Welcome to NJ.

It is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Show me a well run state with no corruption, no poverty, no problems and I will move there. Until then, I will take NJ. Yes, property taxes are high, it can be expensive to buy a house, but the salaries are among the highest in the nation so that helps. The other knocks are if you like hunting, off-roading or shooting automatic weapons.

Otherwise, you have cheaper pockets to live (central/south/west) and overall good schools (not my town, but I have no kids). You have a few pinball/arcades, the shore, the mountains, the city, the country. All walks of life, Newark has great restaurants and the Prudential center. Camden is a dump but has a great aquarium (so I have heard, I value my life and have never gone). You have lots of history. Sports are plenty. You got diners and Taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. Great food in general, great mix of everything. Can it suck? Oh yeah. Any place can. I've been all over this country and found a lot of places I enjoyed but I have yet to find a place I can sincerely say is a far better place to live. Maybe because I was born and raised I am biased but until you find me that paradise of a state, you can find me in NJ.

Mountain Lakes is very expensive, but the schools are great. I live in Boonton, next town over, and while the grade school is excellent, the others suck. But you have Boonton Township, Boonton, Montville all in my area with the train in Boonton. You also have Denville and Morris Plains area with a train station. Definitely take a look around. if you are in the area, hit me up. I can show you around, play some pinball and get to know our new NJ neighbors!

In!