New Providence, Berkeley Heights Voted Best Places To Live In NJ

NEW PROVIDENCE/BERKELEY HEIGHTS/MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside were recently voted among best places to live in Union County and in New Jersey.

That's according to a Niche's 2018 "Best Places to Live" in New Jersey rankings. For at least the second consecutive year, the consumer rankings service assigned a grade, on an A+-to-D+ scale, to almost every town in the state.

New Providence:

New Providence received an A+. It was ranked the number 1 best place to live in Union County and the 9th best in New Jersey.

"This area is family friendly with small communities and great schools. Everyone is proud to be from here and love to visit New York or the Jersey Shore," a reviewer wrote. "I think this is the best area in the country because there is a whole huge cluster of nothing but nice towns. The bonus of having these nice towns here in particular are the short distances to New York, the shore, and shopping."

New Providence received the following grades:

Public Schools: A+
Good for Families: A+
Diversity: B+
Nightlife: B+
Crime & Safety: A
Housing: B

The town has a median home value of $576,000, three times the national average of $184,700.

Berkeley Heights:

Berkeley Heights received an A+. It was ranked the 4th best place to live in Union County and the 25th best in New Jersey.

"I am very impressed with this town. It offers a lot of services and everyone is very helpful and supportive. I am proud to call it home!" a reviewer wrote.

Berkeley Heights received the following grades:

Public Schools: A+
Good for Families: A+
Diversity: B
Nightlife: B+
Crime & Safety: A
Housing: B

The town has a median home value of $595,600, three times the national average of $184,700.

Mountainside:

Mountainside received an A-. It was ranked the 9th best place to live in Union County and the 207th best in New Jersey.

"It's a small town with great areas to walk and meet people. People are very friendly," a reviewer said. "School is within walking distance for many people. Plenty of places to eat because Route 22 is right next to Mountainside."

Mountainside received the following grades:

Public Schools: B+
Good for Families: A
Diversity: B-
Nightlife: A-
Crime & Safety: A
Housing: C

The town has a median home value of $622,000, three times the national average of $184,700.

Nearly 80 communities received A+ grades, topped with towns such as Princeton, Bedminster, Westfield, and East Brunswick. Four communities received D+ grades: Irvington, Harmony, the Brookfield section of White Township and the Port Norris section of Commercial Township in Cumberland County. The list included sections of towns and city neighborhoods.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche.com took several factors into consideration, such as the quality of local schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics and access to amenities.

Niche created a standardized score for each factor, and after weighting each factor, an overall score was calculated, which was again given a new standardized score.

To see how every town in New Jersey scored, click here.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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