South Orange, New Jersey SperlingViews

Great for the arts and shopping

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South Orange Quality of Life is Not What it Could - 5/4/2011

South Orange could be the perfect place to live in terms of access to NYC and the nostalgic gas lamps, star lit sky, and wonderful architecture. Unfortunately, having resided here since 2010, I have found that it is NOT a safe place to walk at night. Every week, you hear about armed robberies (and, then there are the frequent burglaries) of residents just out for a stroll on the otherwise quiet, leafy suburban streets--I would love to be able to wander about after dark as I did in NY but this is not the town it used to be according to long-term residents weighing in on the topic. South Orange also has flash-mobs which actually worry me less than having to watch my back at 9 pm when all I really want to do is enjoy the night air and get some exercise, as I was accustomed to doing when I lived in the city. This is far and away the biggest disappointment I've had living here. The second thing that bothers me is that there are no real late night or 24-hour resources here and traffic is terrible. This could be a good town for pedestrians but cars generally ignore crosswalks and just walking to the store at noon, is a lot more stressful than it should be--you risk getting killed by drivers who seem to have forgotten that they have legs and don't need to get in their cars to go to the drugstore down the street. Welcome to the suburbs. South Orange is an odd combination of suburban and urban and the local politicians talk about development to improve the quality of life here which seems to be more about building more elevated parking lots that obscure lovely mountain views than to make the streets safer to walk and the traffic less threatening to those on foot. [read more...]

Arts and shopping - 1/24/2010

Great for the arts and shopping[read more...]

30 Minutes from Mid-Town, a Turn-of-the-Century Vi - 3/29/2008

For people like me who grew up in non-descript suburbs of cities in the Western US, it's surprising to find a town, only 30 minutes from the middle of New York City, where a walk around the block is like stepping back in time. South Orange's tree-lined neighborhood streets are a short train ride from Mid-town Manhattan, but feel much like they did in the 1920's. Still lit by the original gas lamps, these streets are home to colonial, victorian and tudor homes that have been carefully preserved. The Montrose Park Historic District Association was formed in 1994 to sponsor and promote activities that preserve and protect the historic character of the Montrose Park district of South Orange. For more information, see http://www.montroseparksonj.org/ [read more...]