places to live in NJ

Stipe, et alia wrote:

monmouth county or somerset county if you can afford it. both places with great running scenes, tons of parks, and njtransit too.

i'm partial to monmouth county myself - the county parks there are unmatched by those anywhere else in the country. when paul tergat says it's one of his favorite places to run, then that should speak for itself.

I was born in Red Bank and raised in Middletown and ran many times in Monmouth County. I love the area and no doubt believe it is certainly a great place to train. However, to suggest that the county parks in this particular area of Central Jersey are to be unmatched by those anywhere else is a gross mis-statement.

Ears2Yoo wrote:

[quote]Stipe, et alia wrote:

However, to suggest that the county parks in this particular area of Central Jersey are to be unmatched by those anywhere else is a gross mis-statement.

Can you please name a place then that has 4 county parks of the quality of Holmdel, Thompson, Hartshorne, Manasquan Res? (not to mention the lesser known county parks that offer good running)

These parks offer diverse running - want a tempo run? Manasquan. Hills? Hartshorne. Run a top-notch HS and collegiate course? Holmdel. All round running experience? Thompson.

I've been lucky enough to live in places all over the U.S.: NJ, NY, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Texas.

I've run great places, great parks, from municipal to national, in 43 of the states. And nowhere that I've ever been has has a county park system like monmouth county.

Camden

Don't live in the devil\'s asshole...I mean Point Pleasant.

I'm not about to get into a pissing match with you, but I can state with confidence that there are other park systems in other states that could probably rival that of Monmouth County's. Look...I'm not bashing the country...hell, I lived there for many years and love the place, but to suggest that that is perhaps the best place for running in the US is a little absurd...don't you think?

i never said it was the best place to run in the country. i actually think that southern indiana or portland, oregon have been the best places that i've ever run. and there are other parks in places around the country that i'd love to be able to run in every day.

what i did say was that the county park system was unmatched. in fairness to other places, many of their great parks are owned by the state, or by the federal government. monmouth county is unique in that the best parks are county administered. i think the county park system, intentionally or not, does a bang-up job of maintaining great places to run (though the new paved "trail" in thompson pisses me off).

please, if there are other places with great county park systems, i'd love to hear them. i'm always looking for places to run when i travel.

amy wrote:

tach44444 wrote:

Only town in America who's official language is English.

It's obviously not your official language.

haha, owned!!

Okay, I think I misunderstood you then. I would agree that the Monmouth Country Parks and Recreation Department is amongst the most solid, if not the benchmark for the country. I can remember going to Evergreen Park every weekday during the summer. Kickball, 4 squares...man...those were the days.

Camden

Princeton, NJ--Clean, beautiful.

Easy train to NYC. Canal trail, Institute Woods and

Battlefield...Great running group that meets at

Princeton Running Co. on Thursdays.

If I was to move back to NJ. I would probably go to Princeton. Its not as congested and fast paced as the Northeast part of the state. The problem is the cost, but that's the problem with the whole state. I guess I'll just stay here in beautiful Colorado.

Any good running groups to run with??? That might help me pick a place as well...

Thanks for all the comments - going to drive up there and check some of these places out.......

From a work POV, depending on where your car travel will take you, you might want to take a good look at the Turnpike corridor. It hasn't been mentioned much. The Highland Park / New Brunswick area has a lot to offer, though pretty collegiate in terms of social.

If travel to the west and south is going to be required frequently, then Northern Monmouth can be hard to get out of. Southern Monmouth can be good due to 195. You also have the beaches, if you're a beach goer. The areas near the Beach give good access to direct trains to NYC (NJT's North Jersey Coast Line), and Asbury Park is working to come back. It has the reputation of being pretty hip, though with a big gay scene. Many of the shore towns have boardwalks that are nice for running (early AM or dusk only in summer).

Okay so this isn't in NJ but anyone have thoughts on Brooklyn??? Safe? Good Running? Expensive or no? I think the company is just worried about their car - hence the not living in Manhattan part..........

Brooklyn is huge -- keep in mind that it is the most populous borough of NYC (2.5 million) and would be the 4th largest city in the US if considered independently. There is a great variety in neighborhoods. Some of the safer neighborhoods in NYC are in Brooklyn (Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights come to mind) as well as some of the most dangerous (Brownsville, East New York).

If you want to live in the "hot" areas of Brooklyn, you're going to be paying fairly decent $, unless you can find a nice rent controlled situation. A single woman can safely live in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, parts of Crown Heights, Cobble Hill, or Carroll Gardens. If you are in Pros. Heights, Park Slope, or Crown Heights, you'll be very close to Prospect Park, which is kind of a mini-Central Park. There is a 3.4 mile road around the perimeter of the park (with dirt/grass to run on along side for approx. 75% of the loop) as well as several trails that run inside the perimeter of the park.

If you're going to have NJ as your territory, however, keep in mind that any drive out of Brooklyn is going to involve dealing with either the Staten Island Expressway and/or the other Hudson/East River crossings and potentially Manhattan. I love Brooklyn and highly recommend it for anyone under the age of 35 or so, but there's not a chance I would live here if I had to drive to Jersey each day.

Okay well that is out then because I will be travling to NJ and the surrounding states as well as New England - so I am pretty sure I would be out of NYC 4 out of the 5 work days....if not more....this is more complicated than I thought........

11Run wrote:

Okay well that is out then because I will be travling to NJ and the surrounding states as well as New England - so I am pretty sure I would be out of NYC 4 out of the 5 work days....if not more....this is more complicated than I thought........

if that's the case, then i'd suggest northern jersey. try something around ringwood - passaic county. someone also mentioned morristown - another good bet. good parks, good transit, easy access to NE via 287.

As far as the job aspect goes, have a look at White Plains then. It's a clean city for the most part and populated but not too crowded. There's a 32 minute express train to Grand Central Station for about $12.50 round trip. No need to drive into the city for the office visit. Good access to major highways I-287 and I-87 for your road travelling. Also has quite a bit to offer its residents: bars, malls, shops, Pace U, train station, city center, restaurants, theaters, library, dmv which are all within about a 1 mile radius.

As far as running goes, I'm really not sure if it's what you'd be looking for. There is a bike path that runs along side the train tracks that you'll find runners using. I don't know much about the running scene though. I'm sure there's a couple running clubs in the area maybe some others here could fill you in on.

If you're going to be traveling to both New England and New Jersey, you might want to look at the Hudson Valley of New York State. Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, and Southern Dutchess counties are all beautiful areas that are also tremendous for running. If you're on the east side of the Hudson, you'll be near the Metro North RR's Hudson Line, which goes right into Grand Central Station. From this area, depending on where you're going that particular day, you can completely avoid the traffic of the city.