My Block: Which Block Is The Best In Montclair?

When Montclair residents think of the South End, they often think only of Nishuane Park and Nishuane Elementary.

But Margaret Jackson Whitsett, a Glenfield Middle School teacher, said there's a lot more to the South End than that. She points to her neighborhood, along Madison Avenue, that's full of wonderful people and gorgeous homes.

She and others exuberantly proclaim their block to be the the best in Montclair. But it's not just the two blocks of Madison Avenue they are referring to. They explain that the "block" is really a collection of blocks grouped together under the banner of the Madison Avenue Civic Group, the town's oldest continuously meeting block group, founded in 1947.

They say that residents from Draper Terrace, Orange Road, Lincoln Street, and Gardiner Place all stake a claim to the neighborhood.

"This is my third neighborhood in Montclair and it's my favorite," said Whitsett, a 25-year resident of Montclair. "It's the quietest neighborhood. There's not a lot of traffic. The neighbors know each other."

Resident Virginia Cornue noted that the civic group is extremely involved, having recently sponsored a "Meet The Candidates Night" at the nearby Firehouse just before the local election.

"We are a multi-ethnic neighborhood and we have a large number of inter-ethnic families—like mine," she said. "I'm multi-ethnic myself and my daughter was adopted from China. Our next door neighbors have roots in Haiti and France."

Whitsett wasn't certain, but she said that Madison may be the only block in Montclair that is 50 percent white and 50 percent African-American.

Cornue highlighted a laundry list of social activities that bind the community together including a large cookout coming up soon.

"We have a neighborhood yard sale from time to time," she said. "We also have a longstanding 'sunshine' committee that supports neighbors who are ill ... we reward our graduating high schoolers and college graduates with a small monetary gift."

In addition, there are annual block parties on both Madison and Gardiner and cocktails shared by neighbors on porches in the summer.

There's also an active Neighborhood Watch as well as a South End Business District within walking distance.

That district includes businesses such as at 314 Orange Road, Southend Pizzeria at 322 Orange Road, the Vegetarian Cafe at 307 Orange Road, and South End Paint and Hardware at 321 Orange Road.

"We are trying to work with [4th Ward Councilor] Renee Baskerville to revitalize the South End Business District," Whitsett said. "We plan to meet with the businesses over the summer.

"We'd love to see another restaurant down here. People don't really think of coming here as a destination," she said. "But this is a great area."

Milt Horowitz, the civic group's president, moved to Madison Avenue in 1972.

"This is the best neighborhood ever," he said. "It is the people that make it great."

In 2010, Patch published a regular series titled "My Block." The goal was to find out why you believe your block is the most fabulous in town. In our inaugural segment, we heard about . Then Midland Avenue. Then Summit Avenue. High Street. Trinity Place. Oakwood Avenue. Macopin Avenue. Then the neighborhood known as "Fieldstone." Then Edgemont Road. Then we had Andrea DelleChiaie, the owner of Milk Money, and her neighbors talk about why their street, Chester Road, is the best place to live. And we heard from Susan Kaufmann about and several residents about That series was so much fun we thought we'd do it again—starting with  last week.

If you think your block is great, either comment or shoot me an email at Shelley@patch.com and we'll come out and talk to you and your neighbors about what makes your street special.