yet, is money doesn't fix the quality of people - garbage in, garbage out. Clifton taxes are nearly as high as surrounding areas, yet the garbage is still there. Why? Would doubling the taxes help? Not at all. What they need is a zero tolerance policy - you "f" up, you are "out permenantly". You go out and commit crime, guess what - toss your azz in a nice jail cell.
You make it sound like Clifton is a ghetto which is not even close to being accurate.
You can fix the problem with the HS in Clifton by throwing money at it.... By building a second high school. Clifton has the largest school in the state and is too big and overcrowded. Has to be very difficult to manage a school that large.
I dont have kids, but I have lived in Clifton for several years and like it. I like my neighborhood, lots of entertainment/shopping nearby, easy access to NYC, and it doesnt get much better location wise in NJ. There are a lot of advantages to living in Clifton.
Perhaps you should investigate towns like Little Falls, Rutherford, Caldwell, Verona and Cedar Grove.
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One thing some folks haven't caught on to yet, is money doesn't fix the quality of people - garbage in, garbage out. Clifton taxes are nearly as high as surrounding areas, yet the garbage is still there. Why? Would doubling the taxes help? Not at all. What they need is a zero tolerance policy - you "f" up, you are "out permenantly". You go out and commit crime, guess what - toss your azz in a nice jail cell.
