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We've been looking at a lot of homes in Paramus area, we love the nice, quiet leafy neighborhoods (specifically in the north western section of Paramus) that are close to downtown Ridgewood, the abundance of new construction homes and the low taxes. The school system seems good enough for us, especially K-5 since I believe the elementary school is a blue ribbon school.
How does New Milford compare to Paramus? The taxes are higher, but the homes are also less expensive. Is the school system on par? How is the town in terms of safety and just the general feel? What about flooding? We looked at Hasbrouck Heights, and didn't really like the feel of that town.
Any information and insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
I grew up in the northwestern part of Paramus. I loved it there. I take it that you're talking about Stony Lane or Parkway elementary schools? They were, and continue to be, fine. My friends choose to go back to that area (and to Paramus in general) to raise their own kids.
Though I lived in New Milford for a couple of years, I can't really speak for the school system there.
New Milford is a good town. People say the schools aren't great, but what does that really mean? I always say, parenting > schools (unless it is like inner city type school where violence hinders education)
New Milford has OK schools... I give them B-/C+, while Paramus gets B+. Now if you are looking for A schools, Riverdell is one example (River Edge and Oradell share same schools).
Paramus is middle to upper class town with low property taxes due to all businesses (but new and large homes have slightly higher taxes). Paramus is a great town and much more things to do, and much bigger as well. New Milford is also nice town, but I still prefer Paramus more.
If you could find a nice home for great price in Paramus go for it, otherwise stick with New Milford. New Milford also have apartments and more townhouses, while Paramus is generally single family homes (Both McMansions and regular).
Keep in mind that parts of New Milford is in flood zone, especially near the train tracks near River Edge border. In 2007, that whole area was flooded due to heavy rain and got damaged. My parents' were suppose to buy a small house in New Milford, but did not purchase due to it was in flood zone area.
New Milford has OK schools... I give them B-/C+, while Paramus gets B+. Now if you are looking for A schools, Riverdell is one example (River Edge and Oradell share same schools).
Paramus is middle to upper class town with low property taxes due to all businesses (but new and large homes have slightly higher taxes). Paramus is a great town and much more things to do, and much bigger as well. New Milford is also nice town, but I still prefer Paramus more.
If you could find a nice home for great price in Paramus go for it, otherwise stick with New Milford. New Milford also have apartments and more townhouses, while Paramus is generally single family homes (Both McMansions and regular).
Keep in mind that parts of New Milford is in flood zone, especially near the train tracks near River Edge border. In 2007, that whole area was flooded due to heavy rain and got damaged. My parents' were suppose to buy a small house in New Milford, but did not purchase due to it was in flood zone area.
This pretty much nails it, although I'd bump Paramus schools up into the "A-" range. While not quite as good as the schools in the super-elite towns, they are still excellent.
New Milford is a perfectly fine town, however, and while not as nice as Paramus, is far more affordable. You may want to also consider Fair Lawn, which has housing prices comparable to New Milford's, but better schools (still not quite as good as Paramus's, but the town is far more affordable).
You may want to also consider Fair Lawn, which has housing prices comparable to New Milford's, but better schools (still not quite as good as Paramus's, but the town is far more affordable).
Fair Lawn may have affordable homes, but all of those are very old and needs lots of update. I looked into many homes in that area, none of them were not move-in ready. I couldn't believe how people would live in those homes. I'll rather live in small apartment than in those filthy homes.
To be honest, Bergen County is quite expensive. Move-in ready homes starts at least $450-$550K in decent towns with OK or good schools. If you want something really nice, they start $700-$800K.
Fair Lawn may have affordable homes, but all of those are very old and needs lots of update. I looked into many homes in that area, none of them were not move-in ready. I couldn't believe how people would live in those homes. I'll rather live in small apartment than in those filthy homes.
Umm...is this true??? I'm looking into Fair Lawn myself.
Umm...is this true??? I'm looking into Fair Lawn myself.
Yeah, lots of crap capes in Fair Lawn. We looked in Fair Lawn, Saddle Brook, ended up buying south of that and ended up with an old house with lots of character...but no one wants to live south of Paramus so just ignore this.
I actually just closed on a house in Fair Lawn recently. There's a lot of crap inventory but you will find gems every once in a while. When my wife and I first started looking into Fair lawn, we really wanted to find a house in the Lyncrest school district but the only house we liked went under contract pretty quickly. Lyncrest school was recently named a 'Reward school' (only 5 schools in bergen county were given this award. the others were 1 in Wyckoff, 2 in Glen Rock & 1 in Alpine) Lyncrest Elementary School in Fair Lawn earns Reward School designation - NorthJersey.com
New Milford has some flood zones, so be wary of that. And I agree with the other posts, Paramus has better ranked schools than New Milford.
In certain price ranges, Paramus can be tough to get into. Lots of competition in the lower price ranges.
I would rank Fair Lawn over New Milford. Try to stay in the Lyncrest, Milnes, or Radburn sections.
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