New Providence?

Does anyone live in New Providence or have friends/family there who can offer their insights?  We are thinking of growing our family and I'm pretty sure we're going to be priced out of this area given what we want for our next house.  While it's not cheap, you can get more house for your money in NP.  

I'm looking for a quiet neighborhood with less congestion than MSO, a good school district and a friendly down-to-earth community that doesn't have a Stepford Wives vibe to it.  We don't use NJ Transit to commute to work so that's not an issue.  It seems like we can get that in NP but I'd love to hear from those who know the area much better than I do.  I did a search on this topic but the last time it was discussed was 2008 and 2012.  


It has no real downtown, though it has useful little strip malls. Summit or Chatham will be your downtown. I guess Berkeley Heights also has some degree of a center, but it certainly isn't like Summit. Or Maplewood. To me, it lacks a sense of place, without there being anything inherently wrong with it. I don't think the quest for a non-Stepford Wives place is realistic anywhere with a good school district. People who can afford "good" school districts are likely to have have successfully played some professional "game," or had parents who did. Maybe they won't all have ash blond chignons, but they are going to be conventional to some extent. Find a place that feels right, then look up the school districts rankings, and maybe visit the school and spend time downtown and in the library to see if they are busy, lively, comfortable. (And note that for people who do use NJTransit the commute from NP is not bad; it is one stop past Summit, albeit with less frequent/reliable service.) 


Hi:  I’ve lived here for 6 years, so feel free to PM me your specific questions.  You will pay more for a house, but the taxes are less as a percentage and don’t go up significantly every year. We have been happy with the schools.


It has some beautiful quiet streets.


campbell29 said:
Hi:  I’ve lived here for 6 years, so feel free to PM me your specific questions.  You will pay more for a house, but the taxes are less as a percentage and don’t go up significantly every year. We have been happy with the schools.

 Thanks! PMd you.


grayhill2 said:
It has no real downtown, though it has useful little strip malls. Summit or Chatham will be your downtown. I guess Berkeley Heights also has some degree of a center, but it certainly isn't like Summit. Or Maplewood. To me, it lacks a sense of place, without there being anything inherently wrong with it. I don't think the quest for a non-Stepford Wives place is realistic anywhere with a good school district. People who can afford "good" school districts are likely to have have successfully played some professional "game," or had parents who did. Maybe they won't all have ash blond chignons, but they are going to be conventional to some extent. Find a place that feels right, then look up the school districts rankings, and maybe visit the school and spend time downtown and in the library to see if they are busy, lively, comfortable. (And note that for people who do use NJTransit the commute from NP is not bad; it is one stop past Summit, albeit with less frequent/reliable service.) 

 I think of a Stepford Wives town as Short Hills or Chatham.  Maplewood/South Orange has a good school district and I don't think of it as a Stepford Wives area.  I just want a place where there is a mix of stay at home moms and working moms (such as myself) where I won't be judged because I refuse to put on makeup and wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to the grocery store.  


I wear pajamas to school drop off, and yoga pants to the grocery store. I see people I know all the time wearing the same.  No shame.  


is there a town around here where people DON’T wear yoga pants and a T-shirt to the grocery store? I’ve been around a lot of NJ towns over the past decade and not one of them strike me as a stepford wives type town. With the proximity to the city and ease of commute, there will be many, many working moms.


grayhill2 said:
It has no real downtown, though it has useful little strip malls. Summit or Chatham will be your downtown.  ...  To me, it lacks a sense of place, without there being anything inherently wrong with it.

 I lived in Maplewood for decades and always used South Orange center as my downtown.  Maplewood Village just never felt like it to me.  


summit is very close and is as great as a NJ downtown can get. 


I would also look at the Cranford/Garwood/Westfield/Clark area to compare.  I think it's closer to a SOMA vibe but south of Rt 22.  

I grew up in Long Hill Twp (At that time it was called Passaic Twp), so I know Berkeley Heights/New Providence pretty well.  No "downtown vibe" in either.  

I don't think there is a Stepford Wives mentality in any of those towns. 


The best word I can think of to describe NP might be "homogeneous." It's not a bad town, it's just as non-SOMA as possible. The schools do well in all of those (in my opinion often silly and strongly backed by realtors) rankings because they are small and there is little diversity, either culturally or socioeconomically. (In the interest of full disclosure: though I do not live in NP, I worked there for 20-plus years, and dealt with the schools on a daily basis.)


I worked in NP..too me too far from my vices (Target, Walmart, Burger King, etc)


Rob_Sandow said:
I would also look at the Cranford/Garwood/Westfield/Clark area to compare.  I think it's closer to a SOMA vibe but south of Rt 22.  

I grew up in Long Hill Twp (At that time it was called Passaic Twp), so I know Berkeley Heights/New Providence pretty well.  No "downtown vibe" in either.  

I don't think there is a Stepford Wives mentality in any of those towns. 

 Agree with you that Westfield/Cranford are close to SOMA vibe, but Clark definitely is not!  Its old school New Jersey, proud of its lack of diversity and inclusiveness.  My sister lived there for three years: we've all been racially profiled by Clark police while driving and my tween niece was called the n-word and told "I don't play with black people" on multiple occasions at the elementary school.  AVOID.


erins said:


Rob_Sandow said:
I would also look at the Cranford/Garwood/Westfield/Clark area to compare.  I think it's closer to a SOMA vibe but south of Rt 22.  

I grew up in Long Hill Twp (At that time it was called Passaic Twp), so I know Berkeley Heights/New Providence pretty well.  No "downtown vibe" in either.  

I don't think there is a Stepford Wives mentality in any of those towns. 
 Agree with you that Westfield/Cranford are close to SOMA vibe, but Clark definitely is not!  Its old school New Jersey, proud of its lack of diversity and inclusiveness.  My sister lived there for three years: we've all been racially profiled by Clark police while driving and my tween niece was called the n-word and told "I don't play with black people" on multiple occasions at the elementary school.  AVOID.

 My accountant moved offices from Cranford to Clark so I have to drive there every so often.  It totally lacks any sort of charm and you just confirmed what I had heard about it being a very racist town.  You couldn't pay me to live there and I'm sorry you've had those experiences. 


Perseverance said:
 I think of a Stepford Wives town as Short Hills or Chatham.  Maplewood/South Orange has a good school district and I don't think of it as a Stepford Wives area.  I just want a place where there is a mix of stay at home moms and working moms (such as myself) where I won't be judged because I refuse to put on makeup and wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to the grocery store.  

 Just wear what's right for you, wherever you are, and try not to judge others for what they wear or don't wear.


Perseverance said:



 I think of a Stepford Wives town as Short Hills or Chatham.  Maplewood/South Orange has a good school district and I don't think of it as a Stepford Wives area.  I just want a place where there is a mix of stay at home moms and working moms (such as myself) where I won't be judged because I refuse to put on makeup and wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to the grocery store.  

 This is a seriously outdated and sexist stereotype, just saying. 


erins said:


Rob_Sandow said:
I would also look at the Cranford/Garwood/Westfield/Clark area to compare.  I think it's closer to a SOMA vibe but south of Rt 22.  

I grew up in Long Hill Twp (At that time it was called Passaic Twp), so I know Berkeley Heights/New Providence pretty well.  No "downtown vibe" in either.  

I don't think there is a Stepford Wives mentality in any of those towns. 
 Agree with you that Westfield/Cranford are close to SOMA vibe, but Clark definitely is not!  Its old school New Jersey, proud of its lack of diversity and inclusiveness.  My sister lived there for three years: we've all been racially profiled by Clark police while driving and my tween niece was called the n-word and told "I don't play with black people" on multiple occasions at the elementary school.  AVOID.

 Westfield can be very stepford wives-ish, has very little diversity, and it's pretty expensive.  They do have a kick-*** downtown though.


yahooyahoo said:


erins said:


Rob_Sandow said:
I would also look at the Cranford/Garwood/Westfield/Clark area to compare.  I think it's closer to a SOMA vibe but south of Rt 22.  

I grew up in Long Hill Twp (At that time it was called Passaic Twp), so I know Berkeley Heights/New Providence pretty well.  No "downtown vibe" in either.  

I don't think there is a Stepford Wives mentality in any of those towns. 
 Agree with you that Westfield/Cranford are close to SOMA vibe, but Clark definitely is not!  Its old school New Jersey, proud of its lack of diversity and inclusiveness.  My sister lived there for three years: we've all been racially profiled by Clark police while driving and my tween niece was called the n-word and told "I don't play with black people" on multiple occasions at the elementary school.  AVOID.
 Westfield can be very stepford wives-ish, has very little diversity, and it's pretty expensive.  They do have a kick-*** downtown though.

 Westfield has a great downtown but if we can't afford a bigger house in Maplewood then I doubt we could afford Westfield.  We also love Cranford but I don't know if we could do much better and I don't want to deal with flood issues.  Plus it's a little farther from my elderly parents.


j_r said:


Perseverance said:

 I think of a Stepford Wives town as Short Hills or Chatham.  Maplewood/South Orange has a good school district and I don't think of it as a Stepford Wives area.  I just want a place where there is a mix of stay at home moms and working moms (such as myself) where I won't be judged because I refuse to put on makeup and wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to the grocery store.  
 This is a seriously outdated and sexist stereotype, just saying. 

 Given that I'm a female and would proudly consider myself a feminist, I don't see how I could possibly be sexist.  What's wrong with wanting to live in a community that you fit in?  I'm a working mother. I love what I do but I also have to work in order to support my family.  If I'm in a town that has overwhelmingly SAHMs because they don't have to worry about income, I'm sorry but I won't feel like I fit in. With that said, I 100% support SAHMs and have their utmost respect because I certainly couldn't do it.  My Stepford Wives comment was more about not wanting to live in a snobby area.  Our neighbors currently are so nice and welcoming and that's what we want to replicate.    


taxes are considerably lower with much gentler increases in Westfield and Cranford. There’s a range of housing available especially in Cranford but lower/average priced homes are probably in line with SOMA. The lower priced homes in Cranford tend to be in the flood zone which has created a huge insurance issue since Sandy.


While the make-up of these towns is less diverse than SOMA, diversity of thought and level of acceptance seem similar. I don’t see any Stepford wives. Plenty of commuting women on the train every day. It’s a professional area and it’s not just men in those working professions.


Frankly, I don’t think SOMA is much difference from many other areas of NJ. It’s still a squarely Democratic state (at least northern/central) with open-minded views and a solid sense of liberal values.


and BTW, I’d agree on Clark. It’s some weird throwback to intolerance and bigotry. 


Perseverance said:


 Given that I'm a female and would proudly consider myself a feminist, I don't see how I could possibly be sexist.  What's wrong with wanting to live in a community that you fit in?  I'm a working mother. I love what I do but I also have to work in order to support my family.  If I'm in a town that has overwhelmingly SAHMs because they don't have to worry about income, I'm sorry but I won't feel like I fit in. With that said, I 100% support SAHMs and have their utmost respect because I certainly couldn't do it.  My Stepford Wives comment was more about not wanting to live in a snobby area.  Our neighbors currently are so nice and welcoming and that's what we want to replicate.    

 I just don't see value in making assumptions about the thousands (and I do  mean thousands) of working mothers who are your neighbors in Millburn and Short Hills. I'm one of them. Everyone is certainly entitled to choose where and how to live based on personal comfort, of course. But to write off an entire township as snobby SAHMs seems like the opposite of feminism to me.

I don't mean to derail your thread, however, and I can say that a working mom friend enjoyed living in NP. At the time her children reached high school age, they made a move to Morristown.


Trying to send Per a PM re NP, can I still do that?


As a stay-at-home dad, I also found the "stepford wives" comment a bit offensive, but on the list of things that get my knickers in a twist, it is pretty low down the scale, below even "mr mom"



berkeley said:
Trying to send Per a PM re NP, can I still do that?

 Yes. Click on "Perserverance" on the title of any of her posts.  On the left hand side of the screen is "send message."


Oh geez.  Ok forget I ever said Stepford Wives.  In the meantime, I have lived in this area for about 10 years and I'm now having to face the reality that I can either a. do a major renovation of my house so we can expand our family without living on top of one another and get killed during the next tax reval or b. find another home.  Unfortunately for what we want, we will not be able to afford this area with the market the way it is and all of the bidding wars.  I'm very sad to have to leave a town where I have so many friends and connections.  I'm simply trying to find a suitable place to live where we can be happy.  Can we please move back to discussing New Providence? 


Another indication of where it at --- N.P. has no liquor licenses.


Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Another indication of where it at --- N.P. has no liquor licenses.

 I don't think that's true anymore.  I ate at New Providence Bar and Grill about a year ago and you could get a drink and according to campbell29, a gastropub is moving in.  


Perseverance said:


Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Another indication of where it at --- N.P. has no liquor licenses.
 I don't think that's true anymore.  I ate at New Providence Bar and Grill about a year ago and you could get a drink and according to campbell29, a gastropub is moving in.  

 You are right. On site liquor licenses were allowed this year.  That it took until 2018 still tells you something about the character of the town.


In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.