I visited Wayne, New Jersey some years ago while on a little "pilgrimage" to Albert Payson Terhune's home, Sunnybank, and to his grave, and then again some years later to take a look at one of the yearly collie get-togethers held at Sunnybank.
It's odd that none of the writers from Wayne mentions Terhune Memorial Park, located on a fraction of Sunnybank, the estate belonging to writer and dog-breeder Terhune. For those of us who remember reading his books, the place looks very, very familiar. As do the graves of Terhune's collies. The destruction of Terhune's wisteria-covered home, The Place, is a shame.
There's also a beautiful old Dutch house from the 1600s, some miles away, that houses a collection of Terhune memorabilia.
But on the whole, all of Wayne looks awfully over-built. I felt sorry for the three deer I saw walking about near yet another new building site in the cleared woods across from Pompton Lake.
I have lived in Wayne for 30 years. What can I say? I am here for family, but I am considering a move.
Wayne could be better if it had an updated public library, better playgrounds for kids (Verona), downtown areas, ethnic restaurants. So if you can't afford Montclair, Wayne is a good option just a little farther down Route 46 West.
As the tone of the article makes clear, there is room for improvement in Wayne. People can be racist and discriminatory. This is a Republican town, and there were many Trump signs on lawns during the election. Dealing with people in the Township office (taxes, parks and rec, police) is horrible--they are the rudest people and have awful customer service skills.
HOWEVER. Despite the wealthy snobs, racists, and Republicans who live here, there is lots of diversity in the town--Koreans, Latinos, Chinese, Turks, Arabs, African Americans, Circassians, Albanians etc. This is the real strength of the town, but you get the feeling that these "Others" are seen as bringing down home value. Mayor Vergano and his Republican friends don't say such things directly, but they say it when they block the construction of low income housing or keep emphasizing things like our malls and movies and not even mentioning our diversity as the primary feature of this town. There are cultural centers, houses of worship, and people of all colors and nationalities here. Churches, synagogues, a Hindu Temple, and a mosque all in one town! Tell potential home buyers that!
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Don't forget the flooding...
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Thank you for this great article. I grew up just across the river from Wayne in the 1950's & '60's. No one who visits Wayne today could imagine how different it was only 50 years ago.
As a youngster, I used to walk from Pompton Plains to Two Guys discount store to buy record albums. I remember when the Route 23/46 interchange was a big round about. We rode our bikes to the Preakness Shopping Center to watch movies. We used to jump the fence at the Wayne drive in to watch movies during the summer. It was a great place to grow up!
I moved to upstate New York years ago. When visiting NJ, I'm always stunned by the traffic and development. But still, I look back with great affection for the area and love to visit through the New York Times "Living In..." articles.
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Will realtors mention the new indoor shooting range on Route 23 that the Wayne planning board approved unanimously and is expected to begin construction very soon?
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@GreaterMetropolitanArea Why would that needed to be mentioned? Plenty of hunters once you get into Wayne and the more rural enclaves to the north and west.
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@mbg14 I have a feeling the shooting range is being mentioned as a detriment.
The article mentions Wayne not having a walkable shopping district; the town is larger than Manhattan in area and a car (or two) is required; some roads are not friendly to cyclists and pedestrians. It's also important to note rail service from the two rail stations only operates weekdays to Newark/Hoboken in AM / from Newark/Hoboken in PM. The rail stations are in the southwest corner of town, generally reachable by car.
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God awful high, and now not deductible, property taxes. Mortgage payments end, real estate taxes never do. Stay away. Seek shelter elsewhere. You will sleep better at night.
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@Tom
The tax deductions will be reverted toot-sweet when the Trump nightmare is over and some semblance of sanity returns to government.
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It sounds like a depressing place to live, honestly. The commute to NYC is slow and expensive. It's prone to flooding and has many office and retail vacancies.
I'm curious what will become of Toys R Us' HQ, the GAF campus, and the mall and Macy's store that closed. How to make the area relevant and appealing for a new generation?
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@Matt Green I agree the article makes this place sound absolutely depressing. Perhaps the author grew up there. But it's not so bad: the bus commute from the Willowbrook transit center in normal circumstances takes about 30 minutes, not the 40 to 50 minutes as was stated in the article. The mall that had the closings was the smaller shopping center in the northern part of town -- not the larger Willowbrook -- so the Macy's and Bloomingdale's are still in quick reach. While it's a very quick drive/commute to most areas in northern new Jersey, if you don't like suburban, single-family house living this isn't the place for you.
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@Matt Green
Depressing? It sounds quite like any suburban neighborhood in anytown USA, including your Long Island.
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@Matt Green
It’s not depressing in anyway, Matt. I’m a depressed person and I actually perk up as I turn onto the street we live on in Pines Lake. PL is lovely. A sanctuary from the northern NJ buzz. The rest of the town has some nice neighborhoods too. And when I feel like being really progressive (as opposed to my typical progressive mindset) we head to Montclair, NJ which is 15 minutes away. We even have a Trader Joe’s in town. I’ll buy you some Maple Leaf cookies next time I’m there to celebrate the great John Tavares.
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I grew up in Wayne. The flooded homes shown on TV are all in the flood plains and everyone familiar with the area knows this. It’s hardly representative of the entire town, 90% of which is not prone to flooding. Wayne has varying altitudes, it has valleys and hills (hence names of high schools). The hills are the start of a mountainous range and can be pretty high. Overlooking the valley, it can give you amazing sunsets into the mountains. The commute is 35-40 minutes to Penn if you leave about 6:30/6:40. After that and you’ll be in regular traffic and it will be an hour. (Helps that buses have their own lane into Penn). Taxes are high, but the education is stellar; however, kids suffer from boredom (be wary of idle hands) and there can be a lot of “keeping up with the Joneses.” A lot of people I grew up with young stayed living in the town, so there is a good amount of young families and I guess that says a lot about the value of town. But it is a conservative Republican township and this and a lack of midtown direct train is why I would never move back. I feel like this is a place you live if you are a Republican you work nearby. I’d be interested to see what happens when folks now in their mid-thirties decide to run for local government. Will the town flip blue?
(Oh and could there be any more parking lots and hug handles? If I did move back I’d have to get on the planning committee and fix it).
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There is a healthy sized Democrats club in town. Wayne is in the 11th Congressional District which just successfully organized to get Rodney Frelinghuysen to step down. It may flip to a Democrat district.
The town itself, let's hope for change!
Wayne homeowners being interviewed on TV during floods has been going on since I was a girl in the 1960's. A simple search of
"Is my town in a flood zone" will give you Wayne's map and all of the blocks that can flood.
It can be a lovely place to live if you're not in those areas, I'm sure, but do your homework before moving into ANY town with a river. They're pretty to look at, but you can lose a lot with a heavy rain period in the spring or fall.
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Come on now, barely anyone lives in the flood zone of Wayne. They have been knocking down homes in that area for years. The flood zone is nothing like the rest of Wayne. Quite frankly, I don’t even know why the flood zone is brought up when talking about Wayne real estate. No one buys homes in the flood zone anymore. It’s worthless land.
Wayne is a great town and a bargain for what you get in comparison to similar towns in north jersey.
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@Real estate 123
Flooding is brought up because the rivers are still there- Willowbrook Mall area flooded this week in the news. While houses have been razed, no one can move the rivers.
Living in a town that diverts traffic when there's a heavy rain storm can get old.
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