In compiling New Jersey Monthly’s 2017 Top 100 Towns list, researchers at Leflein Associates, an independent research firm based in Ringwood, considered five categories to represent the quality of life in New Jersey’s 565 municipalities: home values, property taxes, crime rate, school performance and a lifestyle factor (explained below).
Due to a lack of statistically significant data, towns with a population under 1,500 were dropped from the survey. The research team ranked each of the remaining 513 towns based on the following indicators: change in average property tax bill (2014-2016); effective property tax rate (2016); median home-sales price (2016); change in median home-sales price (2014-2016); average days for homes on the market (2016); total crime rate (2014); violent-crime rate (2014); student proficiency on state-mandated standardized tests for students in grades 4 and 8 (2016); ranking in New Jersey Monthly’s Top Public High Schools chart (published September 2016); and a lifestyle factor that considers the number of acute-care hospitals and live performing-arts theaters within 10 miles of the municipality’s main zip code, number of full-service restaurants within two miles of the municipality’s main zip code, and average commute time for those working away from home. The chart is based on each municipality’s combined scores for the 11 indicators. Extra weighting was given to the Top Public High Schools indicator.
The following sources were used: NJ Department of Local Government Services (for population figures); NJ Division of Taxation (for property taxes); NJ Division of Taxation/Office of Property Administration (for home-sales prices); New Jersey Realtors (for time on the market); NJ Division of State Police (Uniform Crime Report); NJ Department of Education (test scores); NJ Hospital Association (hospital locations); NJ Council for the Arts and NJ Theater Alliance (theater locations); Yelp.com searches (restaurant locations); and the U.S. Census/American Community Survey (commute times). The annual-crime and violent-crime rate scores are based on reported crimes per 1,000 residents.
The editors and author of this list should be mortified. Saddle River and Franklin Lakes are ranked between 150 and 200. These 2 communities are in the TOP 25 at the worst. The methodology is clearly flawed and anyone with the most basic knowledge of NJ real estate will agree. #FakeNews
where can i see the lifestyle ranking by town?
lifestyle factor that considers the number of
acute-care hospitals and live performing-arts theaters within 10 miles of the municipality’s main zip code, number of full-service restaurants
within two miles of the municipality’s main zip code, and average commute time for those working away from home.