I can't imagine how much of a downpayment this couple made on a $454k unit if their mortgage is $1850 per month. Certainly A LOT more than 20%.

snorky wrote:
I live over near Pershing Field - do you know what that phone number is? I call and sometimes the police show up. Sometimes they don't. Maybe I am calling the wrong number.

I am not the type to complain. we even accepted it for a while until every guest we had over told me how they could not believe the noise. Other than two houses, my neighborhood is very quiet. If they handed out noise pollution fines I think the noise would stop immediately.

Let's keep improving JCH. Let's start by being respectful of other people and we are off to a great start.

snorky wrote:
Bring in the yuppies.
Bring in anyone that respects others' property.
Bring in anyone that does not crank terrible music until 2am every weekend, even after the cops have stopped by several times that summer.
Bring in anyone that will invest money into their home and neighborhood.
Bring in anyone that wants a better place to live and is willing to try to make that happen.
Bring in anyone that does not think the streets are meant for tossing trash and hocking snot.
Bring in anyone that is willing to fight for change.

I HATE Starbucks, but if bringing in people that want to see the area flourish (for whatever reason) leads to more corporate businesses/restaurants rather than the bodegas and poor quality restaurants then bring it on. In time it will lead to higher end unique restaurants.

I live here in the Heights. I like it. I don't like the inconsiderate neighbors that think they are in their homeland (where ever that may be), the scary figures that I often see around at night, the roach filled restaurants (cafe at the corner of Manhattan and Central - first week in town had breakfast there - terrible service and two roaches ran across the counter and onto my plate - I have not been back).

I want to see it flourish. I want my children to be safe. I don't want to have to call the cops on EVERY summer night so my family can go to sleep before 2am (the music starts at noon, ends at 2am - the screaming over the music goes on throughout - luckily there is cold weather or they would be outside cranking music all year). The Heights has the potential, but without some money moving in you will have to deal with all the things that must be overlooked.

ErinMaiden wrote:
perhaps not purely scientific research here, but in my four years of living in the heights (right off the elevator) my elevator ride during commuting hours has gotten a LOT more hobokenified in the past year or so (probably past 2).

What you may ask is that? Khaki pants, blue shirts, and jogging blondes along palisades ave. thats what.

pure science people.

oh don't forget the new dog run and park association who did a lovely planting outing in the spring...(washington park)

tommyc_37 wrote:
Quote:

Iwitness wrote:
PATH train superiority complexes are so cute. Because shoehorning yourself into a smelly metal box overcrowded with strangers 10x a week is so much classier when the box is on rails than when it operates on 4-wheels.

Quote:

ripple wrote:
Except you don't have any mass transit within reasonable walking distance - PATH is at least 15 minutes from most places in the heights.

Quote:

Michael Castro Jr., 25, a bank sales associate who has been living in the 600-square-foot Heights condo he bought for $140,000 a year ago, said his new neighborhood "is like 20 years ago in Brooklyn."

Yes, but the main drawback is the complete lack of late night transportation to/from the Heights.

As uncivil as the PATH may be at times, it is a lifeline, like an old friend, that is "usually" there for you, 24 hours a day.

And Downtown JC has *3* PATH stops. You are never far from one.

Some parts of the Heights are nice. But to claim that the Heights is as convenient, transportation-wise, as living Downtown, is in most cases just incorrect.

Christine wrote:



Each area has its merits and it depends on what the individual is looking for. What makes me mad is when people make authoritative blanket statements as if their perception is everyone's reality. I'm not accusing you of doing this. You seem like a reasonable person. There are, however, some posters who think that their thoughts are static, absolute truths when they are merely their own opinion.

tommyc_37 wrote:
Christine,

Well, as to why somebody would move from Hoboken to Downtown JC ... the main reason is that people in Hoboken often tire of the late night shenanigans and youthful bar crowd that Hoboken is known for. These people can live in a "similar" neighborhood in DTJC that isn't overrun with that kind of stuff, but still enjoy conveniences of some bars nearby, some cafes, and some good restaurants ... but in a more tame setting.

Well.......I don't know that it's the best idea to compare food prices with real estate prices. But if we must, I'd say that the price of food is largely dictated by A) the actual quality of the meat/fish/whatever (for example, it's not absurd to say that the fish at WF is of a better and fresher quality than at TJ's), and B) the principle of supply of said product versus the demand of said product.

So are the houses in downtown JC of a higher quality than the houses in the Heights? In some cases I'd say yes, and in some cases I'd say no. So it's a draw when you look at "product quality" as a determining factor in real estate prices.

But a house or condo in Downtown JC, that needs a bit of work, and is NOT built with the highest quality materials, will typically sell for higher than a house or condo of the same square footage, but in better condition, in the Heights. Why? Because there are simply more people willing to pay a higher price for the house Downtown. There is more of a demand, for whatever reason ... "perception" of safety, walkability, transportation, more bars and restaurants. So a higher demand equals a higher price.

regulator wrote:
Quote:

tommyc_37 wrote:
Christine, much of what you say may be truth, but let me ask you this...why, then, is the Heights so much cheaper than Downtown is?

Also, if I was a gambling man, I'd wager that more people move from Hoboken to Downtown JC than from Hoboken to the Heights.

tommy, hoboken is more expensive than downtown jc. where would you rather live? and why?

jennymayla wrote:
why is the success of one area so threatening to the other area? doesn't it do the whole city good to have thriving neighborhoods on opposite sides of town?

it just seems so silly to keep bashing one to somehow elevate the other.

live where you live and like what you like. what's the problem with that?

tommyc_37 wrote:
Christine, much of what you say may be truth, but let me ask you this...why, then, is the Heights so much cheaper than Downtown is?

Also, if I was a gambling man, I'd wager that more people move from Hoboken to Downtown JC than from Hoboken to the Heights.

tommyc_37 wrote:
Christine, much of what you say may be truth, but let me ask you this...why, then, is the Heights so much cheaper than Downtown is?

Also, if I was a gambling man, I'd wager that more people move from Hoboken to Downtown JC than from Hoboken to the Heights.

cyclotronic wrote:
This is why Jersey City needs more than the few downtown historic districts. We need them in parts of the Heights, near Lincoln Park, Bergen Hill, etc. Everyone loves bitching about the added overheard and cost of owning a home in a historic district, but downtown would be just as patchy, covered in vinyl, etc, etc if it wasn't for them. It's a shame this wasn't done years ago. In my own neighborhood I've seen so much destroyed in the 7-8 years I've been here.

ripple wrote:
For a work commute, the mode of transportation doesn't matter so much. However, young people like to hang out in NYC in the evenings, and there's a huge advantage to living near a PATH station when you're coming home at 2 in the morning. Without a more direct connection to NYC, I just don't see the heights going down the same path (no pun intended) as downtown.


Quote:

Iwitness wrote:
PATH train superiority complexes are so cute. Because shoehorning yourself into a smelly metal box overcrowded with strangers 10x a week is so much classier when the box is on rails than when it operates on 4-wheels.

Quote:

ripple wrote:
Except you don't have any mass transit within reasonable walking distance - PATH is at least 15 minutes from most places in the heights.

Quote:

Michael Castro Jr., 25, a bank sales associate who has been living in the 600-square-foot Heights condo he bought for $140,000 a year ago, said his new neighborhood "is like 20 years ago in Brooklyn."

cyclotronic wrote:
This is why Jersey City needs more than the few downtown historic districts. We need them in parts of the Heights, near Lincoln Park, Bergen Hill, etc. Everyone loves bitching about the added overheard and cost of owning a home in a historic district, but downtown would be just as patchy, covered in vinyl, etc, etc if it wasn't for them. It's a shame this wasn't done years ago. In my own neighborhood I've seen so much destroyed in the 7-8 years I've been here.


Quote:

tommyc_37 wrote:
Here's my opinion on the Heights. I think a large majority of the housing stock up there is just rather ugly. Vinyl or aluminum siding, stand alone houses, that just look like somebody built them without giving a rat's a** about style or architectural detail. Compare that with some of the jaw dropping brownstones of Downtown, in which attention to detail is an understatement.

Disclaimer - I know there are some very pretty Victorian houses on certain blocks. But I feel that these are far and few between.

tommyc_37 wrote:
Here's my opinion on the Heights. I think a large majority of the housing stock up there is just rather ugly. Vinyl or aluminum siding, stand alone houses, that just look like somebody built them without giving a rat's a** about style or architectural detail. Compare that with some of the jaw dropping brownstones of Downtown, in which attention to detail is an understatement.

Disclaimer - I know there are some very pretty Victorian houses on certain blocks. But I feel that these are far and few between.

The Thevenots' four-story, 100-year-old, gingerbread-style Victorian cost $454,000, making the family's monthly mortgage payment $250 less than the $2,100 they had been paying to rent one floor of a Park Slope, Brooklyn, brownstone.