Folks that moved from Maplewood to South Orange

With the housing market looking like it's on the upswing, we've been considering putting our place for sale - but we really like living here. Over the past few weekends, we've started seeing houses in Maplewood and recently expanded our search to South Orange.

The more we look in South Orange, the more we like what we are seeing. But we really like Maplewood and have a good network of friends, but the allure of SO is getting ever stronger.

So, for those of you that moved from Maplewood to SO, what were some major differences (good and bad) you noticed? I know it's not a huge distance, but we're trying to get a sense of the vibe. Appreciate folks sharing their thoughts.

I moved from Maplewood to South Orange. When I did so my daughter was in high school - so it did not involve a change in Elementary school. These are the differences I experienced

1. Different swimming pool. South Orange was a lot less crowded

2. No longer "walking" distance to downtown Maplewood - but I never walked there anyway. I work locally, so I still find myself in Maplewood Village several times a week and sometimes several times a day.

3. I became more familiar with South Orange Village - which has A LOT more to offer than meets the eye

4. I discovered Shoprite in West Orange - which is light years better than Pathmark. And for easy convenience I tend to go to Ashley Market now instead of Kings.

5. THIS IS IMPORTANT - if you take the train to Manhattan there is no wait for a parking permit in Maplewood, but there is a wait (several years) to get a parking permit in South Orange - so if you need the train be prepared to walk ( there are a lot of lovely homes within walking distance) or take the Jitney.

That's it. It's the same community.

Also, in general, and depending on the neighborhood, I think you get a little more house for the money in South Orange.

Good luck.

Ive heard the water bill in SO is much higher than MW- like 4x as much

Did the same when my girls were going into 5/3 and pre-k. Much bigger house and property.

Switching schools was no big deal. SOMS is great.

We drive to visit all our friends in MWD but love having guests because we have tons more space.

Taxes are significantly less for the amount of room we have. Anything else is negligible.

(I do drive my kids to the HS for the most part but we've been able to carpool which helps.

I don't remember off hand what we paid for water in Maplewood but the difference is nominal. Yes we got a water softener but we've been in our house for 9 years and it's not a huge expense. It's not like we went from free Evian to sewer water.

Maplewood and SO will be on the same water system by the end of this year.

Thank you all so much for you thoughts! Our main concerns at this point are 1) Kids schools - admittedly we haven't done enough research on the schools in SO and not sure what to expect with the shift (currently in Clinton) 2) We both do NYC commutes - I know the parking at the train will be more troublesome compared to Mpwd. Does SO have a similar Jitney service? Hours at work vary depending on our client responsibilities (both in advertising/marketing) so we usually have to coordinate between ourselves to make sure we have appropriate coverage. 3) What's the mommy scene like in SO? I always found MPWD so great and I suspect the SO scene is similar, but would love to get some of your perspectives.

Keep the thoughts coming, so very appreciated.

We just moved to SO a couple of months ago after 10 years in Maplewood. I don't notice much difference. Our kids go to SB so there's no change there. The pool is much cheaper and seems less crowded and more low-key than the Maplewood pool. I think we prefer the Maplewood library, but if you have kids they can use their card at either with a student sticker. We still use both downtowns.

Where we lived in Maplewood we had to drive everywhere, so for us it's been a hugely positive change to be able to walk to downtown SO and the train (actually we're closer to Maplewood's downtown than we were before as well). We love our new neighborhood and we are very happy that we made the move, but it has more to do with our specific circumstances, I think, than any difference between the two towns.

Oh, and we got our first water bill and I don't see much difference.

ronniemexico said:
Thank you all so much for you thoughts! Our main concerns at this point are 1) Kids schools - admittedly we haven't done enough research on the schools in SO and not sure what to expect with the shift (currently in Clinton) 2) We both do NYC commutes - I know the parking at the train will be more troublesome compared to Mpwd. Does SO have a similar Jitney service? Hours at work vary depending on our client responsibilities (both in advertising/marketing) so we usually have to coordinate between ourselves to make sure we have appropriate coverage. 3) What's the mommy scene like in SO? I always found MPWD so great and I suspect the SO scene is similar, but would love to get some of your perspectives.
Keep the thoughts coming, so very appreciated.

I've always been in South Orange so I can't comment on the moving aspect (though I grew up in Maplewood). But as far as the mommy scene, my friends are a mix of families in Maplewood and South Orange. I imagine you would find that to be the case in most situations as other than the pool pretty much everything is combined.

As far as the schools, correct me if I'm wrong but I think most of the schools are a mix of Maplewood and South Orange residents, except Tuscan. So depending on where you move you could even stay at Clinton (we're zoned there), or could be at South Mountain or Marshall/Jefferson. There's also Seth Boyden which you can opt into from any school.

Klinker said:
Maplewood and SO will be on the same water system by the end of this year.

Do tell.

The SO Jitney is actually much better than the Maplewood one. The drivers wait until the trains have arrived before pulling out- this is very useful given NJTs recent record. They also run much later at night.

Parking in SO is not only harding to get but significantly more expensive - the proposed new rates are around $800 per year.

ronniemexico said:
Thank you all so much for you thoughts! Our main concerns at this point are 1) Kids schools - admittedly we haven't done enough research on the schools in SO and not sure what to expect with the shift (currently in Clinton) 2) We both do NYC commutes - I know the parking at the train will be more troublesome compared to Mpwd. Does SO have a similar Jitney service? Hours at work vary depending on our client responsibilities (both in advertising/marketing) so we usually have to coordinate between ourselves to make sure we have appropriate coverage. 3) What's the mommy scene like in SO? I always found MPWD so great and I suspect the SO scene is similar, but would love to get some of your perspectives.
Keep the thoughts coming, so very appreciated.

we moved from mplwd to so orange-- as SHH says larger home etc

we found our shopping shifted to trader joes, downtown milburn vs maplewood and walking to ashleys to pick up stuff much more frequently than we used kings while in mpld

also much easier to shoot over to 280 about the same to shoot over to 78/gsp

agree with other poster the jitney drivers seem more customer friendly (actually had a jitney driver stop by my house with a pair of gloves he saw me drop !!)

Tarheels is correct, you may still be zoned for Clinton depending on where you move. We were zoned for M/J when we lived in Maplewood but are now zoned for Clinton in SO. As I mentioned, our kids go to SB, so we didn't have any change when we moved.

Commuter parking was my main concern when we looked in SO. I will say that I am thrilled that we don't have to deal with it. We walk to the train and there's also a jitney stop on our corner. We've never used it, but I suppose I will when the weather is terrible. As someone mentioned there is also a late night jitney which Maplewood did not have.

As far as the mommy scene--I really feel like M/SO are basically one town as far as that kind of stuff goes. I still have my Maplewood friends and being just over the border doesn't make any difference. When we were looking, it wasn't that we necessarily wanted to move out of Maplewood, it was just that we found the perfect house in SO and to us we just felt lucky that we could look in both towns and have more options and settle in either one without making too big a change to our lives.

Good luck!

For my husband, being closer to 280 helped his commute for years. He works wacky hours and the train doesn't usually work for him, but he'd drive to Harrison for the Path or even the park and ride in secaucus, and it was at least 10 mins quicker than from Maplewood.

South Orange has gaslights. That's pretty much the difference.

And while the Maplewood Library and its staff are wonderful, and while with a ReBL sticker you can access both systems, if you live in South Orange you can come to the SOPL, become a member and visit with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

South Orange has gaslights. That's pretty much the difference.

Oh, and instead of mayor and town council members, we have a Village President and Trustees (a recent ballot question rejected any changes).
I'm kinda sure that the Township was supposed to be dropped, but we still have to pay our taxes to Twp. of S. O. Village.

Made the move from Mpwd. to S.O. in 2002/2003 - taxes have now caught up and
surpassed,but we have no mortgage; bigger house; still in Marshall/Jefferson
pairing: the split-up of friends for SOMS/MMS is reunited when they all go to Columbia, which has THE BEST music and arts programs, as well as lots of AP courses.

Love our library and LL!

Both towns use St. Barnabas, but it seems that Maplewoodians might favor Overlook more. Maplewood people tend to use Rt. 22 - South Orangers head towards Rt. 10 (for Costco, anyway). We almost always drive 18 mins. and park free in Harrison to take the PATH to NYC. And it's a straight shot up to the reservation or to the Newark courthouses for jury duty in the opposite direction.


If nOOb is still following this discussion:http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/south-orange-enters-contract-nj-american-water/

The Clinton zone straddles the two towns. Also, even if you move to a different elementary zone, there's a good chance you could keep the kid(s) at Clinton if you wish, via transfer. You must provide their transportation in that case.

musicmz said:

If nOOb is still following this discussion:http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/south-orange-enters-contract-nj-american-water/

Yes, thank you. So not the end of this year but the end of next.

Probably wont install that water softener after all...

Where do you park free in Harrison to use the path?

And I still take the back roads to 22 to use that Costco.

I live in Maplewood on the Union side of town, but we tend to go to Route 10 at least as often as 22 (Costco and other stores.) I think we got in the Route 10 habit when Home Depot went in there first - before 22 and Vauxhall

I don't think so.

Klinker said:
Maplewood and SO will be on the same water system by the end of this year.

n00b said:

musicmz said:

If nOOb is still following this discussion:http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/south-orange-enters-contract-nj-american-water/

Yes, thank you. So not the end of this year but the end of next.
Probably wont install that water softener after all...

I'm having that very same debate. It's still a pretty long time...

musicmz said:
qrysdonnell said:

South Orange has gaslights. That's pretty much the difference.

Oh, and instead of mayor and town council members, we have a Village President and Trustees (a recent ballot question rejected any changes).

Just to be accurate, Maplewood doesn't have a mayor/town council form of government, either.

Maplewood has a Township Committee. All 5 members vote on every matter. The Chair of the Township Committee exercises the office of Mayor. Administrative departments report to the Township Committee as a whole.

Not a big point for the question asked at the start of this thread, of course.

sac said:
The Clinton zone straddles the two towns. Also, even if you move to a different elementary zone, there's a good chance you could keep the kid(s) at Clinton if you wish, via transfer. You must provide their transportation in that case.

Yes, we are SO residents and our kids went to Clinton. Also, all Clinton kids (with a few exceptions) go to SOMS, whether they are SO or Maplewood residents.

I've lived in SO for 16 years. We have friends in both towns, our kids have friends in both towns, we frequent restaurants, shops, parks, etc. in both towns, and I more or less consider us one community.

We moved from M to SO about 6 years ago, after living in M for 8 years, and didn't notice much of a change. As most of the others have said, we really view the two towns as one community - schools, sports, houses of worship, etc. We go to both downtowns pretty equally, and always did. We attend plenty of M community events (fireworks, Maplewoodstock, etc.) and see plenty of our M friends at SO events (Floods Hill concerts/movies, Newstead 5k, etc.). The biggest changes are schools (maybe - depending on what grade and where you live), pools, garbage and recycling, water, cable (SO has Cablevision, not Comcast, so you'd probably want to get FIOS or DirecTV). M and SO should really just be one town. It's a shame that we can't find a way to make that happen.