Packed and Happy
I have yet to unpack, but it usually takes me a good day or two to settle into the putting-away-of-the-clothing.
My flight arrived a bit early, so I had time to go down and get my luggage, meet Gerry, and rush over to our friend's house (where the kids were to get off the bus in case my flight was delayed) to greet the kids. Happy, happy mommy! Hannah had tennis this afternoon, and Maxie wanted to go visit the local creek with his friend, so I took the time to have a nice visit with Max's friend's mom (one of my dear friends here in NJ) and talk about - what else? - Minnesota.
My breathing was getting so much better every day in MN. I could taste the difference in the air - clean and crisp and light. As soon as I walked out of the terminal at Newark the thickness of our local air hit me like a wall. And, because I can be as thick as the air, the fact that every time I go away my breathing gets better (and worsens when I return) finally came home to roost.
Gerry's cautiously, guardedly excited about the prospect of MN. He told me tonight that the garage where he parks his car during the day (he has to be at work at 4:30 in the morning, so he can't take mass transit) is raising their rate from $190 a month ago to $275. A year of that is more than we'd pay in taxes if we moved to MN. Did I mention that along with our exhorbitant taxes (which are actually low for our town, we're about to be reassessed) we do NOT get garbage collection? We have to pay separately for that (and water)?
Well, now you know what idiots we are here - and additionally how much we love living here that we'd put up with the extreme ch-ching we call property taxes. Something, somewhere has to give with this property tax situation in NJ - and in our case it just might be us. We've justified it to date by saying that if we stayed in Bklyn we'd have to pay for private schools for the kids (we were districted for a pretty bad school) and the education they're getting here is world class. So many things to consider - and when I line them up the decision isn't as clear cut as it might seem.
The thing about the NY area - especially before 911 - was that there was always TV work of some kind around. Gerry could squeeze together a free-lance life (no insurance, but jobs). The job he has now is sucking the life out of him. If Gerry's not happy, we can't truly be happy as a family. Oy - so much tsuris!
At any rate, now that I'm home I'm able to knit fast again (nothing like the familiarity of one's own sofa) and barrelled through a few swatches tonight so I can get some patterns written over the weekend. I've completed the finishing touches on the crocheted skirt I've been working on and I'll send that in tomorrow, and will actually have some projects to send out to knitters in the next few weeks (hooray!) It's so good to be home - I do love South Orange - but I could be persuaded to strike out someplace new with the family...
My flight arrived a bit early, so I had time to go down and get my luggage, meet Gerry, and rush over to our friend's house (where the kids were to get off the bus in case my flight was delayed) to greet the kids. Happy, happy mommy! Hannah had tennis this afternoon, and Maxie wanted to go visit the local creek with his friend, so I took the time to have a nice visit with Max's friend's mom (one of my dear friends here in NJ) and talk about - what else? - Minnesota.
My breathing was getting so much better every day in MN. I could taste the difference in the air - clean and crisp and light. As soon as I walked out of the terminal at Newark the thickness of our local air hit me like a wall. And, because I can be as thick as the air, the fact that every time I go away my breathing gets better (and worsens when I return) finally came home to roost.
Gerry's cautiously, guardedly excited about the prospect of MN. He told me tonight that the garage where he parks his car during the day (he has to be at work at 4:30 in the morning, so he can't take mass transit) is raising their rate from $190 a month ago to $275. A year of that is more than we'd pay in taxes if we moved to MN. Did I mention that along with our exhorbitant taxes (which are actually low for our town, we're about to be reassessed) we do NOT get garbage collection? We have to pay separately for that (and water)?
Well, now you know what idiots we are here - and additionally how much we love living here that we'd put up with the extreme ch-ching we call property taxes. Something, somewhere has to give with this property tax situation in NJ - and in our case it just might be us. We've justified it to date by saying that if we stayed in Bklyn we'd have to pay for private schools for the kids (we were districted for a pretty bad school) and the education they're getting here is world class. So many things to consider - and when I line them up the decision isn't as clear cut as it might seem.
The thing about the NY area - especially before 911 - was that there was always TV work of some kind around. Gerry could squeeze together a free-lance life (no insurance, but jobs). The job he has now is sucking the life out of him. If Gerry's not happy, we can't truly be happy as a family. Oy - so much tsuris!
At any rate, now that I'm home I'm able to knit fast again (nothing like the familiarity of one's own sofa) and barrelled through a few swatches tonight so I can get some patterns written over the weekend. I've completed the finishing touches on the crocheted skirt I've been working on and I'll send that in tomorrow, and will actually have some projects to send out to knitters in the next few weeks (hooray!) It's so good to be home - I do love South Orange - but I could be persuaded to strike out someplace new with the family...
14 Comments:
I hope that you get to move soon. NJ doesn't sound like it's got too much going for it. Even if it were cheaper, better air is worth the move.
I hope we get to move soon, too - but don't dis NJ!
Taxes aside, I do love living here. It's a wonderful place (and Essex Co taxes are among the highest in the state).
When/if we leave it won't be for lack of love of the Garden State (doll!)
Wow - $14K in property taxes, plus garbage fees? Ouch! It costs us about $1000.
MN sounds nice, at least in Spring, and good for a person so into yarn! LOL
I just discovered that my version of continental knitting (I usually throw Western style) is actually combination!
Yeah.. Everyon dis's NJ but it's not such a bad place!! I was born and raised there so see it can't be all bad!!heheh
(The north western part.. ya know.. the part with trees..mountains and farms..hehhe)
Denise
knitchat.com
The schools in Minnesota are pretty good, too (full disclosure: my father grew up in Minneapolis, and I went to college in St. Paul). The weather can be .... extreme ..... wicked cold in winter, and beastly hot and humid in the summer .... but it's beautiful, the people are incredibly nice, and it's all in all a wonderful place to raise a family.
So, when are you going back on vacation?
Hi there! I don't want to burst your bubble regarding MN - I was born and raised here and will probably not move until my last kid is out of the house in 12 years but I wanted to clarify some of the comments regarding property taxes. I ran this discussion by my husband - he is familiar with your part of the country, we have friends who live out there - and he said that your tax is about 1 1/2 % of your home value?? Ours is too. The difference here is that the state picks up about 1/3 of that amount (MN readers should dig out their property tax statement and read all of the line items) and then, depending on each person's income here, you may or may not be eligible for a property tax refund. There are also limits here on how fast the tax can go up every year - so if you buy a house here with a "low" tax amount but the house has had the same owner for many years - you would be in for a big shock that first year of ownership because there would be a huge property valuation adjustment. He is guessing that out there, you are just hit with a big shock each year? :)
That being said - it would be great to have you here in our neck of the woods!!
Hey Connie,
As much as I hate to tell your husband he's wrong about our taxes, he's wrong about our taxes. We pay that ungodly high rate on a house that is in the same price range as the homes I looked at out there. I can't imagine how expensive a house would have to be out there to get up to $14K in taxes each year...
Everywhere I go teach folks like to say, "Oh, OUR taxes are high!" until they hear what ours are. Every now and then someone says, "Well, if you figure property value, etc.," - sort of your husband's argument - but even doing that math we have ungodly high taxes.
Don't dis' Jersey! We are one of the most diverse states not only ethnically and culturally but as well as geography. In ten minutes you can drive from farmland to city to suburbs. Unfortunately, a few of the counties do carry exorbitant taxes and Essex county is one of them. South Orange is a beautiful town with quick access to NY. Sadly, this comes with a price (says the person from Montclair who wonders why the taxes on her condo equal the taxes of a house).
There are places where you don't have to pay for water or trash? You certainly have to in Minnesota! :)
Though, yeah, it sounds like property taxes are a LOT higher in NJ. We're paying only about $2500 this year.
a drastic move. i can only comment on the one part ; which is the kids education, and then only enough to say that they have to learn the same lessons no matter what the school is like. easier in a good school but still...it was explained to me like like chocolate cake, it's chocolate cake on a fine china plate or on a banana leaft, eh?
p.s.
consider jacksonville florida
beautiful, moderate weather most of the year; small town atmosphere, and close to a few very large cities; and the ocean, yaknow, the clean lovely ocean air
look thoroughtly at that tax structure before you leap, though. i live in florida and the property tax structure here is such that mine are very low, on a house that's also valued very low becuase it's 50 years old and reflects the housing tastes of 50 years ago. if i were to sell it, though, and then for some reason buy back the very same house, the taxes would be many, many tmes more. it virtually traps me in my house, it makes it almost impossible to imagine a scenario in which i might ever move again. you may not enjoy such a structure now, but that doesn't mean you necessarily would benefit by moving either--you wouldn't if you moved here, and you'd lose whatever "tax equity" you do have.
on the breathing, i experienced exactly the same thing on a recent trip to california. so exactly the same that you make me wonder if it's just the change in allergens that causes it and if so, might it wear off in a year or so as we got used to new allergens, you know? it sure was great to breathe again, though, wasn't it.
Well, the tax structure in each area depends mightily on how each place decides to fund itself, and by how much. So, while your property taxes are higher, your income tax is a few % lower. Not enough to make up for the difference, I'll grant you, especially since MN rebates alot of the property tax anyway depending on your income.
And then there is the snow....and the requirement to say things like "pop" for soda. 8-) OTOH, there is a lively arts community, and some truly outstanding things - I'm a big fan of St. Olaf's Christmas choir stuff.
The housing market, from what I can tell, is cooling off in both areas. The cost of living in MN is a little lower than in NJ, but then again jobs are tighter out there.
Personally, I recommend that you subscribe to the local paper of which ever particular town you were interested in, and read up. You learn all KINDS of interesting stuff that way.
As a student from your combination knitting class at Yarnover in Minnesota, I say, "Come on down, y'all!" The weather here compared to Pittsburgh (where I moved from and loved), is ever so much clearer - even if my pipes froze this winter. Even though my city lot about 40 feet wide and the house takes up about 35 of those feet, I really enjoy my tree-lined street and tiny yard. Saint Paul is for neighborhoods and Minneapolis is for urban nightlife, so they say. Can you guess which city I live in?! Come back soon!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home