ANYBODY FROM NEW JERSEY???

[The Molinas 0]

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You have to drive to Elizabeth every day? You have my condolences, what a dump that place is. How close from the train station? If within walking distance, that puts you right on the NJ Corridor line, in which case I highly recommend a place close to Edison/Metropark train stations.

[The Molinas 0]

My husband has to drive to elizabeth for work. I dont have a job since i dont have my EAD yet.

He is working at elizabeth recruiting station (US army recruiter) downtown elizabeth.

Apartments in Newark seem to be pretty cheap. But from what i have seen so far its a pretty run down area

what about Perth amboy?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Newark makes New brunswick look good. And remember what I said about New Brunwick. Newark has never really recovered from the aftermath of the 67 riots.

Perth Amboy is ghetto. I mentioned this a few posts ago, stay away from the Amboys, the Plainfields and New Brunswick.

[The Molinas 0]

I see its hard to find a decent place in a decent area...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This might be nice

http://new.gsmls.com/public/detailLst.do?mlsNum=2354850

Even this place is nice, I am familiar with the complex. Nice area, they have a pool.

http://new.gsmls.com/public/detailLst.do?mlsNum=2365370

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

My husband has to drive to elizabeth for work. I dont have a job since i dont have my EAD yet.

He is working at elizabeth recruiting station (US army recruiter) downtown elizabeth.

We're moving closer to Union train station. Quiet residential neighborhood with onsite parking.

As far as Elizabeth goes, I wind the window up every time I drive through that town - imagining a scene not too far removed from this:

Makes me laugh whenever I see the effete, nasally voiced Mayor of Elizabeth doing TV ads in which he extols the virtues of "Elizabeth's Urban Enterprise Zone". They show select store fronts, omitting the trash blowing about on the streets and conveniently without the transients lying insensible in puddles of their own urine.

To what Gupt said - avoid Newark (it is really really bad - comparable to certain areas of Los Angeles) and definitely avoid Irvington (for the same reason).

The best areas of NJ I've seen so far are Westfield and Montclair - though you will be really hard pressed to find a 1 bedroom apartment for anything under $1300 - $1400. Westfield I have heard is especially expensive - but its the only town I've seen that is comparable to where we used to live in CA.

Edited February 10, 2007 by erekose

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Westfield is nice. So is Livingston. But they're both too close to the City for me. I'd love to live out in Hunterdon County but for now I am stuck in Middlesex.

[The Molinas 0]

@gupt the links dont work... It keeps telling me the sesion has expired

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The other thing to consider, if you work in the city - the further away you get, the more expensive the fares seem to be.

From where we live now its around $140/month, which if you buy a daily is about $10 (at peak time).

One place I almost interviewed at (it turned out to be far enough away to be unworkable), but not really all that far - was around $16.50 for a one way...

[The Molinas 0]

Let me summarize it...

BAD AREAS

Perth Amboy

Newark (!)

Amboys

Plainfields

New Brunswick

GOOD AREAS

Westfield

Montclair

Livingston

North Brunwick

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

How much is an average rent for a 2-bedroom in North Brunswick or Livingston?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

@gupt the links dont work... It keeps telling me the sesion has expired

Ok. Go to http://www.gsmls.com, click on "Search for Properties". The click on Middlesex (it only lets you search one county at a time).

On the next page, next to the label "Transaction sought", select Rental. Take defaults for the rest of the page and hit the Continue button at the bottom.

On the next page, choose a min and max for Rent price. I picked 1,000 for min and 2,000 for max. I also picked Minimum Bedrooms: 2. Then hit continue.

You will the see the listings in ascending order of rent price. Find your target price and work from there.

Let me summarize it...

BAD AREAS

Perth Amboy

Newark (!)

Amboys

Plainfields

New Brunswick

GOOD AREAS

Westfield

Montclair

Livingston

North Brunwick

You didnt read my posts carefully. East and South Brunswick are better than North Brunswick. North is better than New. Stay away from the parts of North bordering New.

How much is an average rent for a 2-bedroom in North Brunswick or Livingston?

In addition rent.com and apartments.com, check out gsmls.com. You'll find more privately owned condos/townhomes on the rental market on gsmls than actual apartment complexes.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Jersey City is a little dicey also. In fact anything close to the city can be adequately be described as "less than salubrious".

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yeah if you're not in Midtown, you gotta be atleast 30 minutes away.