Moving to New Jersey

Interesting answer from Trilexia B. from Staten Island, NY. Not particularly accurate coming from a New Yorker but interesting.

I would recommend Montclair, Bloomfield, Nutley, or Union. Each has pretty decent schools but my favorite is Montclair which is a friendly child oriented cultured place. There is either a train or bus into "The City" (aka NYC). Montclair has restaurantes, local pools, ice skating rink, movie theaters, live theaters, local paper (The Montclair Times), a hospital (Mountainside Hospital), a college, great public transportation, excellent for walking, churches, historical sites, parks to play in, great schools, beautiful housing, shopping centers, supermarkets but still maintains its charm and warmth. Visit their website to learn even more then before you make the move come on out for a visit. Judge for yourself. Yes my opinion is biased but who better than someone who lives there to tell you just how great it really is.

Bloomfield, Nutley or Union are equally nice but without some of the quaintness of Montclair but still the suburban feel and flavor with transporation into NYC too.

ATTN KIM F-- I, myself may not live there, but have several co-workers, and friends, even one cousin, who live in or around those areas. So I based my answer/opinion on visiting these people's homes and traveling thru the neighborhoods.
Also Cherry, you can feel free to contact local schools for stats and local police stations for crime stats as well.

Have not met one person who has moved to South Jersey and has a complaint. Very upscale neighborhoods, decent people who don't mind the possible 2 hour NYC commute. But hey, even living in the city boroughs can sometimes create a 2 hour commute LOL! The state can only improve with that governor you guys are lucky to have. Watch out (from what I'm told) for some central & northern areas. Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, has crime issues and poor schools. I even heard Camden is not good and that's near Philly. Go on a forum called NJ.com or NJlive.com (something like that), it should have townships listed and you can click and ask questions of residents there. Good Luck!

I live in Kearny that is just next to Newark, and yes, this is not one of my favorites but is very close to NY. We have our 12 year old in a Catholic privet school and we are very happy with the school.
If you are looking for a suburb area I recommend you Short Hills and Bedminster and around this last one. They are farther away from NY (about an hour commute or maybe a little more) but are very nice upscale areas.
I recommend you to check greatschools.com to check for public schools and GSMLS.com to find a house (rent or buy).

Bergen County. Tenafly, Alpine, Englewood Cliffs, are all upscale great schools. Montclair is more central and is nice.