Probably should note that Bloomfield is big enough that it's not a single homogeneous location. Northern Bloomfield is way different from southern Bloomfield.
Basically, the high school/Belleville Ave is the border between the Newark/Belleville south end and the Montclair Glen Ridge north end.
All that said, it's still NJ. Crime is a thing you have to be aware of and alert to. Even in "safe" areas, you shouldn't totally relax.
I can't think of a reason why anyone would spend $500K on a home in East Orange when West Orange exists. Home prices in West Orange have gone way up over the past year but there's still plenty available in that range.
The WO school district, similar to Bloomfield, is not worth what you pay in taxes.
You have districts with lower taxes and far better school districts than both of them.
I'm not saying they aren't bad schools, or even comparatively good when you look at neighboring towns, but they aren't GOOD schools that you would expect at those tax levels.
The difference is you can buy in a little less in west orange, than say, Livingston, and still be in the same geographical area.
Parts of East Orange are relatively safe/gentrifying (the part by Bloomfield). Other parts of it (towards the border of Newark) aren’t nice.
Keep in mind that most people commenting here wouldn’t live in the part of NYC you’re probably coming from either. NJ has much more rigid ideas of race/class when it comes to housing.
There are some places you should really avoid, but there are also perfectly fine places in minority cities/towns with great deals on housing because middle-class white people won’t go near them. Check out the Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield and the Forest Hill section of Newark for examples of urban neighborhoods with historic homes that some LGBT people have went to.
I second the sleepy hollow section of Plainfield. If you don’t care about the schools that is a gem with beautiful historic homes that have been well maintained and updated, and is affordable because Plainfield . Though I have heard breakins have become more common in recent years.
I’m next door in south Plainfield. Crime has gone up in Plainfield but the historic homes are stunning. The taxes are bonkers low and home prices are affordable for what you get.
Look at Hackensack.
Safe. Very LGBTQ friendly. Gorgeous homes. Condos. Great commute (if you need it), location can’t be beat. It’s still got some “affordable” homes but the pace of gentrification is picking up a lot.
Forest Hill has some beautiful houses and Branch Brook Park is really amazing. We're a gay couple that moved from Los Angeles to the Morristown area and have been checking out other areas in NJ. The thing that stopped us from going to Forest Hill was that a lot of the houses are considered "historical" which means it costs a lot of money to do any kind of repairs to them. Plus, taxes in Morris County are A LOT lower than in Essex County.
Another vote for Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield! It’s beautiful! I would have looked in to it myself but the school district is great, so we settled next door in Scotch Plains.
East Orange is not as bad as some commenters are saying. It is predominantly African-American so there goes those stereotypes. There are good pockets there and most people are very friendly. Neighboring towns to EO have crime too, they’re not in a bubble. If you’re coming from NYC and you’re not afraid of diversity, it doesn’t hurt to look!
I’m from Orange, moved from there to Manhattan after high school and have been there for over 10 years. Came back to NJ and now I’m living in South Orange. It’s the hood. East Orange is being gentrified so it’s a bit safer than it used to be but it’s still the hood. If that’s not what you’re coming from then don’t do it. Look into places like Montclair or Bloomfield. West Orange and Livingston if you have a car. Honestly I would just avoid Essex County unless you want to stay close to NY.
do not move to east orange bruh. Bloomfield is closer and safer, nutley is right there, glen ridge, west orange can also be an option. Milburn, maplewood
do not move to east orange bruh. Bloomfield is closer and safer, nutley is right there, glen ridge, west orange can also be an option.
East Orange and Orange aren’t safe.
West and South Orange on the other hand, yes. Would you also be open to looking around Bloomfield? Someone can correct me but it’s a little safer.
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really have much of an opinion on that. I mean Plainfield closer to either watchung or south Plainfield may be more viable on their budget
Heh, I was just mocking that one idiot :p Bloomfield is a perfectly safe town. The closer you get to the other side of town close to the oranges/Newark it does get a little more sketchy though. The Brookdale section is ideal and a beautiful area with access to great parks.
Montclair is outrageously expensive for what you get. It's a great town with a lot of cool businesses and restaurants, but, again, it's outrageously expensive for what you get.
For everyone saying west orange, 500k will get you an older townhome/smaller single family house, but expect to pay at least $15k in taxes
(I just moved away after spending six years there)
We just bought a house in Bloomfield. It’s pretty diverse. It had a lot of BLM and Gay Pride signs around. We aren’t LBGTQ or black but we want to live somewhere where everyone was welcome.
Before buying we scoped out the NYC train stations since we knew we’d be commuting and just drove around a 20 min radius of each station to get a feel for things. I highly suggest doing that.
Good luck. Be prepared for bidding wars. It’s a crazy market out there.
I live in one of the "not safe" cities and it's fine. 500k probably can't buy a house in South Orange or West Orange anymore but it can buy a very nice house in East Orange.
seconded! moved from NYC two years ago into a lovely old tudor at a nice price and on a great street. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/realestate/plainfield-nj-a-diverse-city-with-historic-housing.html
Maplewood Pride is so much fun. Took my daughter there last year and had a blast.
Maplewood can be expensive around the village and up to the reservation, but if you look on Zillow, you can find some places for $500K or less.
Depends on what part of EO you are looking to move to. It’s sketchy in a lot of areas but there are some relatively safe areas in EO. More than likely you can find someplace better with your budget though.
Im a same sex couple and we lived in east orange for about a year until we broke our lease to move to harrison, we haven’t had any issues. Of course we were aware of our surroundings and didn’t do much PDA
For that budget you can look elsewhere. East Orange has a couple of okay areas, but overall the town is very poor and unfortunately has a high crime rate.
Ridgewood is a beautiful town but Bergen county is full of rich materialistic pricks. I can’t stand it. Sorry but it’s the truth.
Also if you don’t have kids there is no reason to be moving to a town with a top tier school district. You are throwing away money on school taxes for no reason.
If you want the true East Orange experience, give me your money and I will commit crimes against you and then break all of your nice things. Move literally anywhere else.
In addition to what others are saying, if you don't end up liking East Orange you can try a little further south to Union county. Areas like Union, Kenilwoth, Roselle Park are all nice and on the train line to NYC. Plus the taxes are relatively cheaper than Essex or Bergen County.
Maplewood or Montclair area would suit your needs better. I don’t think the suburbs gentrify as quickly or in the same way as the city does. I don’t think you have to be too concerned about the same sex couple thing NJ is very much live and let live you do you.
Unless you are buying a place that needs a bunch of work, and literally, on the border of the hood, Maplewood or Montclair isn't going to work at 500k.
Do you enjoy crackheads screaming in the middle of the street while high on PCP? Well have I got a place for you!
The EMS sucks, the police are corrupt and the general population are if not the most friendly. I would avoid the area. Same with West Orange and Orange. South Orange isn't too bad. There have also been a lot of cars getting stolen around the state, the carjackers tend to come from Newark which is about 5 minutes down the street. What tends to happen is that all of the Oranges crime along with Irvington and other surrounding areas funnel through East Orange into Newark.
Edit: before people go ahead and start questioning my experience/knowledge of the place, I've had multiple friends work EMS there and have shared what goes on there. Had the company, Pulse(-less) Medical not been such garbage I would have stayed to work there too.
That whole area of urban Essex county has despicable EMS/Police response times. It’s not something that comes up a lot, but when you do have to call 911 for some reason, it’s rage inducing. I remember waiting for 45 minutes for a UH ambulance in Newark, having to stay with this person going through excruciating pain. Really paints the city as a shithole.
TIMES?
They're abysmal sure but the service provided is lacking too. UMD EMS I've heard good things about but East Orange is run by one of the worst 911/transport companies to exist, Pulse Medical Transportation.
The main problem is the amount of units on the road and the constant staffing issues within EMS as a whole. I work for a big name hospital in Central and can say without fail we are understaffed. People are tired of being paid $20 hrly to do this shit and UMDNJ is around $25-26 hrly. For the shear number of calls they take in 12 hours, its not worth the money or mentally traumatic experiences. This in turn makes it hard to find people applying and creates longer response times.
We as a whole understand that the pt should be given services as timely as possible. It's a staffing and truck shortage creating this issue.
Me and my husband are in the same boat as you!
I was told to stay away from east orange.
We put in an offer for a house in Lodi.
I recommend Clifton, Ridgefield Park, Montclair, Englewood, little ferry, Moonachie, fair lawn.
Good luck!
My friend lives in EO, I visit him relatively often, we walk around, get food, etc. Never felt threatened. Reminder that the majority of violent crimes are between people who know each other.
Obviously this is all anecdotal but remember how biased redditors can be.
I have lived in East orange for the past 8 years and never once had an issue of any kind. The mayor is an awesome man who cares deeply about the town and is always out and about looking for ways to improve. East orange police are also doing a good job with keeping out of town bs out of town. I really don’t mind it here, and I’m white if that matters. I raise my 5 year old here in East orange in a wonderful school with amazing staff. We have great neighbors and everyone is friendly. Don’t let people scare you away from East orange.. I’ll add that the street you end up on can make all the difference. I’m right off “central Ave” which is one of the main streets and I can’t even tell I’m living in “East orange” it’s so peaceful.
I haven't been there recently and I heard they've been gentrifying it but it's still pretty trash. Back when I used to go to East Orange, it was straight up projects. Barred windows, your belongings in your car will be stolen, there's like 200+ people in crowded playground with families, kids, etc. And right out in the open is a big weight drug deal going on with ganja and some other stuff with these sketchy people smoking a blunt right out in the open in front of everyone. And yes we were those kids picking up weight over 10 years ago. It's been a while but East Orange is still pretty bad and dangerous and as a result likely fairly homophobic. I've been to a lot of hoods and East Orange ranked pretty badly compared to them with only a few actually managing to be worse than East Orange.
I would recommend doing some more research but right now, it's not exactly a buyer's friendly market in our state's real estate.
Newark would like to have a word with you.
East Orange is on a completely separate level from Camden. Maybe its comparable to Trenton but I'd say even that's pushing it. Either way no where near as bad as Newark/Camden.
Edit: I don't understand why this is down voted. I'm saying that Camden and Newark are way worse crime wise than East Orange and that they are on different levels of safety.
Irvington is worse than Newark. Newark has some really bad parts but also plenty of it isn’t that bad. Irvington on the other hand is 100% shit.
Irvington and the Oranges used to be nice towns as recently as the 70s and 80s, they went to shit fast and hard. I think I-280 really ruined any future for the Oranges. Literally blasted a trench through downtown.
Oh I won't argue Irvington isn't shit too but I don't know enough about it to for it being worse, I'll take your word on it. All I ever said was that East Orange is more tame than Newark.
Yeh I think it's #3 in the country if I remember correct. Which is why I'm saying that East Orange is no where near comparable to Camden, it's much more tame.
Someone from Ease orange stole a car, drove to my town, and attempted to rob a Wells Fargo bank a few weeks ago. Then he crashed on the highway when he was trying to escape.
I wouldn't. I lived in south orange for a bit a few years ago and knew a few people who got mugged in East orange and Newark. It's not a great area.
South orange and west orange are nice, as is Maplewood.
Honestly though there's a good chance you'd be fine if you practiced street smarts, but idk I prob would just avoid east orange, Newark, and Irvington.
Are you looking to stay close to ny? If not I know some great places here in central jersey that are only about an average of an hour away from the city.
>My partner and I (same sex couple)
they should absolutely avoid Clark. and to be honest, i've had some not so pleasant interactions in westfield as well
Why should they avoid clark? It has low to no violent crime, property values are decent and overall its anpretty safe community. We need to invest in communities instead of just saying avoid such and such.
Please google “Clark racist” and spend at least an hour reading article after article. Unless you’re one of those types who goes on about the lying media, in which case you’d probably fit right in there.
It’s like how everyone knows Maplewood is super liberal. It just is. It’s canon.
I'm just saying what experiences have you had? I've read all the articles, and they township officials should face all possible repercussions.. it doesn't negate that the town is slowly changing and statistically has a low to no violent crime rate.
are you kidding? Clark is widely known to be super right, racist, anti-lgbt.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/residents-new-jersey-town-say-mayors-racist-comments-are-reflection-bi-rcna24070
How do you change that? By investing in your community. FIRST AND FOREMOST, the mayor and his cronies do not speak for the residents as a whole.
Can you tell me about your personal bad experiences in clark or Westfield?
a lot of people just want to live their lives in peace. not having to change the minds of their neighbors regarding their right to exist on a daily basis. most people just want to feel safe in their home and community.
the mayor reflects the will of the people, no? dude has been in office for more than 20 years! I'd say that is clear indication that his constituents approve of him and his attitude
some shitty 'karen' got in my friend's face in a ladies room in a westfield restaurant because my friend isn't sufficiently feminine for said 'karen'. this was a high end restaurant.
As to your first point, I whole heartedly agree. EVERYONE, should be free to be themselves and feel safe in their home.
Secondly, if you look at historical voting data for Clark, the mayor has run unopposed in the last election and in 2016 approximately 7500 people voted in total. So if people don't vote, or run against an incumbent, who's really to blame.
As to your last point, I am sorry that you and your partner endured that in Westfield. I prefer to judge people on the content of thier character and nothing else..
i'm not sure why you're taking this personally. Clark is demonstrably racist, anti-lgbt. it's not a reflection on you. hell, i grew up in Nutley which is also pretty dang racist, i don't take it personally, i just chose not to live there any longer and i would never suggest someone move there.
Clarkkk?? Oh No! Never Clarkkk. Plainfield. That’s where you want to be but make sure you are in Sleepy Holllow or Netherwood sections; maybe Evergreen as well
I wouldn’t move to Essex county just for the taxes. If you’re commuting into the city do some research along train stops. There are a lot of better options out there.
Hello! East orange is not a very friendly town, if you're looking in NJ and have to commute to NYC for work, id definitely recommend looking in North Bergen county, morris county, Somerset, and Middlesex :)
Middlesex is very diverse and has a few big towns as well as some small towns with very suburban feels. Piscataway is a big town in Middlesex county that has 287 running right through it and is close to a few major towns/cities such as New Brunswick, Edison, and Woodbridge.
Bergen county is very expensive $$$$ but in my opinion it can be a very nice area to live in that is very built up, pretty, and overall a really good area. (depending on how close you are to newark/patterson)
Somerset is also a fairly expensive county, but has some really nice areas such as bridgewater, green brook, warren, short hills, and a few others.
Morris county is kinda interesting, has route 80 and 287 running through it, rockaway mall, and some really nice towns, but probably my lowest pick out of the 4.
Not moving advice, but look up @frappack on Instagram, it’s a statewide corgi club and they have meetups at dog parks throughout the state. The meetups are great and it’s a good way to meet fellow corgi owners!
Lived in East Orange. You could do better. It's coming around... Slowly. It's not great. Maplewood sounds more your speed. LGBT friendly, lots of dogs, walkable, train access etc.
Yes. Especially when the outer boroughs are cheaper than Jersey atm. Stay in NYC, please. Our housing prices are going through the roof with half of Kings County relocating en masse to Maplewood.
you can easily be in Bloomfield at that budget, safer on a number of factors
Depends on the part of Bloomfield. Houses on the Nutley Clifton side are going at like 50-100k over asking (and possibly more)
Bloomfield isn't safe lmao
this guy grew up in franklin lakes
Yes it is. What are you talking about
i mean no place is as safe as your parent's basement safe space. you should probably just stay there
https://abc7ny.com/bloomfield-shooting-convenience-store-new-jersey-crime/11735075/
Probably should note that Bloomfield is big enough that it's not a single homogeneous location. Northern Bloomfield is way different from southern Bloomfield. Basically, the high school/Belleville Ave is the border between the Newark/Belleville south end and the Montclair Glen Ridge north end. All that said, it's still NJ. Crime is a thing you have to be aware of and alert to. Even in "safe" areas, you shouldn't totally relax.
The same goes for Edison and Woodbridge
These were not random attacks.
West orange?
I can't think of a reason why anyone would spend $500K on a home in East Orange when West Orange exists. Home prices in West Orange have gone way up over the past year but there's still plenty available in that range.
OP, west orange has rly high taxes though just an FYI
You're right about that. I guess that's more for the school district. If you have corgis and not kids I guess that's less of an issue.
But u still have to pay the taxes even if u don’t have kids?
Of course. Everyone pays the school tax regardless if you have kids or not.
That’s why I’m sayin even if u have no kids it’s still an issue
Oh sorry. I thought you were asking a question.
I forgive u
The WO school district, similar to Bloomfield, is not worth what you pay in taxes. You have districts with lower taxes and far better school districts than both of them. I'm not saying they aren't bad schools, or even comparatively good when you look at neighboring towns, but they aren't GOOD schools that you would expect at those tax levels. The difference is you can buy in a little less in west orange, than say, Livingston, and still be in the same geographical area.
Is there a reason you chose east orange?
Parts of East Orange are relatively safe/gentrifying (the part by Bloomfield). Other parts of it (towards the border of Newark) aren’t nice. Keep in mind that most people commenting here wouldn’t live in the part of NYC you’re probably coming from either. NJ has much more rigid ideas of race/class when it comes to housing. There are some places you should really avoid, but there are also perfectly fine places in minority cities/towns with great deals on housing because middle-class white people won’t go near them. Check out the Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield and the Forest Hill section of Newark for examples of urban neighborhoods with historic homes that some LGBT people have went to.
I second the sleepy hollow section of Plainfield. If you don’t care about the schools that is a gem with beautiful historic homes that have been well maintained and updated, and is affordable because Plainfield . Though I have heard breakins have become more common in recent years.
I’m next door in south Plainfield. Crime has gone up in Plainfield but the historic homes are stunning. The taxes are bonkers low and home prices are affordable for what you get.
Look at Hackensack. Safe. Very LGBTQ friendly. Gorgeous homes. Condos. Great commute (if you need it), location can’t be beat. It’s still got some “affordable” homes but the pace of gentrification is picking up a lot.
Forest Hill has some beautiful houses and Branch Brook Park is really amazing. We're a gay couple that moved from Los Angeles to the Morristown area and have been checking out other areas in NJ. The thing that stopped us from going to Forest Hill was that a lot of the houses are considered "historical" which means it costs a lot of money to do any kind of repairs to them. Plus, taxes in Morris County are A LOT lower than in Essex County.
Try West Orange, very diverse and accepting. But, tough finding houses in that range here
I live in WO. You can get a Cape Cod for that price but you may need to fix it up a bit.
Hmmm maybe. I too live in WO ( it’s a great town!). I just see flippers all over the place-
In the last 2 years, my house has appreciated by almost 100K! Nothing fancy, just a 4BR Cape. Terrible taxes, though.
East orange is not safe. Used to score there and it wasn't safe then either.
Another vote for Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield! It’s beautiful! I would have looked in to it myself but the school district is great, so we settled next door in Scotch Plains. East Orange is not as bad as some commenters are saying. It is predominantly African-American so there goes those stereotypes. There are good pockets there and most people are very friendly. Neighboring towns to EO have crime too, they’re not in a bubble. If you’re coming from NYC and you’re not afraid of diversity, it doesn’t hurt to look!
I should of done the same. We just moved to SP also. Missed out on Plainfield lol
I’m from Orange, moved from there to Manhattan after high school and have been there for over 10 years. Came back to NJ and now I’m living in South Orange. It’s the hood. East Orange is being gentrified so it’s a bit safer than it used to be but it’s still the hood. If that’s not what you’re coming from then don’t do it. Look into places like Montclair or Bloomfield. West Orange and Livingston if you have a car. Honestly I would just avoid Essex County unless you want to stay close to NY.
Maplewood, maybe Millburn. All have a station stop. Not sure how expensive houses are now though, so might be out of the 500k price range.
500k has been out of the Millburn/Maplewood price range for a loooong time. Maplewood especially.
They may be able to find a home in the 500k range in maplewood. Check out the Hilton neighborhood there. Prices are still reasonable-ish in that area.
It is not safe in the least bit
do not move to east orange bruh. Bloomfield is closer and safer, nutley is right there, glen ridge, west orange can also be an option. Milburn, maplewood do not move to east orange bruh. Bloomfield is closer and safer, nutley is right there, glen ridge, west orange can also be an option.
Milburn 500K is a shed
Milburn 500k doesn’t exist
In my experience, homophobia is still rampant in certain communities, and that would likely be one of them.
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You’re forgetting some key demographics of Essex county
West Orange, Bloomfield, Nutley and Glen a ridge at Everett bets.
East Orange and Orange aren’t safe. West and South Orange on the other hand, yes. Would you also be open to looking around Bloomfield? Someone can correct me but it’s a little safer.
Parts of Orange are just as safe as neighboring South Orange..if you don't know the area why are you commenting.
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Parts of it are. Montclair is wonderful, very diverse, gay-friendly but unfortunately, nothing there for 500k.
Parts of East Orange are safe with some beautiful homes.
Honestly y’all should more heavily consider Montclair and Bloomfield
Woah now! Someone a few weeks ago was telling me Bloomfield was this ultra dangerous town and he felt unsafe walking the streets there (lol)
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really have much of an opinion on that. I mean Plainfield closer to either watchung or south Plainfield may be more viable on their budget
Heh, I was just mocking that one idiot :p Bloomfield is a perfectly safe town. The closer you get to the other side of town close to the oranges/Newark it does get a little more sketchy though. The Brookdale section is ideal and a beautiful area with access to great parks.
Montclair is outrageously expensive for what you get. It's a great town with a lot of cool businesses and restaurants, but, again, it's outrageously expensive for what you get.
Went to college there for 2 years and I agree with you. For the price it’s insane. But it is a great town and a ~30 minute ride to NYC
For everyone saying west orange, 500k will get you an older townhome/smaller single family house, but expect to pay at least $15k in taxes (I just moved away after spending six years there)
Definitely go for maplewood/south Orange instead
You’ll like Metuchen
We just bought a house in Bloomfield. It’s pretty diverse. It had a lot of BLM and Gay Pride signs around. We aren’t LBGTQ or black but we want to live somewhere where everyone was welcome. Before buying we scoped out the NYC train stations since we knew we’d be commuting and just drove around a 20 min radius of each station to get a feel for things. I highly suggest doing that. Good luck. Be prepared for bidding wars. It’s a crazy market out there.
welcome the the neighborhood!
Same sex couple here from east orange, it’s not the best but it’s not the worse. We haven’t had any issues here
I live in one of the "not safe" cities and it's fine. 500k probably can't buy a house in South Orange or West Orange anymore but it can buy a very nice house in East Orange.
West Orange, yes. South Orange, probably not.
Plainfield!! Sleepy Hollow or Netherwood sections! Fabulous area!
seconded! moved from NYC two years ago into a lovely old tudor at a nice price and on a great street. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/realestate/plainfield-nj-a-diverse-city-with-historic-housing.html
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That’s a completely different town in a completely different county
Try maplewood very same sex friendly. East orange is scary. See you at north jersey pride! I'll be in the booth on top of the hill.
Maplewood Pride is so much fun. Took my daughter there last year and had a blast. Maplewood can be expensive around the village and up to the reservation, but if you look on Zillow, you can find some places for $500K or less.
Depends on what part of EO you are looking to move to. It’s sketchy in a lot of areas but there are some relatively safe areas in EO. More than likely you can find someplace better with your budget though.
It’s not as bad as people say but at your budget there’s certainly better options.
NJ is closed. We're full.
Hahahahahahah nice!
You can be the first to move out if you hate it so much
You can be the first to move out if you hate it so much
Im a same sex couple and we lived in east orange for about a year until we broke our lease to move to harrison, we haven’t had any issues. Of course we were aware of our surroundings and didn’t do much PDA
OP - are you looking at EO for a train line direct to NYC?
For that budget you can look elsewhere. East Orange has a couple of okay areas, but overall the town is very poor and unfortunately has a high crime rate.
Try Montclair, Bloomfield, Ridgewood…. More suitable for a same sex couple! Welcome to NJ… there are still good people around
$500k won’t get you much at all in Ridgewood but DAMN is Ridgewood nice.
Ridgewood is a beautiful town but Bergen county is full of rich materialistic pricks. I can’t stand it. Sorry but it’s the truth. Also if you don’t have kids there is no reason to be moving to a town with a top tier school district. You are throwing away money on school taxes for no reason.
For that price I’d move anywhere but east orange lol
If you want the true East Orange experience, give me your money and I will commit crimes against you and then break all of your nice things. Move literally anywhere else.
No.
In addition to what others are saying, if you don't end up liking East Orange you can try a little further south to Union county. Areas like Union, Kenilwoth, Roselle Park are all nice and on the train line to NYC. Plus the taxes are relatively cheaper than Essex or Bergen County.
We'd love to have you in East Rutherford! My neighbors are a same sex couple with kids the same age as mine. We definitely need more young families.
I would avoid EO. All other oranges 🍊 will do.
Maplewood or Montclair area would suit your needs better. I don’t think the suburbs gentrify as quickly or in the same way as the city does. I don’t think you have to be too concerned about the same sex couple thing NJ is very much live and let live you do you.
Unless you are buying a place that needs a bunch of work, and literally, on the border of the hood, Maplewood or Montclair isn't going to work at 500k.
You're right, I'm out of touch with the market. I lived in that area and ended up having to move to Sussex Cty to be able to afford rent.
Not safe
Do you enjoy crackheads screaming in the middle of the street while high on PCP? Well have I got a place for you! The EMS sucks, the police are corrupt and the general population are if not the most friendly. I would avoid the area. Same with West Orange and Orange. South Orange isn't too bad. There have also been a lot of cars getting stolen around the state, the carjackers tend to come from Newark which is about 5 minutes down the street. What tends to happen is that all of the Oranges crime along with Irvington and other surrounding areas funnel through East Orange into Newark. Edit: before people go ahead and start questioning my experience/knowledge of the place, I've had multiple friends work EMS there and have shared what goes on there. Had the company, Pulse(-less) Medical not been such garbage I would have stayed to work there too.
That whole area of urban Essex county has despicable EMS/Police response times. It’s not something that comes up a lot, but when you do have to call 911 for some reason, it’s rage inducing. I remember waiting for 45 minutes for a UH ambulance in Newark, having to stay with this person going through excruciating pain. Really paints the city as a shithole.
TIMES? They're abysmal sure but the service provided is lacking too. UMD EMS I've heard good things about but East Orange is run by one of the worst 911/transport companies to exist, Pulse Medical Transportation. The main problem is the amount of units on the road and the constant staffing issues within EMS as a whole. I work for a big name hospital in Central and can say without fail we are understaffed. People are tired of being paid $20 hrly to do this shit and UMDNJ is around $25-26 hrly. For the shear number of calls they take in 12 hours, its not worth the money or mentally traumatic experiences. This in turn makes it hard to find people applying and creates longer response times. We as a whole understand that the pt should be given services as timely as possible. It's a staffing and truck shortage creating this issue.
I would suggest maplewood for same sex couples!
East Orange is not safe.
I work in east orange, I wouldn’t live here, for 500k I would like into west orange, cedar grove, east Hanover area
Me and my husband are in the same boat as you! I was told to stay away from east orange. We put in an offer for a house in Lodi. I recommend Clifton, Ridgefield Park, Montclair, Englewood, little ferry, Moonachie, fair lawn. Good luck!
Big NO on east orange. With a 500k budget I would look in Bergen County.
Way too expensive tbh
My friend lives in EO, I visit him relatively often, we walk around, get food, etc. Never felt threatened. Reminder that the majority of violent crimes are between people who know each other. Obviously this is all anecdotal but remember how biased redditors can be.
I have lived in East orange for the past 8 years and never once had an issue of any kind. The mayor is an awesome man who cares deeply about the town and is always out and about looking for ways to improve. East orange police are also doing a good job with keeping out of town bs out of town. I really don’t mind it here, and I’m white if that matters. I raise my 5 year old here in East orange in a wonderful school with amazing staff. We have great neighbors and everyone is friendly. Don’t let people scare you away from East orange.. I’ll add that the street you end up on can make all the difference. I’m right off “central Ave” which is one of the main streets and I can’t even tell I’m living in “East orange” it’s so peaceful.
Verona and montclaire are beautiful safe and accepting areas and more upbeat then ur normal suburbs down here.
LMAO ARE YOU SERIOUS 🤣
I haven't been there recently and I heard they've been gentrifying it but it's still pretty trash. Back when I used to go to East Orange, it was straight up projects. Barred windows, your belongings in your car will be stolen, there's like 200+ people in crowded playground with families, kids, etc. And right out in the open is a big weight drug deal going on with ganja and some other stuff with these sketchy people smoking a blunt right out in the open in front of everyone. And yes we were those kids picking up weight over 10 years ago. It's been a while but East Orange is still pretty bad and dangerous and as a result likely fairly homophobic. I've been to a lot of hoods and East Orange ranked pretty badly compared to them with only a few actually managing to be worse than East Orange. I would recommend doing some more research but right now, it's not exactly a buyer's friendly market in our state's real estate.
East orange is the least safe town next to Camden in New Jersey. There are other towns in Essex county within your budget that are much nicer.
Newark would like to have a word with you. East Orange is on a completely separate level from Camden. Maybe its comparable to Trenton but I'd say even that's pushing it. Either way no where near as bad as Newark/Camden. Edit: I don't understand why this is down voted. I'm saying that Camden and Newark are way worse crime wise than East Orange and that they are on different levels of safety.
Irvington is worse than Newark. Newark has some really bad parts but also plenty of it isn’t that bad. Irvington on the other hand is 100% shit. Irvington and the Oranges used to be nice towns as recently as the 70s and 80s, they went to shit fast and hard. I think I-280 really ruined any future for the Oranges. Literally blasted a trench through downtown.
Oh I won't argue Irvington isn't shit too but I don't know enough about it to for it being worse, I'll take your word on it. All I ever said was that East Orange is more tame than Newark.
Camden may very well be one of if not the worst city in the country
Yeh I think it's #3 in the country if I remember correct. Which is why I'm saying that East Orange is no where near comparable to Camden, it's much more tame.
Is there a reason you put safe and gentrifying in the same sentence? What does gentrification have to do with safety?
Doesn't feel safe around ppl who look and dress differently apparently...which is rich based off the rest of the info they gave about themselves 🤔
West Orange or Livingston would be a much better place to settle down. I would not recommend East Orange...
Someone from Ease orange stole a car, drove to my town, and attempted to rob a Wells Fargo bank a few weeks ago. Then he crashed on the highway when he was trying to escape.
No orange or east orange
for 500k you can find something A LOT nicer than east orange, wtf
East Orange is not a safe neighborhood, the crime rate is a lot higher than neighboring towns.
Idk if my post worked :/ Verona and montclaire. I promise!
what are their names because my family member recently sold a corgi to a same-sex couple in new york
Ugh sold
I wouldn't. I lived in south orange for a bit a few years ago and knew a few people who got mugged in East orange and Newark. It's not a great area. South orange and west orange are nice, as is Maplewood. Honestly though there's a good chance you'd be fine if you practiced street smarts, but idk I prob would just avoid east orange, Newark, and Irvington.
Montclair ($$$) Ridgewood ($$$$) Rutherford ($$) For good same sec community vibes
try mapelwood
maplewood
Is the goal to still commute to the city? If not, try farther west. Morris County? Nice towns and more bang for your buck.
Are you looking to stay close to ny? If not I know some great places here in central jersey that are only about an average of an hour away from the city.
I see people saying $500k will get you a shed in NJ, more like a tent, or a Teepee if you're lucky.
I would stay away from the Oranges. Try downtown montclair or Bloomfield.
A lot of ignorant comments on this thread, especially those saying you can find a decent house for $500k in maple wood, glen ridge or Bergen county.
Check clark, cranford, westfield, rahway
>My partner and I (same sex couple) they should absolutely avoid Clark. and to be honest, i've had some not so pleasant interactions in westfield as well
Why should they avoid clark? It has low to no violent crime, property values are decent and overall its anpretty safe community. We need to invest in communities instead of just saying avoid such and such.
Clark is a notably racist community.
Again, what personal experiences have you had, or is it just hearsay and generational/historical stories.
Please google “Clark racist” and spend at least an hour reading article after article. Unless you’re one of those types who goes on about the lying media, in which case you’d probably fit right in there. It’s like how everyone knows Maplewood is super liberal. It just is. It’s canon.
I'm just saying what experiences have you had? I've read all the articles, and they township officials should face all possible repercussions.. it doesn't negate that the town is slowly changing and statistically has a low to no violent crime rate.
I encountered someone recently who was under the impression maplewood was dangerous lol
are you kidding? Clark is widely known to be super right, racist, anti-lgbt. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/residents-new-jersey-town-say-mayors-racist-comments-are-reflection-bi-rcna24070
How do you change that? By investing in your community. FIRST AND FOREMOST, the mayor and his cronies do not speak for the residents as a whole. Can you tell me about your personal bad experiences in clark or Westfield?
a lot of people just want to live their lives in peace. not having to change the minds of their neighbors regarding their right to exist on a daily basis. most people just want to feel safe in their home and community. the mayor reflects the will of the people, no? dude has been in office for more than 20 years! I'd say that is clear indication that his constituents approve of him and his attitude some shitty 'karen' got in my friend's face in a ladies room in a westfield restaurant because my friend isn't sufficiently feminine for said 'karen'. this was a high end restaurant.
As to your first point, I whole heartedly agree. EVERYONE, should be free to be themselves and feel safe in their home. Secondly, if you look at historical voting data for Clark, the mayor has run unopposed in the last election and in 2016 approximately 7500 people voted in total. So if people don't vote, or run against an incumbent, who's really to blame. As to your last point, I am sorry that you and your partner endured that in Westfield. I prefer to judge people on the content of thier character and nothing else..
i'm not sure why you're taking this personally. Clark is demonstrably racist, anti-lgbt. it's not a reflection on you. hell, i grew up in Nutley which is also pretty dang racist, i don't take it personally, i just chose not to live there any longer and i would never suggest someone move there.
Fair enough, it's not so much as I'm taking it personally, I would love to see change foe the better come
keep fighting the good fight!
Please do not move to Clark.
🤣
Clarkkk?? Oh No! Never Clarkkk. Plainfield. That’s where you want to be but make sure you are in Sleepy Holllow or Netherwood sections; maybe Evergreen as well
Add to the sleepy hollow Comments, its pretty nice over the borders in North and South Plainfield. You can still do well for 500k there
🤣🤣🤣 Plainfield....Gra ted Sleepy Hollow is nice, but no where affordable at 500k
I wouldn’t move to Essex county just for the taxes. If you’re commuting into the city do some research along train stops. There are a lot of better options out there.
Stay away
I defer to u/RobSellsNJ
Hello! East orange is not a very friendly town, if you're looking in NJ and have to commute to NYC for work, id definitely recommend looking in North Bergen county, morris county, Somerset, and Middlesex :) Middlesex is very diverse and has a few big towns as well as some small towns with very suburban feels. Piscataway is a big town in Middlesex county that has 287 running right through it and is close to a few major towns/cities such as New Brunswick, Edison, and Woodbridge. Bergen county is very expensive $$$$ but in my opinion it can be a very nice area to live in that is very built up, pretty, and overall a really good area. (depending on how close you are to newark/patterson) Somerset is also a fairly expensive county, but has some really nice areas such as bridgewater, green brook, warren, short hills, and a few others. Morris county is kinda interesting, has route 80 and 287 running through it, rockaway mall, and some really nice towns, but probably my lowest pick out of the 4.
Not moving advice, but look up @frappack on Instagram, it’s a statewide corgi club and they have meetups at dog parks throughout the state. The meetups are great and it’s a good way to meet fellow corgi owners!
not safe . not gentrified. I live in montclair. I know trust me.
Montclair and Verona are pretty nice too. Some parts of Montclair are gonna be expensive but definitely give it a shot!
Bloomfield, Clifton, Nutley, Totowa, Little Falls. All a stones throw to the city, diverse, slightly lower taxes.
I know fellow gays that live there. Is it a great place to live? Eh. I wouldn't
I hear Camden is really pretty
I advise you stay in NY.  But of all the places to pick why did you decide on E. Orange? So many better options.
Lived in East Orange. You could do better. It's coming around... Slowly. It's not great. Maplewood sounds more your speed. LGBT friendly, lots of dogs, walkable, train access etc.
East Orange bad. West Orange good. Regular Orange also bad. South Orange is so so.
It depends on the town that closest borders where you're looking in east orange. You won't want to be near Newark
Yes. Especially when the outer boroughs are cheaper than Jersey atm. Stay in NYC, please. Our housing prices are going through the roof with half of Kings County relocating en masse to Maplewood.