<p>Ridgewood, I would bet has very high property taxes (nice town, with excellent schools too). I know that there are listings for properties under 500,000, but I am sure that I would not be happy living in most lisings under 500,000 in Ridgewood. YMMV.</p>
<p>
New Jersey has a much wider range of options and exponentially better public transportation than Brooklyn.</p>
<p>Lived in Ridgewood and surrounding communities,and 500k won’t get you much of a house in those areas,but will get you a decent condo…</p>
<p>Perhaps you care correct, but OP will need to consider the property taxes (paying for schools the OP may no longer need). Also, consider the maintenance costs, which one would have with a condo in any town, but they can vary. Also consider things regarding a condo such as to whether you want to pay for a pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, doorkeeper, etc.</p>
<p>I’d rather pay higher taxes to live in an area with great schools,then save a few bucks and live in an area with ok or lousy schools…The value of a property is very much correlated to the school districts…But i do agree, the OP needs to determine the type of lifestyle they want to live away from work…active? passive? etc</p>
<p>^^I agree, but if the OP is on a budget and wants the greatest bang for a buck in terms of lifestyle while living there, the OP does not need to pay for the top/near the top NJ public school system if the OP’s children are young adults. NJ property taxes are high enough, and the homeowner needs to pay that bill while living there!</p>
<p>I took downsizing to mean the kids were grown, but if that’s not the case, I might have a different answer. My boss lives in Jersey City and there are a lot of gorgeous condos in the area in varied price ranges, and there is a lot of dining in the area as well. He commutes by PATH train, which is one of the fastest and cheapest ways of getting around in this area.</p>
<p>Even with no children,a home in a great school district holds/gains more value then one in a lesser district…now if you are living on a fixed income,don’t care about resale value, then you can live anywhere…I agree with the NJ side of the Hudson,many nice places to live with easy commutes to NYC,though it is a very urban existence,not for everyone…</p>
<p>Well, that is my point, investment for the future resale vs. living on a fixed income and making a dollar stretch for today. I do agree that as a general rule a home in a great school district holds/gains more value than one with inferior public schools.</p>
<p>There are condos near the train station in Upper Montclair. A large two-bedroom (with two bathrooms and a balcony) would go for about $315,000. Taxes are a bit high; currently, they are $2.387 per $100 of assessed value. </p>
<p>The one problem with the trains is that they do not stop at the Upper Montclair station on the weekends. But there is a DeCamp bus that stops right by the train station and goes to Port Authority seven days a week.</p>
<p>Upper Montclair has a lovely town center, with nice restaurants, many stores (including The Gap, Williams Sonoma, CVS, two supermarkets), a bank, and a movie theater.</p>
<p>I know the area well because my mom lived there before she passed away. She loved living there, because everything she needed was within walking distance. Any questions, feel free to PM me!</p>
<p>Ft Lee has a lot of good values now. It takes about 10 minutes for the bus to cross the GWB and that puts you at the GWB bus terminal to get on the subway. The catch is that you ideally need to be on a stop close to bridge plaza. Downsizer friends just moved to nice 3bd w balcony rental for under 3k and that’s with parking spaces/pool/gym.</p>
<p>“It takes about 10 minutes for the bus to cross the GWB.”</p>
<p>Whereas, whenever I try to cross the GWB in a car it takes me anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half (and I’m not kidding). Does that bus fly?</p>
<p>Seriously. trying to get into NYC from new Jersey is like playing Russian roulette, you can sail (relatively) through sometimes, and other times you will be stuck there. At least that’s been my experience.</p>
<p>“It will be decades before Harrison is gentrified…Terrible place”</p>
<p>I think you must be confusing Harrison with someplace else. I live very close to it and there’s nothing “terrible” about Harrison at all, from what I see. YMMV, I guess.</p>
<p>"New Jersey has a much wider range of options and exponentially better public transportation than Brooklyn. "</p>
<p>?? is there now a subway in New Jersey?? How long to greenwich village, say, sans bridge and tunnel roulette? Methinks “better” transportation depends in part on where you intend to be transported to. Also, some parts of Brooklyn are more convenient than others.</p>
<p>^^ how is the ferry from Guttenberg btw?? does it still exist?</p>
<p>and where oh where does anyone know about any condos/townhouses in either Glen Rock or Ridgewood? I don’t really think they exist…some in Fair Lawn maybe?</p>
<p>there are currently 2 nice townhouses listed in Ridgewood/Glen Rock…less then 600k…And if you are familiar with Northern Bergen County,Harrison is not a desirable address</p>
<p>add Wyckoff and you can find several under 500k…and wyckoff is a great community</p>
<p>tx gdogpa…friends in Ridgewood are looking to downsize… …</p>
<p>“if you are familiar with Northern Bergen County,Harrison is not a desirable address”</p>
<p>I was talking about Harrison, NY, my mistake. I didn’t know there was a Harrison in NJ. I see now I overlooked a reference to the Path train in the original post about it.</p>
<p>sorry about that…</p>
<p>that might explain it, as it was Harrison NJ that some discussion was about</p>
<p>For post #30, is that really the tax rate? I practically choked on my coffee when I read that.</p>
<p>Midwesterner here.</p>
<p>@gloworm…welcome to Essex County NJ, home of Tony Soprano! In my town, the rate is slightly higher. Worse for NJ residents is the estate tax - the Wall Street Journal has an editorial today noting that NJ has the highest combined federal & state tax at 54%.</p>