Five generations in my family have lived in Hawthorne. It is a beautiful little town with good schools. I have always considered it my home although now I live in California. I always enjoy visiting my son and grandchildren and relatives that still live there.
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We’ve lived in Hawthorne now for almost 30 years, 20 of which I spent commuting to a job in NYC. My commute to Times Square was basically an hour door to door. Never had much of a problem with Route 208 (all depends on the time of day you travel) which by the way is a feeder road for the Garden State Parkway that leads to the Jersey Shore, an hour away. Can’t say much about the schools since we sent our children to a private academy, though my neighbors do recommend our town’s blue ribbon elementary school. On the whole it’s a nice little town with a county park, brook and duck pond that we spent many hours walking around when our children were growing up. Lots of greenery (named “tree city” more than once) with a small town, rather than suburban feel. No regrets that we chose to raise our family here.
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Route 208 is a nightmare!! A two lane "highway" combined with that other Bergen County nightmare, Route 4, is traffic heck almost all day long. BTW, even though Hawthorne is in Passaic, it is pretty much like a Bergen County town, especially near the Wyckoff border, without the ridiculously high house prices. And did I say Route 208 is a nightmare! Yes, I loathe that road.
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Anytime I see an affordable NYC suburb within a reasonable commute to the city, the catch is usually mediocre academics such as the case here. I wonder how many families send their kids toprivate.
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@Irina many residents send their children to the public schools in town and they are anything but mediocre. Excellent staff in a caring environment. Grades don't tell the whole story. My daughter graduated from the local school system went on to an excellent college and has an excellent job in marketing. You get out of the schools what you put into them. Hawthorne is an excellent town with parents that are involved with their childrens education and we have a blue ribbon elementary school . Many of her classmates went on to college such as Boston College and Rensselaer to name a few. Don't judge a town by the numbers. They don't give the full story.
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Hawthorne is nothing like other more infamous Passaic towns. It is pretty much Bergen County with more affordable house prices and great views. Schools are great. The only downside is that students there do not have access to the Bergen Academies, one of the best selective magnet schools in the country, and one of the reasons why houses in Bergen Co tend to be more expensive.
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@Rosie exactly. But PCTI is an excellent school as well.Just not Bergen Academies.
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Great and thorough article on Hawthorne. I always wondered what the town from where Debbie Harry (and Ivan Sergei) hailed is like. Hawthorne has an enviable location, convenient whether one commutes locally or into NYC /JC / Newark. Home prices are reasonable relative to neighboring towns with property taxes about average; unfortunately tax deduction is capped at $10K (thanks to GOP).
A few years ago NJ Transit was planning a cross-county light rail line from Hawthorne to Englewood. A few local towns didn't want a stop within their borders, but this seems a good way to connect places which aren't well served by public transport. I wonder if this will come to fruition...
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@Shaun: Why wouldn’t some towns want light rail stops? Xenophobia? (I grew up in Bergen County, and got out the minute I could; that wouldn’t surprise me. It was so stultifying small-minded and smug. I can’t imagine it’s changed much.)
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@Shaun
The prop tax cap us now $15,000. Nj income taxes are quite low. I work for an accountant. Born and raised in Hawthorne.
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Decades ago, I taught public school in Passaic and lived in Bergen County. I wonder how immigration and domestic politics has further delineated the difference between these counties. Passaic in the 70s experienced turmoil from Caribbean, Colombian, and then Indian newcomers. Difficult.
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