I used to live in Newark but now live in Rahway. I’m a fan. The downtown is charming and constantly changing. There’s always stuff going on, even if super small and local. Feels safe and the convenience of the train is great. Population is diverse and not over-gentrified.

The restaurants are also surprisingly good. It’s been interesting to see that Newark has attracted new restaurants that are hipster/cool-looking. In comparison, Rahway’s places feel more mom and pop. In that sense, there isn’t a lot of glitz and glam in Rahway yet, but that’s okay. It’s a town to watch, imo.

This. The first 20 min of any trip is just getting out of JC. OP, you’re not doing anything wrong. It’s such a pain getting in/out of this city.

I go to the Just Jersey store in Montclair and get the NJ shaped pasta. You can also order online from them.

Salt water taffy is also a good choice. I find that a lot of people appreciate local sweets.

Would they let you sublease?

Ah yes, I was commenting mostly on the last part (about JC being full of people moving to here from the city).

Agree that the dating scene is rough. If using any dating apps, you basically have to set a 1-2 mile radius so that you don’t get NYC. People from NYC will not take a 8 min train to JC but are fine with 30 commute to Brooklyn lmao.

This is true for Downtown JC… But the rest of JC (which is huge) is a lot of JC and NJ natives.

I’ve used Fidelity Transportation for multiple moves, including NYC to NJ . They never packed my stuff other than loose items, but they are extremely careful. Good rates and honest. Moving is expensive, and if you need to get out asap, then hire movers. They are worth every penny.

SoJo Spa and that general area - you get nice skyline views of the city. There are other Korean spas that are cheaper too like King Spa.

I agree American Dream Mall is a contender though the stores are closed on Sundays due to the blue law, making it vastly less cool if you go today.