Fair Lawn, N.J.: An Unpretentious Place That Smells Like Cookies

I was so happy to see an article in the Times about my hometown. Fair Lawn is a wonderful town to raise children and a place to form happy childhood memories. The Radburn parks are cozy and beautiful. The smaller, older homes on the cute little paths, remind me of a small shire in England. I'm glad I had the privilege of growing up in Fair Lawn. Go Cutters!

That was a great read. Fair Lawn was a place that has held my heart forever. We even found a home in OH called Fairlawn to see if we can have similar memories. The best of friends, my true love , education all came from that little northern city. I lived by Edison and also by Rdburn so I got the best of both worlds. Loved riding my bike to Fairlawn plaza, going in the pharmacy and having a float at the counter, the bagel store, Chinese restaurant and wayside diner. Life long friendships were made and valuable life lessons. It was a wonderful place to grow up.

You see the picture of the Passaic River? That floods...often.

My family moved to Fair Lawn when I was in high school in the mid-60s. For the first month, until I learned about Nabisco, I thought our neighbor, Mrs. Katz, baked wonderful treats every afternoon. I remember shopping with my mother at the pork store and also the bakery which made the best black and white cookies. Strehl’s Pharmacy, probably replaced by a chain store now, was where you made a phone call after you got off the train. Thanks for the memories.

Treasure those Radburn design principles in urban planning. They connect people and places where they live, in ways not much used since. My suburb of Curtin in Canberra absolutely defends those principles, which were originally inserted into our new suburb of 1964. Some of our photos and residents are here:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-24/a-look-at-radburn-town-planning-in-canberra/5904372. I can walk to our shops without crossing a road and our residents' children can do so similarly, in getting to and from school each day. Many of our houses look out onto green walkways, trees and foraging birds. Fabulous to know others still value these same facilities in the place where it all began.

Traffic on 208 thru Fair Lawn today is horrendous especially during rush hour, but this wasn't anyways the case. So if one night you are driving along between Radburn and the Nabisco plant with a full moon out, and out the corner of your eye, you see a ghostly image of a 1971 Z28 green Camaro driven by a pimply faced kid, who races past you and vanishes, well that's my dad.

Fair Lawn is one of the best towns ever featured in this column.

I have lived in Fair Lawn since 1945. Moved from Warren Point to Radburn. Went to NYU and Columbia. Worked in NYC. Commuted by train. So no reason to move elsewhere. That's why reference to Queens is funny. I have always thought of myself as a New Yorker living in New Jersey. Now retired, commute by train to New York for fun. Not moving to Florida or Arizona. THIS WAS THE BEST ARTICLE II HAVE EVER READ ABOUT FAIR LAWN AND RADBURN. I was virtually born here and with any luck I will actually die here. It's not just a "starter home"community---it's much greater than that.

I grew up one block away from Fair Lawn in nearby Glen Rock, between 1959 and the mid 1970s. My friends and I knew that the best bicycling was found zipping around the great paths and tunnels that are still part of Radburn. The commercial districts of Fair Lawn were always more interesting than the few stores that Glen Rock had at the time. Back then, Fair Lawn always had more of a "city" edge than the other nearby towns like Glen Rock, Ridgewood, and Paramus, which was really appealing. It sounds like the town has maintained this vibe. Radburn is sort of like if you mashed up the less glitzy part of Riverdale with the Belmont section of the Bronx (think Arthur Avenue) and threw in a bit of Brooklyn's Brighton Beach just for fun. And the smell of cookies is real. My memories are of the scent of Vanilla Wafers. Great article, thanks for the memories!

It seems odd for these articles to not mention the taxes, which are such a big part of the equation for affordability. A $300k house in this community pays close to $10,000 a year in property tax, so it means the monthly payments are more like that of a $425,000 house.

I lived in Radburn for part of my childhood. And those memories always have a golden light around them. For kids, at least back then, it was paradise.

I grew up in Fair Lawn, from 13 years old until graduating high school (FLHS class of 2000!), and my parents still live here. Overall it’s a nice, unpretentious town, with decent diversity and a robust, mostly reform, Jewish community. Fair Lawn is also known for its Russian expats, which is why my family originally moved here when we relocated from Brooklyn. I can’t say it was the most exciting place to grow up, and escaping to NYC on the weekends would be harder now that NJT is constantly overcrowded and breaking down. But, it’s reasonably close to nature, some other cute NJ towns nearby (downtown Ridgewood with its giant Christmas tree decorated in blue lights was always a favorite). The Garden State Plaza Mall, just a short drive away, has gotten too glitzy for this part of NJ, or maybe it’s NJ that’s changed? Anyway, thanks for the walk down memory lane. Oh, and if you’re even in town, stop by River Road Hot Bagels, which to this day still has the best bagels I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried them everywhere!).

I grew up in Fair Lawn in the 60’s and 70’s and remained in the area until 2004. I loved living there and while I love Northern Westchester County where I live now; Fair Lawn will always be in my heart. I moved back to Fair Lawn as an adult from 1999-2003 and I can’t say enough about the school system, the programs for youth and the cultural and ethnic diversity. The school system is very good where I am now; but the diversity and harmony my son experienced in Fair Lawn doesn’t exist here. I feel great pride in my hometown. Thank you for the spotlight; New York Times!

Grew up in Fair Lawn in the 80s and 90s (95 FLHS grad). Was a great town to grow up in, it was easy getting everywhere, by foot or bicycle, and the schools were very good. I have nothing but fond memories of the town. I enjoyed the rec program (including sports) and pool growing up and thought the library was excellent. My brother and sister and their families bought homes in the town so that says a lot right there about the draw of the town. Our grandparents originally bought near Radburn in the mid 1950s, making us a third-generation Fair Lawn Family. While I moved away myself after college, and now live in Monmouth County (wanted a larger home and lot size, less traffic and to be closer to the beach), I always enjoy visiting. Just a great American town.

Moved here with my young family 20 years ago from Brooklyn. I grew up in Queens and work in NYC. The commute, great public schools and affordable homes made this town the best choice for our situation. Both children graduated from the FL school system and went on to college. Paramus , the mall mecca of the U.S. sporting 3 major malls , is both a blessing and a curse. Every type of store is minutes away as is the traffic that goes along with it.

I grew up in Fair Lawn, on Berdan Avenue, a stone's throw from Radburn. I moved away in 1976, when I was 11, but I still have very happy memories of my childhood there. Visited recently with my teen daughter and she thought the town was SO cute.

I grew up in Fair Lawn. Its library was amazing, and sorely missed when I moved further south in my teens.

I grew up in fair lawn, i love the town to death, but like rosie said the traffic in the area is deplorable, i mean if you work in the city and use pub trans, your golden then because mostly anything you need is in walking distance and fair lawn is very pedestrian friendly, well most of bergan county is pedestrian friendly in general

Fairlawn is a great town. Sadly Routes 4, 208 and 17 are a traffic nightmare, all day long! I am not sure if the state of New Jersey will ever do something about these roads but for now, traffic on those roads in Northwest Bergen County is a very real issue. Anybody looking into towns around that area must go visit during an ever expanding rush hour and drive, especially between Hackensack Ave on Route 4 and Maple Ave on Route 208 and decide if they are willing to deal with 15 minute drives during no rush-hour that become 40 minute nightmares.

Fair Lawn is a great town with a relatively affordable housing stock, strong school system and reasonable commute to the city. We looked at the houses there extensively but ended up in Long Island to be closer to our family.

Great article, I have lived in Fair Lawn for the past 14 years and love it. I purchased a cape cod, with enough space for my family, a large backyard and a spacious front yard. I truly enjoy living here, it is quiet, with friendly neighbors and easily accessible to public transportation: bus, train,