I live in Princeton and haven’t seen any signs from either viewpoint. It’s quite refreshing actually.
OT: Real Estate Question - Toms River/Brick and area
- Thread starter yesrutgers01
- Start date
There are signs around town, especially the outer commuting roads, not downtown. Mostly just local stuff, especially for BOE elections for some reason. Princeton elections are rarely contested, so they normally don't have "real" elections. The Princeton Democratic Committee essentially picks the mayor and council.
Was just about to say that. Haven’t seen many signs either way in my area Monmouth county. But played jasna last week and was surprised how many political signs were in the Princeton area.
Was worried about Jasna being closed or sold to a developer. However, it recently got sold to another golf course/private club operator, so we are all good! :)
I think Jackson and Lakewood vote in those percentages in one direction.
Lakewood is close. Jackson, no way.
I will look it up to see if correct!
UPDATE (based on the 2020 Presidential Election):
Lakewood = 82.5% R
Jackson = 61.4% R ----- this was hard to find! Had to dig through the county website.
Princeton = 84.3% D
Montclair = 88.7% D
WOW! Even with the massive Orthodox voting bloc in Lakewood, Princeton and Montclair are more wacko. That's remarkable.
So do we still care about Brick real estate ITT? Or its now about how towns do not have any political signs in lawns?
I've lived in Brick for about 7 years. It's fine but really just a massive sprawling suburb (grew up in Old Bridge, very similar setup town-wise). No downtown to speak of, nothing is walkable anywhere in town. I dislike that. I do live close to the water in Sailors Quay Condo complex, our pool is on the water with an attached marina. Being close to the water and beach is why I moved here. The neighborhood is quiet but Hooper Ave is noisy and my house backs up to that.
My neighbor has a F** Joe Biden bumper sticker on his F150. We get along fine and haven't spoken about politics in 7 years, thank god. He fixed my garage door opener and has done some wood cuts for me, I helped him forward an email from his phone once.
The Princeton Ave area has some HUGE homes. Also over by me off of Hooper Ave there are some really nice places on the water. But in both neighborhoods you're never too far from a neighborhood of bungalows and run down houses.
The downtown Toms River area is small but at least semi-densely populated with a few restaurants and bars around. The rest of Toms River is super sprawling, my wife is from there.
Happy to answer any questions you have about Brick but it's just a roof and 4 walls for me. We do have a 7 month old so we're going to be more involved in the town in a few years. No sign of an orthodox invasion in my part of town yet and we're about 2 miles from the TR border.
My neighbor has a F** Joe Biden bumper sticker on his F150. We get along fine and haven't spoken about politics in 7 years, thank god. He fixed my garage door opener and has done some wood cuts for me, I helped him forward an email from his phone once.
The Princeton Ave area has some HUGE homes. Also over by me off of Hooper Ave there are some really nice places on the water. But in both neighborhoods you're never too far from a neighborhood of bungalows and run down houses.
The downtown Toms River area is small but at least semi-densely populated with a few restaurants and bars around. The rest of Toms River is super sprawling, my wife is from there.
Happy to answer any questions you have about Brick but it's just a roof and 4 walls for me. We do have a 7 month old so we're going to be more involved in the town in a few years. No sign of an orthodox invasion in my part of town yet and we're about 2 miles from the TR border.
I think even Howell HS is ranked higher than Wall and certainly CNHS (where northern Howell goes) and Freehold Twp (where Western Howell goes) are.
It's a weird flex...as someone who grew up in the area, the only advantage of Wall IMO is it's closer to the beach, and I guess the train.
largely west TR from old TRC/Ciba Geigy site.. think west of parkway is cancer area.. well water there for decades including the town's wells.
my advice.. follow the gays. where they start buying seems to turn around pretty quickly. I'm mainly thinking Asbury Park and similar locations.
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Wouldn’t mention it but it’s VERY in your face there. I have no doubt you know what I’m talking about too.
Another pretty blatant example below.
Obnoxious ‘Let’s go Brandon’ store to open in Toms River, NJ (Opinion)
The same group of people who brought us 'she lost, get over it,' now have chosen 'Let’s go Brandon' as the new catchphrase.nj1015.com
I have noticed DTS that you have dueling signs everywhere. Usually they put up a violent sign and then someone anti-rapist counters. Main Street in Manasquan is a good example of this.
They do it because DTS is one of the few times people in the weird bubble have the opportunity to shout their views/personality at the rest of the world. Though I would add they're in retreat in Monmouth County- it almost flipped last go, the demographics in Asbury are spreading out and the weird is being replaced with people from Montclair etc because that is who can afford it.
Wall has a weird identity issue. I put it under the phenomenon of overcompensating for your own inadequacies. Overall, it's a fine place to live, but nothing special, and considering some of the issues I mentioned above, Wall people should not be looking down on Howell or Brick. Maybe Neptune, but there are some nice sections of Neptune (Shark River Hills) that are nicer than parts of North Wall and the West Belmar sections of Wall. Also, the town management seems to find new ways to get sued for employment discrimination and harassment almost every other year. I like our neighborhood and neighbors, and the proximity to Rte 34, the Parkway, the river/marinas, and most importantly, excellent trails for riding my mountain (more trail) bike. We don't go to the beach much any more.
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If we are talking year round living, if you asked most people if they'd rather live in Princeton/Montclair or Brick/TR which do you think is going to win out? It would not be close and there'd be minimal difference across political opinion.
As someone who grew up in Monmouth County, people always looked down on Ocean (fair or not). It is perfectly fine IMO in the summer, and I think the beach caliber in NJ improves as you go south, and certainly the boating opportunities.
However, once you are back from the water, if you want a nice dinner, or more nightlife, or things to do the rest of the year, the northern beaches have much better choices, AC aside for people into it.
In terms of raising a family (which OP already did an excellent job of!) a place like Montclair or Princeton is going to win going away. But I don't think we are talking about that.
I think the question is more what OP wants to do when he's not swimming or sailing.
As someone who grew up in Monmouth County, people always looked down on Ocean (fair or not). It is perfectly fine IMO in the summer, and I think the beach caliber in NJ improves as you go south, and certainly the boating opportunities.
However, once you are back from the water, if you want a nice dinner, or more nightlife, or things to do the rest of the year, the northern beaches have much better choices, AC aside for people into it.
In terms of raising a family (which OP already did an excellent job of!) a place like Montclair or Princeton is going to win going away. But I don't think we are talking about that.
I think the question is more what OP wants to do when he's not swimming or sailing.
I agree, it's very convenient place to live in a lot of ways, but it's kind of just "there" in between a lot of sought after places and with sought after highway connections and proximity. But it doesn't have the cache of some of the surrounding areas.
Noticed this as well.
Sat with Sen. Gopal a few years back and the voting patterns in his and the surrounding districts came up. The Red Bank, Rumson, Fair Haven (peninsula) shifted to the left and the Raritan bayshore (Keyport, Keansburg Union Beach etc...) shifted right. Peninsula due to educated white women and the Bayshore because of Trump.
For some people, Montclair, Princeton, etc.
As a "shore" person, we lived in a couple of nice places "up North," but the remark I made to my better half was that we may as well live in Wisconsin. Can't really describe it unless you have lived "at the shore." But there was a certain feeling of distance and disconnectedness of being far from boating, the beaches, the "scene" in the summer, and back when he made regular appearances at the Stone Pony, being able to roll over to Asbury on a rumor in 10-15 minutes versus an hour or more. Yeah, it sounds weird, but if you grew up at the Shore, it's a thing for a lot of people. Not a band thing either.
Right. But don't say that to people in South Wall. They are special. And fugggetabout Allenwood. Next level cache-mindedness over there. I think the Allenwood General Store has a bumper sticker on the wall- "Allenwood-A State of Mind." The mindset kind of reminds me of the folks or Rock Ridge in Blazing Saddles. Some in the school district think Allenwood is better than any private school--maybe some, but that's a stretch. We are happy here. The wife is especially happy, compared to other places we have lived, and that is the most important thing.
I think many are underestimating the impact Trump has had on the electorate. Some of this is temporary. It will be interesting to see the dust settle once Trump is finally offstage (whether after losing this election or after a 2nd term). What's the new normal and/or what regresses back to pre-Trump?
We almost purchased a home off of Sally Ike years ago, but my wife wanted more property. I liked that it was close to the reservoir.
Tom's basic argument is that people have a right to buy where they want, and they also have a right to vote for who they want and advocate for policies they want. Further he believes that you should treat people as individuals and even when you disagree with them understand that they may have more positive qualities than negative ones.
I treat the Orthodox the same way I treat republican voters. I disagree with them but understand that is no reason to hate them.
Yea should be interesting. Everything needs to come back to the middle. Way too extreme on both sides.
Where did my statement say all is well?Tom about Jackson:
I probably mentioned this earlier in the thread. I would not have bought a home in Jackson. I had a nice house on Tices Place in Westfield I wanted to buy but my wife did not want to live up north.
I would have sold my home years ago even before the Orthodox started moving here because I don't want the work the size of the land requires.
Neither of those 2 things means I should change how I feel people should be treated.
Maybe he was trying to figure out who Tom or he was in the response. Reminded me of a Seinfeld clip
Myself- I have no issue with the Orthodox and their religion. (OK- nothing to do with religion (as it is more of a hostile take over business to them)but some of the lifestyle is bothersome) But, if I am going to purchase a home- the market does get affected by what happens in areas they target to take over. The local government also gets taken over completely. Public Parks and lands also become mismanaged.
I just wouldn't want to spend $500k + and have the headache of it all and then, not be able to sell.
Can confirm, live in the southern hunterdon area and love it
In your case I would not consider Brick, Toms River, Jackson or Howell because within the next 10 years the Orthodox will play a significant role in those 4 communities.
If not sooner.
+1
Avoid the area. Their religion is irrelevant. They are an insular community and don't care about the needs of other residents. There have been other groups like this throughout our history and towns/neighborhoods always suffer. Mutual respect and compromise are required to maintain a good quality of life for everyone.
Curious with Brick- the very Eastern Communities on the water, just feel it will never get to them because there is just never enough inventory. When I was in Mahwah- we have what I refer to as our "tracks" which is Rt. 17 - the eat side of Rt 17 is bordering Suffern, Monsey, etc - and that is where tings started to happen. But you also had many more homes in the $200-500k and multi family etc. The West side of Rt 17 Mahwah- bordering Ramsey, Allendale, etc- Known as Fardale- Homes start at $500k- no multi family, and much more mature established area- never felt it. And I think this border- was a mistake they made. They were not able to take over the town, schools, government.
Would the Eastern Brick communities be able to fight it off in the same way or be strangled out by it?
Would the Eastern Brick communities be able to fight it off in the same way or be strangled out by it?
Possible, but I think there are less residents in Brick as you go towards the shore.
It's unliley they'll ever approach that part of Brick near the water
Still though, there's other options if it's a concern
I understand that, having grown up in the area myself. Everything is a trade off. Instead of being close to beach, PNC, 6 flags, now it is the city, MetLife, and a lot of walkability.
Allenwood to me isn't much different than Eastern Howell but I guess that would cause consternation lol.
I agree with your comments, I think that area isn't conducive for what they are looking for...it's very expensive and with premiums for things like bulkheads which don't matter to them. The other areas where they are moving into, there is a lot more land to develop...the closer you get to the water there isn't. And, versus Jackson, inland TR/Brick, you have a lot of families there for generations, not people that moved from Brooklyn for a little more space who will happily sell and move to Florida with their money anyway.
Recently moving to Princeton from Monmouth county where I lived for most of my life, has definitely been an adjustment in terms of less proximity to the beach. What used to take us 20 minutes now takes a good hour. As a result we go a lot less. Although we now like the short drive to areas like Lambertville/New Hope, and love the town of Princeton, losing quick jaunts to the shore has been the trade-off.
I'd follow this advice based on what's happening in these towns already, as they'll likely end up like Lakewood, Spring Valley (see East Ramapo HS), Kiryas Joel trying to take more of Monroe, NY, and Bloomingburg, NY. If you have a lot of time to kill, here's a lengthy read of how Bloomingburg was taken over by massive fraud:
How Hasidim Won the Battle for One Upstate New York Town
Bloomingburg has been a battleground, as local governments fought an Orthodox developer in court. Now, the fight is ending. The Satmar won.
forward.com
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/p...white-plains-federal-court-conspiracy-corrupt
https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/courts/2017/12/07/lamm-sentenced-to-10-months/16879338007/.
I'd follow this advice based on what's happening in these towns already, as they'll likely end up like Lakewood, Spring Valley (see East Ramapo HS), Kiryas Joel trying to take more of Monroe, NY, and Bloomingburg, NY. If you have a lot of time to kill, here's a lengthy read of how Bloomingburg was taken over by massive fraud:
How Hasidim Won the Battle for One Upstate New York Town
Bloomingburg has been a battleground, as local governments fought an Orthodox developer in court. Now, the fight is ending. The Satmar won.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/p...white-plains-federal-court-conspiracy-corrupt
https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/courts/2017/12/07/lamm-sentenced-to-10-months/16879338007/.
The difference in NY and NJ municipality law here though is crucial. NY law allowed for places like New Square and Kiryas Joel within the towns of Ramapo and Monroe respectively, to break off and form their own governments. NJ doesn't really have this mechanism. So, when people have crossed from Lakewood into other towns they can't simply try to incorporate new villages within Brick or Jackson, and thus the friction people have referenced.
