New Jersey Evolving Towns

With a combination of quality schools, luxury apartments at transit hubs and a growing number of diverse restaurants, breweries, shops and more, some New Jersey communities are winning hearts as “up-and-coming towns” and garnering accolades on best-of lists. You may want to add one of these boroughs to your buyers’ must-see lists.

Somerville

Smack in the middle of Somerset County, Somerville is becoming hot, thanks to a Main Street revival that offers a variety of dining options, a growing retail roster, and an increasingly happening arts and culture scene. The walkable community has more than 40 eateries serving cuisine from around the globe, including Korean, Japanese, Thai/French fusion, Greek, Filipino, Indian, South American, Italian, Cuban and Mexican. Verve Restaurant and Bar, which opened 23 years ago, was recently crowned best bar in the state by NJ.com.

“Call Verve the town’s nerve center,” NJ.com wrote. “Lawyers and judges love the place—the county courthouse is right across the street—and so do blue-collar types. Dress is casual; you’ll feel at home no matter who you are.” Verve holds special events throughout the year and many are for local causes, including a recent drag pageant promoted in celebration of Pride Month.

Main Street is lined with national chains and independent businesses catering to a variety of interests and hobbies.

The downtown has earned a number of awards and recognitions, including being named one of New Jersey’s Great Places by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association in 2016. The group says the designation represents “the gold standard” for downtowns by demonstrating “a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement and a vision for tomorrow.”

Downtown Somerville is the result of “balanced and progressive economic development and the product of an ‘experience’ economy that continues to bring a new and diverse population,” says Natalie Pineiro, executive director of the Downtown Somerville Alliance.

In recent years, several luxury rental apartments have sprung up near the Somerville train station, including The Edge at Main, The Cobalt Apartments, and SOMA. The Davenport apartments and DGM Station House, an urban renewal apartment project on Veteran's Memorial Dr., are currently in the works. Somerset Station, a 40-acre transit-oriented project, will have apartments, townhouses, retail and a community center, plus a new road linking Route 206 to the station when completed in 2023.

Somerville Borough was settled in 1683 and incorporated in 1909. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset and Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, call Somerville home. The community is close to major highways, including Interstates 287 and 78 and routes 202 and 206.

According to New Jersey Realtors® June Monthly Housing Statistics, the median sales price for a single-family home in Somerville Borough is $308,000 year-to-date, compared to the statewide median sales price year-to-date of $319,000.

Somerville residents take pride in events such as The Tour of Somerville, a three-day series of Memorial Day weekend bike races. The community is home to the annual Central Jersey Jazz Festival, as well as an annual Girls’ Night Out, Oktoberfest celebration, outdoor movies, and concerts. For 30 years, downtown Somerville has hosted Friday night “cruise” nights during the summer where classic, custom and new cars make their way up and down Main Street in an event that features live music, shopping, food and more.

Haddonfield

Nestled in the heart of South Jersey and popular among Philadelphia commuters, Haddonfield was established in 1713 and is home to more than 200 businesses and shops.

In 2018, downtown Haddonfield was named the “Most Charming Small Town” in New Jersey by Reader’s Digest, and last year, for the second straight year, it was named one of the 10 Best Historic Small Towns in New Jersey by USA Today.

Residents and visitors to the Camden County community enjoy strolling, shopping, and dining on Kings Highway. Annual events include the Haddonfield Night Market food truck festival, Girls Night Out, and candlelight shopping during the winter holidays. A highlight of the town is “Haddy,” an eight-foot-high statue of a Hadrosaurus Foulkii dinosaur that commemorates the 1858 discovery of the world's first complete dinosaur skeleton near the spot where it was found.

Jeanne “Lisa” Wolschina, a Realtor ® and broker salesperson with Keller Williams Haddonfield, grew up in Haddonfield, taught history at Haddonfield Memorial High School and has three children enrolled in the school system. She’s consistently the town’s top-producing Realtor®. Over the years, Wolschina says she has seen Haddonfield become more open-minded about the programs it offers, events it supports, and fundraising many participate in, as part of the nationwide movement “to be more understanding and inclusive of all people and ideas.”

“The town and schools seem to try more and more every year to honor citizens such as veterans, citizens who volunteer and residents who have made a positive impact on our town,” Wolschina says.

Haddonfield has many unique contemporary outdoor sculptures, thanks to The Haddonfield Outdoor Sculpture Trust (HOST). Local Realtor® , broker, developer, and HOST Chair Stuart Harting says the goal is to transform the borough “into a significant center for juried outdoor sculpture.” Wolschina helped sponsor The Heart of Haddonfield, a threedimensional welded diamond laser-cut aluminum sculpture of a heart that’s a popular spot for selfies, engagement and wedding photographs.

The downtown, which once had mostly traditional stores and restaurants, now provides restaurants with cultural flair and stores that offer unique clothing alongside those that sell business attire. At King's Road Brewing Co., patrons can enjoy pints or grab a growler before heading to one of the borough’s many BYOB restaurants. The PATCO high-speed train line stops in Haddonfield.

“So many people choose to move to Haddonfield for the great downtown, safe community, beautiful tree-lined streets, easy access to Philadelphia and maybe most of all, the excellent education,” Wolschina says. The community’s schools are consistently ranked among the top in New Jersey.

According to New Jersey Realtors® June Monthly Housing Statistics, the median sales price for a single-family home in Haddonfield Borough is $455,125 year-to-date, in comparison to the statewide median sales price year-to-date of $319,000.

Homes in the town cover a variety of styles. “The beauty of Haddonfield is that the houses are all unique from one another,” Wolschina says. “This is not a cookie-cutter community with properties, nor people.”

Metuchen

The Borough of Metuchen is a quaint and friendly community surrounded by Edison in the heart of northern Middlesex County. Founded in 1900, the community was dubbed the Brainy Borough in the early 20th century because of the number of writers, artists and painters who called it home.

More than $100 million has been invested in Metuchen’s downtown since 2016, and nearly 400 new apartment homes were added in the past year, according to Isaac D. Kremer, executive director of the Metuchen Downtown Alliance.

One of the most substantial investments is Woodmont Metro at Metuchen Station, a 273-unit transit-oriented luxury apartment community Woodmont Properties completed in 2017. It’s just steps from the train station and downtown that offers an array of options for dining, shopping and entertainment.

Steve Santola, Woodmont Properties’ executive vice president and general counsel, says renters include “a lot of younger folks and younger couples, and we’re also seeing a fair amount of empty nesters who have sold their homes and are looking for something different.”

Santola says Metuchen is on the move because the borough’s leadership and elected and appointed officials “are on the same page for growing the downtown, making it more vital and more diverse over a period of years” by bringing in additional residential development, “which obviously helps all the business in town.”

Popular amenities include the Middlesex Greenway, a picturesque 3.5 mile rails-to-trails project. Centennial Park, a 13-acre tract, is the largest natural open space in Metuchen and includes Metuchen’s highest point, at 169 feet. The Sportsplex of Metuchen provides indoor space for organized sports teams, camps and special events.

According to New Jersey Realtors® June Monthly Housing Statistics, the median sales price for a single-family home in Metuchen Borough year-to-date is $465,000, in comparison to the statewide median sales price of $319,000 year-to-date. The borough has an array of businesses, including specialty shops, restaurants with a range of global cuisine, a Whole Foods, clothing boutiques, an artisanal chocolatier and a business aptly called Brainy Kids Yoga.

There’s an annual Downtown Pre-Prom Party in May, at which prom-goers can take a walk on the red carpet and enjoy the milestone with their friends, family and neighbors. A farmers market runs each Saturday from June through October, and there’s a Kids Takeover on the last day of school in June each year, with local businesses providing games and activities on sidewalks and at the Town Plaza. In September, Metuchen holds Downtown Rumble Pro Wrestling, with professional wrestlers taking over town plaza.

In 2019, Metuchen paid $1.35 million to buy the iconic Forum Theatre, a local landmark since it opened in 1928. The borough plans to make it the centerpiece of its planned Metuchen Arts District, which is expected to lead to redevelopment and revitalization of an underutilized block of Main Street.