North or South Brunswick? (Edison, Avenel: apartment, renting, condo)
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DH and I along with our 18mth old are looking to move to Middlesex county, we currently live in Springfield, NJ but we're selling our home to move into a townhouse type complex (it's a bit cheaper and the amenities seem pretty good)...but we trying to figure out if North or South Brunswick is better. I see that South Brunswick is closer to Dayton, which seems like a very good neighborhood...and we are trying to consider the resale (about 4 years) also. All we know is that they are both Blue Ribbon school districts and we drove by a few times but that's not enough grounds for us to decide. My husband commutes to NYC for work so the public transportation would be considered also.
DH and I along with our 18mth old are looking to move to Middlesex county, we currently live in Springfield, NJ but we're selling our home to move into a townhouse type complex (it's a bit cheaper and the amenities seem pretty good)...but we trying to figure out if North or South Brunswick is better. I see that South Brunswick is closer to Dayton, which seems like a very good neighborhood...and we are trying to consider the resale (about 4 years) also. All we know is that they are both Blue Ribbon school districts and we drove by a few times but that's not enough grounds for us to decide. My husband commutes to NYC for work so the public transportation would be considered also.
Can you please give us some input? Thanks.
Find at place at South Brunswick that near train station and South Brunswick High School (very new, nice building) using a lincesed realtor, and I am very sure 4 years later you will be very happy.
Princeton Walk, Southridge Hills, Whispering Woods
I know someone working at Wall St renting at Rivendell Village that can walk to Edison Train Station later bought at Southridge Hills South Brunswick and now taking a job at Singapore and keep the townhouse, will be back years later.
And, if you do move to South Brunswick, there is a huge Asian food center and Chinatown Supermarket.
Also, Tracy's husband used to work at Toyota now working at home garage that you can call to get your auto service at 917 669-8209 (cell). Toyota at Avenel charges me $85 an hour labor only paid her husband $17 an hour, so I would just go to her home for auto service.
She also has 3 kids going to school there, so first hand info is handy. They used to live at Queens and husband working at Queens Toyota.
While there are some areas of North Brunswick that are very pretty and the schools have improved somewhat in the past years, South Brunswick is a better way of life for some and has a small town feel to it, especially when you are involved with the schools. I know a huge amount about the school system and have actually stayed in South Brunswick for almost 20 years in large part for the schools and really not much else. I'm not just talking about the academics, I'm talking about the quality of life provided to families with the schools as an anchoring factor.
While new homes in SB are out of reach for many, the tax base is still on the lower side of Middlesex County and the surrounding areas. The commute to NYC (which my husband has done by car for almost 20 years) is not inconvenient.
We are originally from Queens too and the hardest part of adjusting to life in NJ is that fact that there are few places to go for a midnight dinner, which is probably a NY characteristic we have held onto. Other than that, we love life here, especially in SB, and have considered moving several times to get a bigger house, but continue to find the quality of life in SB worth the trade off.
North Brunswick is a bit more hectic in many areas and the community is more divided when it comes to the schools and what they support.
You mentioned South Brunswick being "near" Dayton. While the township is actually called South Brunswick, there is no such thing as a South Brunswick mailing address. There are several town names which compose SB, Dayton is one of them. The others are Kendall Park, Deans, Monmouth Junction and Kingston; all with different zip codes. So Dayton is actually in SB, as are the others I mentioned. There is actually an area of SB that has a Princeton address as well. The other person who replied is correct in saying there is not a bad area of SB. The prices for home purchase also range from affordable to WOW!, as do the taxes--with newer homes being taxed much higher, of course. One thing I must say though is that no matter which area you live in, be it a rental, trailer park, townhome or home in any price range, it is not easily discernable who comes from where, especially among the school children at any level, nor do they really seem to care.
Happy Home Hunting!
Last edited by amb08824; 06-04-2007 at 09:37 AM..
Reason: spelling
amb08824::Thanks for the info and input. After speaking w/ my husband, we are leaning towards SB. I didn't know that there's no mailing address of SB and it's broken into smaller towns, now I understand why some listings say SB/Monmouth Junction, etc. We will be meeting with our broker tonight to get an assessment of our current house in Springfield, NJ and hopefully it'll go well.
Yes, moving from NY to NJ was a big change for us as well, we've lived in NJ for the past...almost 7 years and finally we are adjusting. Currently, my husband drives to NYC from Springfield, NJ and its a little less than an hour (he leaves before the major rush, at about 5:45am), we're hoping that from SB it won't be more than an additional 30 mins. Or that public transportation is easily accessible!
As far as moving to SB, we are looking forward to it, even though it will be sad to leave Springfield, financially it's a better decision. We're looking for reasonable townhouses in SB and of course, any move is a scary move. Thanks for all the input and valuable information, it's a great help (and reassuring!) hearing from residents of SB.
In fact, I was at Barnes & Nobel Springfield the other day and clean the whole area with the Trash Fishing Team and my neighbor Joan at Edison Hollow South just moved over there. Springfield is a nice places.
There are several nice places in Sprintfield we still visit a lot since my first car bought over there.
Joan need to sold her condo at EHS and bought another one at Springfield was because she retired and no need to walk to Edison Train Station, besides, she got car accident and daughter living at Springfield, 45 minute one way to come take care of her. So, this was a great arrangement.
I think South Brunswick may be more match for young family to expand, and don't feel sad since you can still visit Springfield like us. Bring your family to return to nice parks or places at Springfield to clean up for them in one nice weekend, you will "feel home"! and may be visit once a year.
Like I just took my family to clean up Grandview school of Piscataway that kids used to go, and we all feel home, and we can still see the playground my father donated for the school years ago when they had none.
This is like we visit Queens every so often, in fact, we are member of the NY Science Museum at Queens.
Even Tracy's husband drove back to Queens to repair their old friends' car there every week or two and stay at her father's apartment. So, as you can see Queens and NJ is very close and tightly couple together. By the way, Tracy bought this nice home with 2ac after year of searching at the street call Deans Ln at Monmouth Junction. right off Rt 1, so they can visit Queens on Rt 1 to Fwy 287 to Rt 440, Fwy 278 ... all highways to Queens, less than one hour at right time. That street all big lots, no townhouses, but that street can comercialize and many "home garages" are on that street...
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, thanks for all the info!
North or South Brunswick
