Where should I live in New Jersey that is close to Newark airport?|174744

I would like to find an affordable townhome or condo that is within 30 min drive to Newark airport. I would love to find a town with charm, stores, restaurants, close to a mall or a home depot but yet has a nice safe quiet charm to it. Please send me your suggestions. What towns in New Jersey are nice and suburban but arent in the middle of nowhere, and are still affordable. We are a young couple starting out.

How about a 45 min drive to the airport? If you can do that, I can recommend the area around Princeton. (West Windsor, Cranbury, Hopewell, Pennington, Lawrenceville, Princeton Junction, Plainsboro.) These are very good neighborhoods and at Pri Jct, there_s a commuter train station to NYC and Philli. Restaurants range from super sophisticated to diners. The prices for townhomes and condos vary. I can tell you that I haven_t seen anything for less than 200K though for a 2BR. Just have a look at realtor.com to get an idea what there is on the market in the different villages.

I agree with the first poster...go out about 45 minutes because near Newark Airport if, of course, Newark and Elizabeth. While Newark is starting to change things....it IS still Newark and Elizabeth is a dump. The Oranges (South Orange, West Orange) are rough areas as well as parts of Jersey City....if you go to the Newport section....near the Hudson, that is VERY nice but also VERY expensive...definitely not suburban.

Anywhere along Route 17 Paramus and north are good and affordable and you are near the shopping centers.

Linden...if you_re in the city its a nice little town as you described and not in the middle of nowhere. Plus its still affordable.

I lived in Matawan in 1997. At the time it was affordable, convenient to the airport, Manhattan, and (relative to further north) Atlantic City too. One of the main roads near where I lived (Rt 35) passed by the water (near Laurence Harbor I think) and it gave a nice salt breeze that was enjoyable wtih the windows open (something not true about areas a few miles north!).

Not sure if it has changed much or not, but check it out. Good luck.

West Orange has some great town house areas and is not a bad area like a previous poster suggested. Linden and Rahway are very affordable and less than 30 minutes from the airport and both look to be going through a revitalization so they may not be the greatest area now, but might be in a few years. I live in Westfield, which is safe, has great charm, is only 20 minutes from the airport, etc but there isn_t much affordable housing - no condos or townhouses - but if you want to buy a small house, it is a great town to live in! Cranford, a similar town with a cute downtown does have some apartments walking distance from the town and the train. Also, Metuchen has apartments and is very close to the Menlo Park Mall. I think there is a home depot just about everywhere.

Anywhere in the area of Northern NJ that is nice is going to cost you. Please take these suggestions and figure out if they fit into your idea of affordability: Bloomfield, Belleville, Nutley, North Arlington, Montclair, Glen Ridge, Caldwell, Lyndhurst.
Parts of Kearny _ Harrison are nice, others aren_t as nice so be careful and very observant of the areas.
There are some lower priced homes available in Newark itself - - the town is trying to develop and has been cleaning up, but you might not want to chance it.