My friend lives in Montclair, very nice area. He has a $700k house, taxes are $19.5 a year plus state and etc etc, he has one kid in school still said they will bail as soon as he graduates, he figures the tax savings will pay him around 20k a year to commute. But it is a very nice area. Parts of Jersey City are becoming pretty cool, especially if you wanted to rent for a bit to get a feel for the area. I have flown with some guys down the shore in Jersey that really like it there, about in hour drive, can be quite a bit cheaper, the beach towns empty out in the winter.