Young South Jersey couple moving to North Jersey (Hoboken, Fair Lawn: apartments, to rent)

[lksmith]

My fiance and I are in our mid-twenties, currently living in Collingswood, NJ. We both grew up in South Jersey (Moorestown and Mt. Laurel). My fiance just got a great job in Fair Lawn, NJ, so we're moving!

We're looking for a town with a similar feel to SJ/Collingswood, with things to do, and within 20 minutes or so of Fair Lawn. We are looking to rent a nice apartment/townhouse/condo. Nothing snooty.

I understand that Hoboken has a lot of young people, but is it too much of a college-type atmosphere?

Thanks for the help!

[luckyshoes]

Hoboken is more of a small city. More like Philly itself, rather than any of the towns around Philly in SJ. But you would probably like it enough as a starting point if you're in your mid-twenties and you don't have kids and you like to go out and have stuff to do. Right near the city too. Parking can be a pain so it depends where you are working too and if you'll want to deal with that hassle.

There are other towns in Bergen County that have nice downtowns, but they aren't exactly super happening, but maybe more of what you're looking for (Westwood, Ridgewood). Fair Lawn itself is fine too. Not sure how much there is to do right there, but there is tons of stuff around and the train line to NYC, so that wouldn't be a bad place to start out renting either. Glen Rock is another nice town right there.

Good luck with your move!

[pdevince]

If you move to Fairlawn, the only section I would ever consider moving to is the Radburn section. It commands higher housing prices, but it's worth it. THe section was designed by architects in the 20's and is designed with pedestrians in mind (i.e. pedestrian traffic is separate from vehicular traffic). There are also apartments located within the development, which suit your needs. I highly recommend driving there on a Sunday so that you can go to some of the local open houses and walk around the neighborhood.

GOOD LUCK!

[Collegeguy12]

Well...some people don't seem to read what you need...since you're renting an apartment(not buying a house pdevince) I would suggest either Ridgewood, Westwood or Fair Lawn...they are all nice towns that have apartments too...Ridgewood is definitely a bit snooty though, and Westwood to some degree...Fair Lawn is probably the most grounded of the three. And Fair Lawn is not bad, I'm not sure what pdevince is talking about...it's a decent middle class town. But Ridgewood and Westwood both have decent apartment buildings...oh and maybe Mahwah or Ramsey(which has a few). Any of these towns would be fine...I'm not familiar with Collingswood so I am just going by what seems to have been said before me.

[JerseyGirl08]

Hoboken is nice and has a ton to do for a young couple but the rents can be very expensive. Towns that are close to Fairlawn with nice downtown areas that would be good for a young couple are Rutherford, Westwood or someplace like Hasbrouck Height which has a nice strip of stores along the BLVD.
Ridgewood has a great downtown but if you are looking to stay away from Snooty then stay away from Ridgewood.

[dallasapt]

Hoboken has a 25 year old feel, bars, busy streets on weekends, smaller expensive apartments, hard to find parking , traffic.

but, also has access to city, cool walkable main street , young nightlife, and good points too.

fairlawn is heavily russian, may be hard to get into certain aspects of residential russian family community life if you are a young non russian couple, you just may be bored.

don't go too far from fairlawn, avoid long commute, unless you really like the town. try to rent at first probably. in northern nj ,hoboken is youngest crowd. many other towns are very residential family oriented and very boring for a young couple.