Go with the Heights if school is not your biggest priority. We purchased in the heights 3 years ago coming from downtown and you can certainly see the change happening. Public transportation is abundant, dining is diverse, Everything JC festival is on Central Ave, and dedicated neighborhood associations. Since being in the Heights I can se most of the shady dealings are finding they have no place in my portion of the neighborhood. My neighbors/block are extremely proactive about their quality of life and I see more patrol cars up and down my street than i see downtown, unless they're parked by the cigar shop on grove.

Good luck!

Kuba,
My wife and I have been living in the Heights for almost 3 years now, and really dig it. As others here have stated, there is a lot of good food up here, great neighbors and the transportation in to NYC is pretty abundant (between buses, Light Rail, etc.). We lived in Hoboken for years, and are still able to walk there via the Light Rail elevator in 10 minutes.
My wife recently got a job out in Mercer County, and unfortunately we are going to be re-locating due to what would be a pretty serious commute from here.
We haven't put our home on the market yet, but were thinking about doing so in the next month or so. It definitely fits the bill for what you are looking for (single family, 1800+ sq ft, under $500K). If you are at all interested, shoot me a private message (or whatever it's called on here) and I can give you the details.
MoseyCity

If you do decide to buy in the Heights, please consider using our realtor Millie Velez of Coldwell Banker. She is thorough, dedicated, sincere and knowledgeable. She is the only agent who stuck with us and kept sending us listings and showing us properties. Millie promptly returns phone calls and emails... the seller of the house we are buying has even started calling Millie instead of her own agent to find out what is going on. I recommend Millie to anyone in the Jersey City/Hoboken area!

http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet ... ent_id=619112&page=agent&

Excluding what your friends think, you need to evaluate the following financial consideration:

Look at what your tax bill will be for each place, then add in private school for two kids if you choose JC.

Don't know how old your kids are, but if you go with private school, by the time they graduate, you will have spent a good chunk of what could have been a decent college savings fund for each.

Sorry to say, but you have more important things to consider than new restaurants and your friends opinions.

definitely brooklyn. you should say goodbye and good riddance to jersey city

:P

I was in the same situation..... and we are closing on a condo up in the Heights. The only thing that ruled out Bayonne was the lack of transportation and not as easy to get to the city. I have friends in both places. Bayonne is nice, but if you don't have a car or need to get to the city, I would say no.

I am excited to move to the Heights. Discovered a new Egyptian restaurant up there this past Saturday night on Central Ave! The Heights will be the next upcoming place..... for the fact that everyone has been priced out of downtown!

I would say the Heights in a heartbeat but when you state your priorities are schools and children don't rule out Bayonne. I'm not sure how old you are or where you were born & raised. You mentioned (the no cool factor) and (Shouldn't care what people think, but do) as far as cool is concerned grow up ! You?re not kids anymore but your kids are though, and other people, well, who cares what they think your family comes first ! I think with the school and crime factor plus where you are leaning towards, Bayonne seems to be the answer. Downtown J.C. is for single/hipster people and so is the east side of the Heights, west of Kennedy Boulevard is the better area up here. Also another area in the Heights between Mosquito Park and Pershing Field is a nice quiet section. The Heights has been great for me, being born and raised here I know lots of people and where to go for what ever I need. But for newer families it is still questionable. I did go to high school in Bayonne so even I found a reason to make Bayonne worthwhile as you can figure out why. Bayonne has that urban Middle America feel to it which I think would make you feel more comfortable there.

a friend recently purchased a 3br 1800sf place near journal square for under 300k, and it is a beautiful apartment in a pretty nice building...i'd imagine you can do very well for much less than 500k, but haven't looked myself.

The heights absolutely. There are good restaurants, a number of parks, shopping, and good public transport. Bayonne has some nice areas but seems to be very isolated from it's neighbors. Plus it's got that "Bayonne" stigma that no one wants.

my wife and i met while we were living in NYC, moved back to jersey city and lived downtown for a while, and then eventually bought in the Heights - and we wouldn't trade it for the world. It's great up here. I don't believe the crime is any higher than downtown JC.... transportation is a breeze... we're near hoboken for different restaurants/entertainment... close to Central for stuff....

we also have many friends who have moved up here, and are happy, and since living here have made many great new friends...

After much house-hunting, we've come to a conclusion we cannot afford what we need in the downtown area. We love the neighborhood and the people but with two kids, and one parent working from home living in a 2 bed condo with no storage is not an option (that's all we can afford to buy here).

We've started exploring JC Heights and Bayonne. I personally am leaning towards Bayonne because of the schools. There is however no cool factor there what-so-ever. When I say Bayonne our neighbors and friends cringe.

JC Heights however gets a more favorable reaction although the schools suck, the crime rate is high and its overall a bit sketchy.

Shouldn't care what people think, but do. What are your thoughts? Anyone move to either one?

And if you can recommend another place worth exploring with A) easy access to NYC 2) Public transport to downtown JC (parents live here and don't drive).

Our max is 500K tops for single family (but we need minimum 1800 sf).