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Thinking of moving to BlairstownI currently live in overcrowded central NJ &
can't wait to get out. Will be looking at
properties in Blairstown. Anything I should know?
Any areas prone to flooding? Any areas that will
be under construction in the near future? We did flood down in town 2x in the last 3 years.....and we are building 114 low income housing ....undecided where so far....and we will be overcrowded soon with all the development ....and you'll only have to move again with the rest of us...who want peace and quiet.....other then that Blairstown is a wonderful place The low income housing is a sure thing or just being talked about? Personally I didn't like living in Blairstown. In
small town settings there are things that need to
be considered: OK Blairstown is pretty big, you have blairstown, hardwick, Frelynheisen, knowlton, and columbia. I live on the border or blairstown and columbia and have a farm. There is so much property in this town that you can have your dream house and not worry so much about seeing townhouses or anything else. Of course yeah there was flooding in the center of Blairstown but I doubt you will be moving into a dream house in the center of town. Another thing is Blairstown is being very picky with exactly what is built. Many of the property that is being sold cannot be commercialized only residential. If you drive around though many of the houses that are in a "residential" community still have plenty of property for privacy. So don't be scared and think its going to be like Central NJ because it won't. WOW!! EB Honestly I am in my 20's I moved here about 11 years ago and went to North Warren only my senior year for 1 there are many people in this town that have a Bacholer's degree or above, really there are people that are religious in the town but then again there are other people that are not and no they don't look down on anyone, there were many programs avail in North Warren for anyone to join such as the YMCA which was very family oriented and had nothing to do with having teenagers. If you read the North Warren Newpaper there are so many groups out there wanting people to join. Even if you have small children there are Play groups avail or at Blair Academy where they have family swim night. My husband and I know a few gay and lesbians and again people around here don't look down on it. I honestly dont think you gave this town a fair shot. Yes everyone might know everyone but that is what makes it a great town because you meet some very nice people that will help you out when needed. Don't get me wrong there are some people that aren't nice but for the most part the people and families here in blairstown are very nice. Another WOW EB. I've lived in Blairstown for over
14 yrs. I know MANY people in the town and
surrounding areas who have a Bachelors or above,
are gay, are non-Christians and they all are quite
happy living their small town lives. You, of course are welcome to join us here in North Warren. The Blairstown area consists of Knowlton, Hardwick,Frelinghuysen and Columbia with Blairstown as a town center. Downtown is struggling with smart growth but seems to have a bright future. (please no fast food places!) The population has increased over the last decade and is beginning to overwhelm the current infrastructure. There are times when the roadways can't handle the volume of traffic and the regional high school, which includes the middle school is in need of expanding its facilities. Depending on where you are coming from there may be things you have to get used too. Some of the rural roadways are narrow poorly marked and do not have storm drains. Many roadways are still "chip and tarred". For most of us its the way we like it. All I ask of you is that you do your homework are check your neighborhood thoroughly. If you don't like the rumble of an early morning tractor or the smell of manure stay away from the farms. If airplanes scare you don't buy near the airport. If you are not willing to tolerate youths indiscreations stay away from the high school. WOW-WOW. are we speaking of blairstown nj? when i first moved here i asked my wife if "this was heaven" she said "no, it's blairstown" (field of dreams). we love the small town living. come to blairstown, we've got everything you'll ever need. but shhh! dont tell anyone else. Wow EB - sorry you didn't like it. I love small
towns & I love farms. I lived in Kentucky for
a while & enjoyed every minute of it. plus we have the "sunoco girls" as the
dad's call them in blairstown. Go John, even if
your prices are higher then every1 else's there's
always a line. I moved to Blairstown 5 years ago, for only 1 reason, I got a great deal on a house. It now takes me 45 min to 1 hr to get to work instead of the 20-30 min it used to take me. I only know the name of 1 neighbor. I have no children, am not a member of any church, and I have no interest in joining any community groups. I just want to have a quiet, peaceful life, which is why I love living in Blairstown! And E.B. I like the library! We moved here 2 months ago and love it love it
love it. We used to live in the most
commercialized area - yep - Morris County - and
went from "4 Home Depots within 10
minutes" to our wonderful, quiet life here in
the country. It's so peaceful. I've lived here for about 25 years and love it. The only problem I see is that some people get to much of what they thought they were moving here for in the first place. Peace and Quiet. As soon as they get settled, they want to change Blaistown into what they moved away from. Bring in fast food (McD's, Applebees, etc.) and start talk of town pools and such. Please if you move here and like it, leave it the way it is. I grew up here; went through the school systems,
left for college, bought a home in Central NJ and
lived there for 8 years. I missed the 'peace
& quiet' and once I had my own children, I
knew I wanted them to grow up in the setting that
I did as a child. I moved back to Blairstown over
a year ago and I am so happy I did. I love to
watch my children play in the front yard and ride
bikes in the driveway. We are very happy here and
love the feel of a small town. I do commute over
1.5hrs each way to work, but it is so worth it to
come home to this. This area is worth coming home to after the long
drive home from work. It is a beautiful place to
live and raise your kids. I agree with E.B., who is very brave for having an original opinion. Also, E.B. seems to have proper grammar, which hints at a higher education. move in take up hunting and fishing and you will be fine I think that's the beauty of Blairstown. Everyone
can live their quite lives in scenic Blairstown
while enjoying the excitement of New York and
Philadelphia. We can go from hunting and fishing
to the beach. We have lakes, mountains (hills) ski
areas and allot of jobs compared to other parts of
the country. We have historic sites, local
shopping and box store shopping if we desire to
drive thirty minutes in three different
directions. We have four seasons that change the
beauty of the area. What kind of natural disasters
do we get? Maybe a snow storm every few years and
an odd ball flood. It's a great area of New
Jersey and a great town to live in. I moved here from the "city" 10 years
ago, and never regretted the move for a moment.
My children attend the high school, as well as the
grammer school, and they too have loved every
minute. Like everyone else, moving to a rural
area does have it's drawbacks. For example,
driving 20 min to the nearest Shoprite, but my
friends think that is their time away and enjoy
that time. Yes, A&P is closer, but much more
expensive. Actually, maybe I should have said
drawback (singular) - that is the only problem I
have with the area. As far as fast food, I'll
drive to neighboring communities to visit their
establishments; Dunkin' Donuts - actually on my
way to Shoprite; having peace and quiet - right in
my back yard, along with science classes for my
kids. One other thing I always say, the commute
may be longer, however, by the time you get home -
the job was left behind. Come on, people. Blairstown is NOT ethnic. Don't
be ridiculous. The town's MAJORITY, like many
rural communities, is white and Christian. White,
Christian, and conservative to the point of
hicksville fascism. The schools in the area teach
the kids: "America is an 'elect nation'. End
of story." My family and I moved to Blairstown about 6 months
ago. My wife and I are in our 30's, and my two
daughters are aged 7 and 5. I work in Whippany,
which gives me about an hour's drive. This is what I was talking about in my previous post. People move here and after 6 months decide it's not big enough. A wider variety of business (chain restaurants, chain stores, etc.) and more development is what they are looking for. Well if that's what you're looking for, get in your car and drive 20 minutes east on Route 80 and you're there. It's called Hackettstown. "..lots of land to be developed." Let that statement ring in your ears for awhile. Paul D. is right, as more people move here the demographics will change as will the politics. Each persons peace and quiet is a little different then the next guys. I have a neighbor who moved to the "country" for peace and quiet and now enjoys that peace and quiet by speeding around his 1 acre country estate on his dirt bike with no muffler. How do we make everyone happy? I have some ideas, how about you? The school system is not outstanding, because
since there is no budget to the area, all that is
glorified is the basics: General (and rarely
advanced) English, math, and science. There are
sports and arts, yes, but way too many politics
within the system for kids to really enjoy it.
I'm one of those kids who graduated when the
teachers went on strike, though, so I'm not going
to be so fond of North Warren. I would not reccommend moving to Blairstown.It is a very nice place to visit, but... If you have moved here from somewhere else you are considered a "city person". If you enjoy driving 30 minutes for everything you need than this is the place for you! There is nothing for teens to do except hang in A&P parking lot or party in the woods. People say they want to maintain "the small town atmosphere", but how would having small stores(shoes, clothing,sporting goods,etc.) in town upset that atmosphere? Having conveniences in the town just might encourage pride in the town and create jobs for local high school kids. Why convenience is viewed as something evil is beyond me. I agree that the small town atmosphere should be maintained, but how is a little change bad? Also I would much rather prefer small clusters of planned shops on Route 94 than the highway drive through with occasional industrial bldgs. slapped up that it is now. If we were to put up small clusters of shops, sidewalks, and lights, that might discourage the truck drive through town that is now. If all people objected so much to change, we would still be living in caves. Some progress and change if well planned an thought out can actually be beneficial. Seems that many Blairstown residents are opposed to any change! We have had shoe stores, sporting goods, fast food
restaurants, etc. But sadly they could not
compete with the chain stores that are now within
a 20-30 minute drive and therefore they didn't
survive. The attitude of don't change something that has been fine for 30 years is exactly what I am talking about. Somethings, yes, should remain unchanged and untouched. I, however, would find Blairstown much more appealing if I didn't have to drive 30 minutes to get the things I need. I would rather spend that time enjoying my family or my home. It would be nice if we had some small shops in town that provided us with the clothing basics such as socks,shoes,underwear,jeans,t-shirts etc.I am also not looking foward to my children driving on route 80 everytime they want to go to the movies or shopping. I agree that some things should be left unchanged and untouched. There are countless things that I believe have been ruined by progress. But designed progress would be taking into consideration all of the things that we enjoy about Blairstown and preserving them. The things that I really would like to alter are the things that cut into the time that I have to enjoy my home and my children. I really dislike having to drive to stores, gyms, movies, a community pool, etc. I also am not looking forward to my children driving on Rt. 80 to get to the movies or the mall. I think it would be a great deal nicer if we could spend more time in Blairstown rather than driving all over the place to get to the things we need and want. I don't understand how having these conveniences in our own town would change it for the worse, if they were well planned and thought out! Cincar is right. There is a difference between convenience and "evil development". As NWMom asked. Didn't you research the area before moving here ? If you had you would have found that all the thing's you wish Blairstown had are not here. Some have been, like clothing stores, gyms, etc. but they didn't make it. Even fast food chains like McD's and Subway closed up. I myself, along with many others, like our town the way it is. I don't like a traffic light on every corner and the extra congestion that would come with additional shopping malls. If these things were to come, I'm sure you will long for the days of a 30 minute drive vs. sitting in traffic just to get from one side of town to the other. I will repeat myself... just remember Blairstown was founded by "city folk" and he brought the train with him, a then modern convenience. I agree with Cincar we need to bulldoze main
street Rt. 94 so we can put up a Mall. Maybe we
can make it like the Mall of Americas in Minn. so
we also have things for our kids to do. Heck they
dont need to use their imagination at all they can
all hang at the mall. We can take the property
next to the Dairy Queen and make a Golf Course and
maybe a Water Park. We have all this space in
town why dont we build a Great Adventure type
park. Maybe with this we can get a bus system run
through NW so I dont have to be inconvienced and
drive 15 minutes from my home to the other side of
Blairstown and go to the Mall. We can along with
this increase our police department and go to a
paid ambulance and fire squad so I am not
inconvienced with these pesky people asking me for
donations and to volunteer my time. Wow I have so
many ideas. We can call the new hub of convience
in Blairstown, Times Square West. As a matter a
fact instead of our kids having to drive on Rt. 80
to go to the city on New Years we can have a ball
drop here in Blairstown. Since we are doing this
and this will now effect our COAH obligations we
can build a low income housing community of a few
hundred units on 1/4 acre lots and maybe change
the zoning to allow taller buildings so we can
have high rise apartments in town and hopefully
this will now make us an Abbott district so we can
now get a few million from the state to triple the
size of our school. I hope the new Super is ready
for that. This mentality really makes me dislike living in Blairstown! It is that extremist attitude. I am going to try to respond without becoming sarcastic like so many people in Blairstown do. No one said anything about a mall ,except you, and you obviously are not that opposed to progress or you would not be using a computer. I see nothing wrong with having the convenience of a few small clothing stores, shoe stores, or gift shops, maybe a small movie theater, gym etc. I think a community pool with recreational fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball, bocce ball, etc. would be great! Instead of traveling to different towns wasting time and gas we would be more prone to stay within our own town to enjoy its beauty. We would have more time to spend with family and friends instead of the stress of driving all over the place. And lets face it kids do not do the things they used to do, but this would give them more time to enjoy things in their own town. Maybe they would spend less time on video games, text messaging, and the computer. They could go somewhere local to meet friends to play a sport for fun ,on their own, instead of always playing structured sports, run by adults with attitude. I just think it would be nice if the town had more to offer than pharmacies, liquor stores, pizza, and hair salons. Development, when well planned out, can be somewhat controlled, and not always something horrific and extreme. THE LOW INCOME HOUSING IS DEFINATE. Corzine signed a law that all of NJ must provide low income housing. This is craqy because there is no work in blairstown and no access to public transportation. LETS REVOLT- why should we have our state funds ripped away from us, and then be told we have to build housing from our tax dollars? Its time for the middle class to fight back- Join me. I will be at the council meeting Wednesday 10-8-08. I recommend a class-action law suit against the state Citing that our property values are going to fall and taxes and crime are going to climb. You need to take a chill pill Fedup. I think you're right in a number of ways but why so cynical? Doug does the word sarcastic come to mind? I makes me laugh when people talk about the inconvience. People are getting just plain lazy period. Ken I have to correct you. COAH was around way before Corswine. The low income housing is a COURT ordered mandate that the state controlled Council On Affordable Housing group took and radically interrupted to fit the needs of inner cities then forced down the throats of every small town in NJ. This has been around since the 80's. Thank you Fedup I was itching to correct Ken. This seems to be the case with many issues. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I will never claim to know it all but I have witnessed the massive and rapid change from the Main St. centered small town to the mega-store way of life here and all over the northeast. Local commerce will keep our dollars local. It is the only place where "trickle down" economics works. So if there are more people employed locally and they have more places to spend their money locally then the town will prosper. Simple economics 101. The problem is that smart growth of local economics is difficult to get going. Blairstown has had its peaks and valleys throughout its history and like everywhere else these peaks and valleys have shadowed the nations economic health. The completion of Route 80 in the mid-seventies, the migration west which began in the mid-nineties and then exploded after September 2001 has changed the landscape and diversified the local population more than any other time I can remember. It is apparent from the number of hits on this subject and emergence of two opposing sides of this issue that the recently relocated are finding their voice. This forum is not the only place these opinions are being aired. Perhaps its time that some of you show up at your local council meetings. Thanks for being aware of this. It is scary to me that the name of this development project is called COAH. Its like a code word that the general public has no idea about. To Laymen- last night's council meeting agenda does not spell out anyting about what this really means. I am not against this- but it is going to be a shock to all NJ townships. Towns like Denville, Rockaway and others are getting some 500 of these housing units. How does a school system, road system and overall township benefit from a higher demand when the taxes are already through the roof?? Also- where are these families living now?? We will have to import more people to fill these homes. Blairstown is getting 200+ new (lower-income)residents and 100+ school students within the next 2 years. We collectively are going to pay for it. The council meeting was sparsely populated last night- people need to be aware that the zoning/planning for these 114 properties has a deadline of December 31, 2008. Get involved!! Involve your neighbors. Lets make the best of it. Ken please stop talking about this ultra secret
plan of ours called COAH. We were just about to
take of the town and now you spoiled it. Anyone know where theres a studio for rent or a 1 bedroom, even a room for rent. I've been looking but not to successful. Any help would be great. Comment on this Topic |
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