any info about either east brunswick or highland park?

amother

Thu, Jun 23 2011, 12:00 am

does anyone know anything about either of these communities? we are looking to move (next summer) to a community that is a little bit less "city"-like.

we are looking for a place where we will get our moneys worth while at the same time, day to day living is affordable. I would lilke to have a nice yard for my kids to play in, not the 2x4 we have no. I dont want our neighbors shouldnt be right on top of us, but there should be families within walking distance. (I dont want to live way out in the boondocks, but after living in a busy "city"-like place for 5 years, im ready for a little change.
what are the schools and shuls like there? what is the job market like for a mom who has no schooling but lots of work experience? is the cost of living sky high, like it is here, or is it manageable? I dont need a family community, but I do need a warm, friendly, not too modern but not too yeshivish place (thats the compromise- I lean more to the left and my husband leans more to the right, and we need a place that is not on either end but is somewhere in between)

any info you have would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance!!

(anon cuz I dont want any of my friends who may be hereand know who I am that we are considering moving. one person found out and was VERY upset, and seeing as its not happening soon, I want to avoid that)

Tapuzi

Thu, Jun 23 2011, 8:29 am

Look up the threads about Edison here- HP and Edison are the same community. EB is a few miles away, with it's own shul, but shares schools with the HP/ Edison community. I don't know EB as well but AFAIK it's more modern.

vicki

Fri, Jun 24 2011, 12:22 pm

I don't think East Brunswick would suit your needs but perhaps Highland Park or Elizabeth might.
It seems to me East Brunswick doesn't have much local in terms of schools, restaurants...
Highland Park and Elizabeth do each have a few. I think they are both nice, small town communities with warm families.

amother

Fri, Jun 24 2011, 1:37 pm

I grew up in Edison/ Highland Park. They are the same community but Highland Park has smaller older houses. The same eruv covers both towns. The community has many shuls. One shul is very to the right and one shul is very to the left. The other shuls are a huge mix. (in my parents shul some men wear black hats and some men wear shorts on shabbos afternoon)
Restaurants: one chinese, one pizza store, one dogies type of store, one kosher dunkin donuts/ baskin robbins, one bakery and the local butcher shop has full takeout place.
They have one kelim mikvah, one ladies mikvah and the mens mikvah is 10 minute drive
Schools: RPRY is a coed school in edison. boys and girls are seperated after forth grade but still in same building. YST has a boys and girls divisions in separate buildings. Reenas bais Yaakov is a new high school that opened a few years ago. I dont know much about it cuz it opened after I graduated.

East Brunswick is a 15 minute drive from Edison. EB has one large modern shul and no schools (except RPRY has a preschool there) They have no kosher restaurants and one ladies mikvah.

let me know if you have any more questions

amother

Fri, Jun 24 2011, 2:46 pm

amother wrote:

thanks so much for all that info....I tried to look up older threads, but it was getting way too confusing for me Smile

my husband said that a lot of the kids from eb go to edison for school, so im not too concerned about that.
do you know anything about tuition costs? where I am, kindergarten (with all of the extra expenses added on) is 9,500....is that similar to the cost in edison? also in terms of special needs, are they able to accommodate s/t like adhd? my son is 4, and he doesnt have a diagnosis yet, but he is the textbook adhd kid, and I need to know that whatever school I send him to will be willing/able to work with us. (we would most likely send our kids to sharei tzion, I think thats what its called)
in terms of housing, do you get a lot for your money? I dont want to pay 400,000 for a house and get a 3 bedroom with a 2x4 backyard. for that I can stay here. I want to have a nice size back yard, and I dont want my neighbors to be right on top of me, but I also dont want everything to be so far away that my kids cant walk to their friends on shabbos.
also, how far is the commute from both to lakewood? my husband works there and will not be giving up his job.

thanks for your help!! have a great shabbos Smile

Tapuzi

Fri, Jun 24 2011, 3:08 pm

I grew up in HP but went to RPRY so I can't speak to whether shaarei Zion can accommodate special needs but if you live in Lakewood now you're not going to get more for your money in Edison, house-wise. 400k is definitely on the low end if the price spectrum. You may find something with a nice backyard but the house would probably need work. It's about 40 minutes from Edison to Lakewood, I guess closer to 30 from EB. Do a search of houses for sale in the 08904 and 08817 zip codes on the njmls, but keep in mind some 08817 (Edison) are not really in the frum area.

amother

Fri, Jun 24 2011, 3:31 pm

I dont know anything about tuition or housing cost because I lived with my parents and they took care of all that.

Lakewood is a one hour drive from Edison/HP (45 min from EB) but its a nice drive with no tolls and there is never traffic

The EB community is much more spread out. In Edison/HP ppl live coser together but not on top of each other

yo'ma

Sat, Jun 25 2011, 6:44 pm

amother wrote:

Reenas bais Yaakov is a new high school that opened a few years ago. I dont know much about it cuz it opened after I graduated.

My niece just graduated there (maybe the first graduating class, don't know) and my sil said it's fantastic!! The amother who went to RPRY might have had her, my sil, as a teacher. She teaches 1st grade hebrew. Smile

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 12:05 am

yo'ma wrote:

amother wrote:

Reenas bais Yaakov is a new high school that opened a few years ago. I dont know much about it cuz it opened after I graduated.

I think this year was the second graduating class of Reenas

I had Mrs. Weintraub but my brother had your SIL for first grade. She was a great morah! Very Happy

slushiemom

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 10:56 am

Hey Edison ppl! I grew up there too and went to RPRY... I graduated 8th grade in 1999. any classmates here?

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 2:07 pm

is Edison/HP to Manhattan a crazy commute if I end up getting a job in the city??

slushiemom

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 2:09 pm

amother wrote:

is Edison/HP to Manhattan a crazy commute if I end up getting a job in the city??

My father did it for 20 years. Depends what your husband does, is he home with the kids? It's about an hour and a half commute into the city.

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 2:22 pm

Tapuzi wrote:

op here
I dont live in lakewood, my husband works there and would be keeping his job, so wherever we move would have to be commutable. 400k was just a number I was throwing out there, not a number I am expectine to pay.

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 2:43 pm

op here again....is there anyone who can tell me about tuition and cost of living? and also taxes?

amother

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 3:00 pm

Hey slushiemom- I graduated RPRY in 1999 too!

slushiemom

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 3:38 pm

amother wrote:

Hey slushiemom- I graduated RPRY in 1999 too!

Ok now I'm really curious... If you pm me I'll tell you who I am- then maybe you will too :)you could prob figure me out tho if you read my posts