"Walkable suburbs are some of America's best places to live, and they provide their sprawling, spread-out siblings with a model for renewal. Relatively dense commercial districts with shops, restaurants and movie theaters, as well as a wife variety of housing types, have always been a feature of the older suburbs that grew up along the streetcar lines of big metro areas. A 2007 study...found more than 150 walkable towns in America's 30 largest metro regious -- like Hoboken, Montclair, and Princeton, NJ...These are the places where Americans are clamoring to live...
--From The Wall Street Journal, " How SoHo Can Save the Suburbs"
"Meet the neighbors: 'Everyone around here seems to work on some TV show or write for some paper,' said Alma Schneider, who moved with her family from their East Village walkup to a four-bedroom Colonial. The town is famously well integrated. Most popular cliche: Montclair is the Park Slope of the suburbs."
--From New York Magazine, Ten Most Affordable Suburbs: Montclair -- A Cultural Oasis
"A favored pastime of the urbanite is to...scoff at the provinces and a sea of suburbs and shopping malls. We are confident that in each of the 50 states, there exists at least one small city that would impress both the aspiring urban planner and the casual observer...Montclair [NJ] is an island of good taste in a sea of Jersey ho-hum. Montclair has done much to keep the sprawl that surrounds it from impinging on its small-town good looks, and even the local government is eager to promote itself as artistic and 'family centered.'
--From The New York Post
Montclair's mix of a growing arts scene, its lively downtown and architectural charms have made it one of the most popular destinations for NY transplants looking to NJ for more living space."
-- From The Wall Street Journal, Montclair Still a Draw for City Transplants
Montclair is about 15 minutes from Manhattan in midmorning. It has a pond, wooden houses, front lawns, brick shops. An air of storybook authenticity covers the rich and the poor areas...Americana! Sleeping porches. A bookstore with Alice Waters's big red book....Whole Foods..."
--From The New York Times Style Magazine
BUYING or selling a home is one of the most crucial and important things you will ever do. From square one of the process, the aim of the award-winning The Baldwin Dream Team at Keller Williams NJ Metro Group is to become indispensable to you: We will research and answer every question you have. We will be your guide and support system, even after you close the deal. We expect to talk to you nearly every day during the process. If you are new to our area, you will require help settling in. We take pride in staying close to those we work with and 'being there' for you, now and in the future. That's why the New Jersey Monthly Magazine "Five Star Award" for excellence in customer service came our way in 2011 and again in 2012. That's why we stand proudly among Keller Williams Top 600 - out of 80,000 agents.
Essex County, NJ is a thriving nexus located just west of Manhattan, and it is a prime destination for corporate executives and their families, as well as for young people in the business, finance and nonprofit sectors seeking career opportunities in New Jersey and Manhattan.
The towns comprising the "West Essex" subset of Essex County are also hugely popular with people who work in the arts, entertainment, and communications fields. Several fine universities, including Montclair State University, Seton Hall and Rutgers-Newark, and the smaller Bloomfield and Caldwell Colleges -- provide rich cultural opportunities for local residents and their families. Many of these towns are also considered "smart edge cities," where the bustle of people, places, and ideas makes for interesting lives at any age.
While a huge number of restaurants, plus multiple movie screens, professional theatrical and musical offerings, regional Y's and numerous child-centered activities make Montclair a natural hub for the region, each area town is set apart by its distinct personality and verve.
Together, the towns of the West Essex area comprise a dynamic, interlocking region, according to The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine, that is among the most desirable in the nation, with walkability to shops, entertainments, Midtown Direct trains to Penn Station, and express buses to Port Authority a prime factor in attracting new residents.
Within this site, we summarize much of what is important about the Montclair, Upper Montclair, Glen Ridge,West Orange, Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn/Short Hills, Essex Fells & Bloomfield real estate markets, as well as many of the fine towns surrounding them But there's much more to these wonderful destinations and in our in-person meetings with you we'll give you all the information you'll need to make a wise decision about a place to live that fits your lifestyle and pocketbook.
My team and I are also expert in the real estate markets in Nutley, Belleville, Verona, Cedar Grove, Livingston, Roseland, North Caldwell, West Caldwell, Caldwell, Fairfield, East Orange and Orange. Whatever your price range, there's a home for you in Essex County -- or, in Little Falls and Clifton in Passaic County; or in such nearby towns as Summit, Westfield, Union and Roselle, in Union County.
And if you're interested in condos, fine opportunities await you locally, as well. This is a rich part of the market as young people flock to Essex County, NJ after college, seeking affordable space and a great NYC commute -- while others farther along on life's path are "downsizing" from larger homes to one of the many attractive condominium choices we have in West Orange, Roseland, The Caldwells, Livingston, Nutley, Little Falls and Clifton, including some fabulous, new Adult Communities with terrific amenities and ultra-spacious layouts.
Understanding how important a work commute is for our residents, we'll also acqaint you with those excellent Midtown Direct services from the "train towns" -- Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn/Short Hills and Summit. Some who prefer bus service will find ours is more than dependable from many of the aforementioned towns, as well as West Orange, The Caldwells, Verona, Cedar Grove, and Essex Fells. And we'll not forget to impress on you the importance of PATH trains here in NJ, with a hub station in Harrison, just minutes from many of the municipalities we serve.
Whatever market forces face us, we are poised with information to help you understand how to buy and sell real estate intelligently. Welcome to www.NJDreamHouses.com and the award-winning Baldwin Dream Team, here to help you define your personal living scenario! Also visit us at our state-of-the-art "real-time" search site, www.FindBestNJHomes.com, our new www.MidtownDirectCommute.com & www.JustMarriedRealEstate.com and, if you're seeking professional property services, www.NHBPropertyManagement.com is team member Nick Baldwin's particularly important contribution to area homeowners.
Our first question to you, dear Buyers and Sellers: Can you afford not to work with The Baldwin Dream Team at Keller Williams NJ Metro Group?
Roberta Baldwin, Realtor Associate
Principal, The Baldwin Dream Team
Partner, Keller Williams NJ Metro Group
Member, KW Luxury Homes Division
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Glenmont Square
15 Bloomfield Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
Our Team Associates:
Nancy Chu, Realtor Associate; CDPE
Sidney Simon, Realtor Associate
Nick Baldwin, Realtor Associate; CDPE
#1 Standing Reflected by GSMLS Broker Metrics statistics for closed transactions, 2011
(C) 2003-2012 by Roberta Baldwin
- NUMBER1EXPERT™ 
