HI there. Just wanted to respond about Heights day care and schools. We are in the Heights and send our 1 year old Hank to Baby Einstein Learning Center on Webster and Ferry and are happy with it. I know other parents (with toddlers) have had some issues with staff there but we like the place. It seems to be far superior to the other day care centers I have checked out in the neighborhood.

There is a new pre-school that just opened on Central across from Washington Park called Park Prep or something like that. The space is great, curriculum/activities seem awesome and the two women that run it are recent Bank Street graduates. They mentioned that they plan to open a (private) elementary school in three years.

I also know a few Heights parents who are really happy with St. Anns for k-12.

We would prefer to send our son to public school in the Heights when he reaches school age but it's nice to know there might be options if the public schools aren't promising.

I don't know too much about the quality of the public schools, but it seems like most of my neigbors (many are fairly recent transplants from Hoboken) have their kids (elementary school age) in some kind of private or charter school in Hoboken (I THINK JC kids can go to the Hoboken charter schools--someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think this is mostly a perception of the quality of the heights public schools rather than actual knowledge of how good or bad they are. By the same token, the few younger kids I know are in daycares in downtown JC or Hoboken, not the daycares in the heights, even though those may be fine for all I know.

If these families stay in the area until their kids reach high-school age, I think they are hoping for McNair, otherwise they will put the kid in a private or parochial school . . .

CK - obviously i respect your opinion as a generational local, but, my family is from here too (dad born at Christ Hospital) - and they asked "Why?" when my wife and i moved up the hill..... having said that, they were blown away at the improvement of the area (physically and visually) when they've come to visit....

and we haven't had any problems at all, save some noisy kids....


anyhoo -

welcome to the neighborhood! if you like beer and rock and roll, we'll see you around. if not, we'll probably still see you around... funny how small this big town is...

Firstly , welcome to the Heights .

I grew in the heights and can say without any doubt that it has changed greatly and not for the better .

I know theres an upswing and a Building boom going on in the Heights, but to compare the element now VS while I was growing up is to compare a Chevy to a ferrari..I.E. NO comparison at all .

Just hope things continue to improve .

Good Luck

ck

Quote:

Have you heard anything about P.S. 27, P.S. 28 or the other public schools in the Heights? Do you have any sense that the neighbors who care about education are going to try sending their kids to the public schools up there, or are they all sending their kids to private schools?

Sorry if you know the schools there are great and think this question is hilarious, but I find it's really rare that I meet people who even have a friend of a friend with a kid at any public schools other than P.S. 16 (Bradford, in Paulus Hook) and Learning Community Charter School.

It is block-by-block but you should be fine pretty much anywhere in the heights during the day.

I live in the heights and also have a young baby--when I was on maternity leave I walked to Central Ave. often (I live on Ogden) and never had any problems--except women would stop and ask how much my stroller cost! (It was one of the more expensive-type ones). Now I'm back at work and my nanny goes out every day around the heights.

Welcome to the neighborhood--hope you decided to uphold the contract. It is nice to hear about new moms in the heights--there are a lot of parents on my street but many of their kids are school-age.

Not to frighten you but this will be your walk home



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BiT2gsqdY4



Good luck and do not let the corruption , lousy school system and crime get you down


I almost forgot taxes are going up!!!!

Buy a gun. Your going to need it.

Welcome to the heights.

There are dysfunctional individuals, people and families.

In todays day and age we now have dysfunctional neighborhoods and government bodies.

Tomorrow we will have dysfunctional cities, states and nations..............or are we there already?

Its not the neighborhood that's dysfunctional, its the people in it!

I hope you love it in the Heights. We bought on the corner of Webster/Hutton back in 99 and like it here alot. It has it's rough spots and it's definitely city dwelling so you gotta be aware of your surroundings, but it's gotten so much better in the last 8 years and we look forward to seeing it through the next years to come.

There are alot of great people up here...families, singles, everything...Alot of owner occupied homes that really do care about the neighborhood. Unfortunately the streets are still pretty dirty and can look rough sometimes, but we're doing alot to correct that.

Welcome to the neighborhood! There are a couple organisations (historical, neighborhood watch, etc) around here you might want to become part of and you can always join us at the Community garden in Fisk park in the Spring (well there are a couple evil ones in there too...but...) =)

Really welcome...you'll love it I think!

Hello fellow Mom!

I really think Webster has come a long way. I used to live on Sherman Avenue between Griffith and Bowers back in 2000. There are so many great people in the area including some new moms like yourself.

As a co-founder of the Downtown JC Neighborhood Watch, I still agree with the former poster that sometimes its best not to follow the crime statistics unless you have been a victim or have specific crime issues on your block like drug dealing. I don't like to alarm people unnecessarily especially new moms (that sensitivity meter really goes up!)

For connecting with other moms in your neighborhood, check out www.jcfijc.org which is a family organization with a yahoo group board. You will find the support you need in your new home. They will also be hosting their annual Family Stir Crazy event on Sunday, March 4th, at the Golden Charter School.

Hope to see you!

We moved in nearer Pershing Field in August. The crime, so far, has not affected us. The occasional noisy car stereo is about it. Signing for a home is always nerve wracking. You have made a good decision to come here - amenities, daycare, transport and as of yesterday the reservoir will be preserved and improved. That has to be a good thing for a child to grow up near. (Also Pershing Field has indoor swimming and swim classes.)

And I have been fine walking at night, no trouble.

Enjoy the Heights.

I live five blocks from there, and yes, it is "pretty" safe -- by city standards. (You've chosen to live in a city, and surely you know that there is no urban neighborhood in this city, state or country that is 100 percent safe, especially at night.) I don't expect you will have any problems running errands during the daytime, though. My wife and I raised a child on Palisade Avenue, certain sections of which have been trouble spots, but we personally never had any problems with street crime.

Sometimes you are better off not reading forums. If you read forums pertaining to the village, upper east side nyc etc you would find there is crime everywhere there are people.

I live in the heights. Its coming along nicely. there is crime in all parts of city including downtown JC and yes hoboken. Its relatively safe for a city. The heights has a good neighborhood watch. Better than hoboken.


I lived in hoboken for 5 years. My car was stolen from my parking lot in a luxury building.

Also I grew up in westchester NY suburbs and the city life is relatively new to me.

You made the right choice. It is best value in the area. Good luck and welcome to the neighborhood.

Hi Everyone,

We have just signed a contract a brand new condo on 185 Webster Avenue (b/w Griffith and Bowers) and I found out about this board by coincidence tonight...Well, I guess I should have done it before signing the contract but we have an attorney review period so I hope it's still not late.

My question is to all who lives in JC Heights...I'll greatly appreciate if you can tell me about how safe this area is because I am a work-at-home mom with a newborn and I have to run many errands around during the day time.

I tried to check the message boards and saw mixed reviews...some people say it's pretty safe (not sure what they exactly mean by "pretty"; does it mean there are occasional murders?) and some people seem to be concerned about crimes, etc.

I am very concerned now because we are almost about to purchase the condo. Any comments will be helpful!

Thanks so much!!!