Lived here since 2000. Even attempting to raise three kids here. The neighbors we have are like family and I know several really great families on Highland between JFK and West Side.
The area could use a few amenities, but where your sister is located on Highland, she can easily find decent produce and groceries within walking distance. There are several great bars in the neighborhood and more and more to come. St. Peter's is planning a large project near McGinley that will be certain to gentrify the area even more. Not too far up from Highland on JFK and Duncan, Boyd McGuiness park just opened and has been a really nice addition to the neighborhood. I work in the city and either bike or run for my commute. Late nights I take a cab, but honestly I lived on Highland, I would probably walk or bike most of the time because it's so close to the square.
Good Luck.

I live on Fairview and Kennedy and actually have a friend in her mid 20s that lives on highland. It's a really safe area. Obviously don't leave both ear buds and use common sense.

If she feels uncomfortable at all there are buses that go down JFK and down begen. There are also non njtransit buses that. She can take down JFK.

I moved up here from downtown in may and underestimated how quiet and convenient it is to live here.

That mid century house is amazing! I went to the open house on saturday. Good luck!

I moved into the area but little further away on Astor Place. I work late sometimes and when using the PATH, I will get off at Grove and call an Uber. Its the same price home from Grove or JSQ ($5) and is quicker and easier to get one at Grove St. I would use the 87 at JSQ but after a certain hour, it gets longer and longer between buses.

I use to live in the area, Bergen ave can be sketchy but when I would walk home super late I took Bergen ave because there is more people on that avenue. So if something went down someone would see it... Kennedy at night is like a ghost town.. Just my 2 cents.

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The neighborhood will be completely different in no time, if I'm guessing correctly you're referring to the mid-century mod home on Highland? The open houses were mobbed both days, there's a bidding war over the house at this point!

i am in the area. about 3 years off duncan. no real concerns. biggest issues. amenities while a couple of places are popping up. there is not much in restaurants and stores for anything other than day to day bodegas and pharmacy

bergen can get a bit sketchy so does west side at night but for most part no one has said a peep to me. kennedy is a bit quieter at night and should be ok.

and agreed. with things jumping really fast around here. now would be the last time to see some of those prices. good luck.

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It really does come down to each individual's personal level of comfort. There are many on this site that cower with fear if they are walking alone and see a black person. The reality is that Bergen Ave is quite mixed and so is the area. She wouldn't be walking any great distance (10-15 minutes). There are also two gyms on Kennedy which have a mixed clientele that often walk there at various hours.

I've walked around that area at those hours and not had a second thought about it. However, it's best to have her be in the area at that time to view and see what is there. At that point, she can determine her comfort and decide if she can do it.

As an aside, I think the price she's paying now (a number I don't know) will possibly be double in two years or less.

Thanks for your post, very helpful. Late would probably be between 9-1030 at night. But she'd be walking directly up Kennedy Blvd. which seems like a big road and not super remote?

The area she is looking in is fine. I highly doubt that she'd run into any issues.

Like any single woman walking in any area, she'll get the cat-calls and such, but she'll be fine.

As for the area... It's been said already. There's no great restaurant, but there is a good bar in McGinley Pub. A couple blocks over is Wonder Bagel and there is Honey Bakery (fantastic food). As more people move into the area, as is happening, the options should get better.

It won't happen overnight, but Downtown didn't become the area that it is now overnight, either.

The best thing to do is take a look at the area in the evening and around the hours that she's coming home. She can state her comfort level with what she sees which will mostly be a lot of nothing.

Me, my wife and daughter moved from downtown a year and a half ago to the general area ( I am actually off Duncan near Lincoln Park.) In our case, we wanted to plant some roots, and being that we are not people of great financial means, our options were limited as to where would could look to buy. No, this side of town obviously does not have the amenities that downtown has, nowhere else in JC really does, the Heights ehh. This side of town I personally believe though will be on the rise, not just because I live here. I know quite a few people that have done exactly what I did, in terms of the move. And even in the year and a half that I have been there I have seen progress in varying forms. In terms of walking late at night, I personally don't do it and wouldn't not just here but in a lot of places outside of downtown, but then again, depends on what your calling late. You always have the bus option, and of course the cabs.

Hi,

My sister is looking into buying a one family house on Highland Avenue and Kennedy Blvd (near St. Peter's college). It's a 10-min walk down Kennedy Blvd. to Journal Square.

She's a single woman so I'm worried about her safety because she gets home from work late and will have to walk by herself most nights. I did a walk around the neighborhood and it seems fine, but can anyone who lives there chime in please?

What do you think of the neighborhood? I walked to McGinley Square and there weren't many great stores/restaurants over there. Do you think this area will be improving in the next 2 years and is a good area to invest in for real estate?

thanks!!