Andytrav

Where is the greenest town (village) in the greater New York City metro area?

My wife has visited many of the New Jersey (suburban NYC) towns in New Jersey that were suggested by friends and Fodorities. Many were nice. But according to her, just not green enough. She thought most of New Jersey was full of pavement, row houses and track housing. Many areas looked like they might have been beautiful 25 years ago before the track housing (and general overdevelopment) took over.

She is convinced that there must be a town somewhere within 45 miles miles of New York that is full of trees, flowers and general greenery. A place where homes and buildings are hidden behind the trees. (Maybe a northern version of Hilton Head South Carolina) A place where you will fly over and see nothing but trees but people still live there. Maybe this magical town is in Westchester or Dutchess County NY, or maybe on Long Island.

Help my strange "tree happy" wife please!

GoTravel

Greenwich, Conn?

brenda_s

Oakland...Mahwah...try Connecticut

sneezey

Mahwah has Route 17 which is pretty bad. I'd go more for Wycoff in that area. Or maybe Franklin Lakes. Just about all of Sussex county applies and there's plenty of that 45 miles away, although there is Sussex that's further.

PS - Where's the travel here?

obxgirl

If your wife is so convinced her version of Camelot exists, perhaps you need to pop some bucks for a Motel 6 and actually visit the area instead of trolling here for greener spaces.

Just for the record, it's "tract" housing not "track" housing. Maybe that revelation alone will expand your horizons.

Have a nice day Bunch.

bmw732002

Hey andytrav:

This is your second request for places! So..Where have you looked since your first request? New Jersey is one of the most densly populated states in the country! Any 'Green" areas will take a lot of "Green" to buy a home.
As most of us NYC workers have found, you have to travel out a bit to find the very green areas. I would start by asking "What area have the best commute to NYC?" You will die an early death if you think you can commute in by car!
John

obxgirl

bmw732002, Good response!

Fact is, this guy is a troll who may or may not be making a move to the NYC area. Did you also know he's also considering a trip to Europe and China before relocating in the next 30 days?

He typically responds with a "jeez just thought I was asking an interesting travel question" and then proceeds with his inanity.

ronkala

Could this be Bunchargum's husband?
Wow! what a pair they make.

Ryan

Chatham, Summitt, Short Hills, or Basking Ridge, NJ. At houses that start in the $500,000 range with several areas running well over a $1 million per home, track housing it is not.

underradar

Westport, Weston and Wilton, Connecticut. Greenwich is green, but those three towns are more rustic.

logandog

New Paltz. Interstate all the way from NYC. Then head for the mountains.
Greenwich, Connecticut. Beautiful homes and town. Easy drive north from the city with a good New Haven Line connection.

razzledazzle

So sorry to hear "green" is only a color
to you and yours-LOL!

SusieQQ

Can't believe that you visited any places at "the Shore". You can't get any greener than Rumson and the Navesink River area of Middletown. How about Spring Lake and Sea Girt? All these places are quite expensive. Don't know your price range.

gmt

Rockville Centre or Garden City, Long Island N.Y. Both great suburban villages about 20 miles east of N.Y.C. (very green). And, 20 minutes away from beautiful beaches!

screen_name

In case you haven't figured it out, NJ gets greener and greener the further you move away from the job centers of NYC and Phil.

Therefore, in order to satisfy your wife's desire for that ultimate lush greeness, you will probably have to expand your radius.

Previous posters have mentioned Rumson/Middletown and the areas around Mendham. These areas are not just beautiful but are still well within the gravitational pull of NYC arts, intellect and culture.

On a side note, you may want to discuss with your wife quality of life issues vs. greenery. Walking to a train vs. being stuck in traffic; being isolated on a big suburban lot vs. sitting on your front porch chatting with your neighbors.

Andytrav

Thanks for the advice so far! I remember flying into White Plains New York (20 miles north of New York City), last summer and flying over southeastern CT on the way in. What a beautiful area, SO GREEN.

I remember seeing alot of green in Westchester County from the airplane but did not know what cities we were flying over.

Keep the ideas coming! Remember we want the cities with the most large trees per square mile.

Cicerone

Andytrav is a Troll! On August 4 he posted that he had got the dream job in NYC and wanted recs for NJ towns, and then on August 5 he posted that he and his wife had looked at the towns alrady and said they weren't green enough!

On August 5 he posted that he lived in Erie but was moving to NJ...and on August 5 he also posted a comment that he was "sick and tired of driving from Baltimore to NYC on 95", which seemed to indicate that he already lives on the East Coast or is claming to. (Otherwise its kind of out of the way to drive to NYC from Erie PA via Baltimore, isn't it Andytrav?

People on this site are helpful, even to trolls, but if you cry wolf enough Anytrav, even nice Fodorites won't help you. . .

missjanna

My brother used to live in Monroe, which is upstate in Orange County, NY, about 50 miles north of NYC. Very very green, nice area, right by Bear Mountain and a national reserve park (so that should be more than enough trees!). The reason why he moved back to NYC? Got tired of the 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive back and forth, they would get hit with 2-3x more snow than NYC, and the final straw was when the basement flooded from all the snow!

My advice to you is basically tell your wife that if she wants to be close to NYC but live in "picture perfect suburbia" then be prepared for a long commute driving wise. Know what you can compromise on and what you won't. And don't ask for advice if afterwards you're going to whine people's suggestions were not up to your standards. You're better off taking a drive around yourself in that case.....

Andytrav

What is all this talk about being a troll. I am not!

I live in Erie, PA, have relatives in Baltimore and drive from Maryland to NYC on a regular basis on business. My wife and I are currently staying in a hotel in New Jersey and checked out a variety of towns on August 4th and 5th. Most were not green enough for my wife. I put in an additional post asking for additional advice to expand our search for the perfect town throughout the entire New York metro area.

As of next week, we plan on traveling to either Europe or China on a last minute package because my new job does not start until early September. What is the problem?

Cicerone

Don't know how you could the towns mentioned one or two days, as they are all over the place in NJ. . .

If you are planning on going to China this month, better start your visa application right now. . .even an expedited one will take 2 days to process after receipt and will cost you more than $60 each.