Originally founded by residents eager to take advantage of the Central Railroad, Fanwood, New Jersey, continues to value its quick access to regional transportation.
Like so many cities in this area of New Jersey, life in Fanwood is one of dualities. While local residents are extremely careful to take note of their civic pride, there's no denying that plenty of activity in this part of the country revolves around New York City. When the towering skyscrapers of that metropolis sit right in your backyard while you enjoy the quieter haven of Fanwood, why have it any other way?
Moving to Fanwood
Know the City, Love the City, Embrace the City
When you're in this area of the country, there's only once place that can be called the City. New York City looms large over this entire region of New Jersey, and Fanwood is no different. Though plenty of its residents may never find a need to cross the river into Gotham in an average year, one of Fanwood's most touted benefits is its station on the New Jersey Transit Railroad. Centrally located, and the oldest station in the county, this portal provides easily commuted access into Manhattan and all of the Big Apple's boroughs. Whether a regular visitor or not, there's no escaping the gravitational pull of a city this size, but luckily the benefits of such an arrangement are immediately obvious.
Rampant Employment Opportunities
In a dense urban region like this, with such an expansive public transportation network, the sky truly is the limit when it comes time to find a job. Though most residents of the area have no trouble finding a career within the immediate area, extending the job search net means having access to the market in New York City, and it is self-evidently an enormous one. The entirety of Manhattan is easily reached by rail, and with Staten Island and its Verrazano Bridge within spitting distance, even Brooklyn becomes a viable location for employment.
A Plethora of Options
It should come as no surprise that Fanwood, like the entire New York City area, is home to one of the densest and most active rental markets in the country. From serviced apartments to townhouses for rent, the name of the game in this neck of the woods is choice, and lots of it. This choice can be a double-edged sword, in that you're not going to have to work hard to find a studio for rent to view, but you may have a difficult time coming to a decision.
Plan for a Long Hunt
A market this size is no excuse to slack on your apartment search, and will, in all likelihood, require even more diligence on your part than a smaller city. The average resident in this area is likely expecting to spend a solid month searching for apartments when it comes time to switch rentals, and you should count on the same. As in most cities, local real estate brokers are responsible for the greatest bulk of leasing activity, but the dense urban landscape means that local and online classified listings are more likely to provide a good hit than smaller cities. The point here is that the search for a great 1 bedroom apartment is likely to be both long and wide. Embrace the choices available, but don't get smothered by them.
Proximity Comes with Cost
When it comes to housing prices in Fanwood, there are really two perspectives. If you're a rural Midwestern resident looking at listing prices, chances are your mouth has dried up through hanging been open for so long. On the other hand, you can bet your bottom dollar that urban Manhattanites are beside themselves at the incredible savings to be had just across the river in New Jersey. Such convenient access to a dense urban metropolitan area provides an incredible bounty of opportunities, but you're not very likely to find absolutely bottom-basement rental rates here. However, all is not lost, as the truth is rental rates here are competitive with urban and suburban rates in many other areas of the country, and with an arguably greater lifestyle benefit to be gained. Before swallowing your own tongue at the cost of those fantastic serviced apartments you've been viewing, bear in mind what an incredible bargain you're getting in comparison to life within New York City itself.
Neighborhoods in Fanwood
When you're talking about a city of 1.8 square miles in an urban quilt this dense, the city is itself the neighborhood. Even within the relatively small landmass, however, there are a few distinctions to be made. Generally speaking, the city can be split into two halves. The northern half, centered around Forest Road Park, is a bit less densely plotted than the surrounding area, and is a good place to look if you've got your heart dead-set on a nicely sized backyard. Properties in this area tend towards the single-unit, but plenty of multi-unit apartments and condos will be readily available as well. The southern half of the city is a much denser layout, and almost purely residential. Bisecting to two halves of the city along South Avenue sits most of its retail activity, as well as the Fanwood station of the New Jersey Transit Railroad.
Living in Fanwood
Though many residents in this area are born and raised, with family ties that likely hold multiple generations within a few square blocks, when it comes to people re-locating to the area, New York City is undoubtedly the reason. With a small-town flair in a landscape that would be called unabashedly urban in most other areas of the country, the ambiance in Fanwood and adjacent areas is unique to the metropolitan area, and residents wouldn't have it any other way. To live it, as they say, is to love it.
