Post by BrianSullivan on Feb 17, 2010 15:02:20 GMT -5
I am sure the title caught some readers attention pretty quick, but it is not my doing. Apparently, we have earned a very low ranking. At the end of this post, I will post the article in its full.
New Jersey Monthly magazine has put out its biannual rankings of each municipality. Out of 566, Freehold Borough ranks at 538, pretty far down. I know that after reading that the many of us with FB pride will have their blood boiling. On the positive side, we are in good company with Loch Arbor at number 565.
The criteria for the rankings are based on population growth, home values, property taxes, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.” This should serve as a nice template of what we need to do as a town to look in the mirror and make the proper improvements.
One thing I like about the article that I am about to post, it really questions the rankings by rightfully pointing out that Monmouth County does not get the rankings it deserves. Monmouth County as a whole is recognized as one of the top places to live in the nation, let alone the state. Here is the complete article I found.
www.monmouthcountylife.com/all-things-monmouth/new-jeseys-best-place-to-live/
New Jersey’s “Best Places to Live”
By Greg Kelly • on February 16, 2010
Only 2 Monmouth County Towns in the Top 40?
By my reckoning Monmouth County is the “Best Place to Live” in the country, not just New Jersey. New Jersey Monthly magazine has just come out with its bi-annual Best Places to Live in 2010 list and none of Monmouth County’s 53 municipalities made the Top 10 (I’m wondering how hard they looked?).
And only one county town made the Top 20: Colts Neck Twp. (#18); three others made the Top 50: Farmingdale (#41), Spring Lake Heights (#45), and Englishtown (#48); and three more made the Top 100: Lake Como (#71), Fair Haven (#72) and Roosevelt (#80).
County communities in the middle of the pack included: Brielle (#249), Aberdeen Twp. (#262), Manasquan (#291), Freehold Twp. (#303), and Manalapan (#311). At the bottom of the list for Monmouth County were West Long Branch (#520), Freehold Borough (#538), Long Branch (#545), Asbury Park (#551) and Loch Arbor (#565), the second to last “Best to Live.” Wildwood City in Cape May County was rated last; in 2008 it was Chesilhurst Twp. in Camden County at the bottom
The Top 10 NJ towns to live in for 2010 were:
1. Bedminster Twp. (Somerset County)
2. Chatham Twp. (Morris County; and #1 in 2008)
3. Caldwell Twp. (Essex County)
4. New Hanover Twp. (Burlington County)
5. Upper Twp. (Cape May County)
6. Tabernacle Twp. (Burlington County)
7. Plainsboro Twp. (Middlesex County)
8. Mountainside Borough (Union County)
9. Verona Twp. (Essex County)
10. North Caldwell Borough (Essex County)
For the methodology of Top Towns list, “researchers at Monmouth University’s Polling Institute considered eight categories best representing the quality of life in New Jersey’s 566 municipalities: population growth, home values, property taxes, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.”
New Jersey Monthly magazine has put out its biannual rankings of each municipality. Out of 566, Freehold Borough ranks at 538, pretty far down. I know that after reading that the many of us with FB pride will have their blood boiling. On the positive side, we are in good company with Loch Arbor at number 565.
The criteria for the rankings are based on population growth, home values, property taxes, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.” This should serve as a nice template of what we need to do as a town to look in the mirror and make the proper improvements.
One thing I like about the article that I am about to post, it really questions the rankings by rightfully pointing out that Monmouth County does not get the rankings it deserves. Monmouth County as a whole is recognized as one of the top places to live in the nation, let alone the state. Here is the complete article I found.
www.monmouthcountylife.com/all-things-monmouth/new-jeseys-best-place-to-live/
New Jersey’s “Best Places to Live”
By Greg Kelly • on February 16, 2010
Only 2 Monmouth County Towns in the Top 40?
By my reckoning Monmouth County is the “Best Place to Live” in the country, not just New Jersey. New Jersey Monthly magazine has just come out with its bi-annual Best Places to Live in 2010 list and none of Monmouth County’s 53 municipalities made the Top 10 (I’m wondering how hard they looked?).
And only one county town made the Top 20: Colts Neck Twp. (#18); three others made the Top 50: Farmingdale (#41), Spring Lake Heights (#45), and Englishtown (#48); and three more made the Top 100: Lake Como (#71), Fair Haven (#72) and Roosevelt (#80).
County communities in the middle of the pack included: Brielle (#249), Aberdeen Twp. (#262), Manasquan (#291), Freehold Twp. (#303), and Manalapan (#311). At the bottom of the list for Monmouth County were West Long Branch (#520), Freehold Borough (#538), Long Branch (#545), Asbury Park (#551) and Loch Arbor (#565), the second to last “Best to Live.” Wildwood City in Cape May County was rated last; in 2008 it was Chesilhurst Twp. in Camden County at the bottom
The Top 10 NJ towns to live in for 2010 were:
1. Bedminster Twp. (Somerset County)
2. Chatham Twp. (Morris County; and #1 in 2008)
3. Caldwell Twp. (Essex County)
4. New Hanover Twp. (Burlington County)
5. Upper Twp. (Cape May County)
6. Tabernacle Twp. (Burlington County)
7. Plainsboro Twp. (Middlesex County)
8. Mountainside Borough (Union County)
9. Verona Twp. (Essex County)
10. North Caldwell Borough (Essex County)
For the methodology of Top Towns list, “researchers at Monmouth University’s Polling Institute considered eight categories best representing the quality of life in New Jersey’s 566 municipalities: population growth, home values, property taxes, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.”