MONTCLAIR FOUND
BY LIZ GEORGE
The magazine sat on my night table for more than a year. My husband and I had been toying with the idea of trading in our postage-stamp-sized asphalt "yard" in Queens for some actual green space with a house attached to it. The "Top 10 Affordable Suburbs" — as listed in the Sept. 30, 2002 issue of New York magazine — seemed as good a place to start as any.Montclair was one of those featured suburbs (yes, affordable by New York standards) and its description won me over instantly. The writer described a place that wouldn't require culture shock treatments for us to assimilate: It was diverse, had tons of train service, lots of commercial shopping areas, movies and restaurants, and all within an easy drive to the City.
It was a Sunday morning in the fall of 2003 when I finally picked up the magazine and decided it was time to go beyond its pages to physically explore Montclair. I called a real estate office at random. The agent who answered agreed to show us the township if we could get there within the hour. We threw the kids in the minivan, popped in a video and made the trip from Queens through Manhattan to Montclair in fewer than 45 minutes — a harbinger of good things, we hoped.
The agent, a perky, affable woman, gamely climbed into the backseat of our vehicle and took us on a whirlwind tour. As our two small children alternated between bewilderment and tears, the agent did her best to rattle off every point of interest, much like a tour bus guide on warp speed.
We drove past Yogi Berra's house, saw the shopping in Upper Montclair (look, a Gap and a Williams-Sonoma!), made our way past Watchung Plaza (an area whose confusing roadway configuration seemed almost surreal at the time), and then over to downtown Montclair, where sightings of Indian, Thai and other ethnic eateries in an urban streetscape reassured us we hadn't entered Blandville.
It was supposed to be just an exploratory trip — we weren't planning to start looking at houses until the following spring. But something about that visit, and later taking our kids for pizza and a visit to a local park, forged an intense, immediate connection, along with a desire to explore further to determine if we could indeed "see" ourselves in Montclair.
We did our due diligence, looking at two other "affordable suburbs": Maplewood, as well as Pelham in Westchester, N.Y. Still, Montclair, with its myriad shops, restaurants and gorgeous tree-lined streets (many with stylish mansions and jaw-dropping views of Manhattan), called us back.
Two weeks later, I returned with my brother to look at some houses, "just for fun" of course. My husband and I ended up buying one of those "just for fun" houses, the one we didn't want to let get away, the one that represented not just a nice home with a backyard, but also the promise of a new lifestyle in an exciting town that felt right to us. Our new digs were within walking distance of newspapers, great coffee, pizza and public transportation. We moved in time for Christmas and spent one night driving around, stopping at every restaurant we saw to amass a formidable collection of takeout menus. We planned to eat our way through Montclair until we knew it like a well-worn menu. (And we eventually did.)
Still, the desire to explore and learn everything about our new town (not surprising for a journalist) persisted. That led me to Baristanet. The website was run at the time by its founder, Debra Galant, a Glen Ridge resident who started Baristanet to cover Montclair, Bloomfield and Glen Ridge. Soon after meeting Debbie, I started writing restaurant reviews and real estate stories for Baristanet; ultimately we became business partners.
Fast forward to today, some four years later, and I can tell you, Montclair does not disappoint. I still marvel at how incredibly friendly and passionately opinionated Montclair folks are, and how life here is never dull. You'd be hard pressed to find a place with more "Save Darfur" signs or Priuses (I confess, I have one now, too). I also dare you to find a municipality that can boast as much natural beauty and history blended with sophisticated urban sensibility. That and, it seems, a new sushi restaurant born every minute.
Today, I'm proud to say that one of the things that people love (or hate) about Montclair is Baristanet (I told you, folks are passionate). Much like the scores of restaurants, shopping on Church Street or, dare I say it, Yogi Berra, Baristanet has managed to make its own indelible mark on the fabric of Montclair, by becoming an ever-present source of news, restaurant reviews, opinions and, most of all, community.
We're proud to join The Star-Ledger in bringing you this guide, and emphasize that it's as much for Montclair's neighboring towns as it is for residents or prospective residents. Maybe you've caught an art-house flick at the Clairidge Cinemas or enjoyed the retro ice cream experience at Applegate Farm. Still, there's so much more Montclair has to offer. You don't have to live here (or pay its real estate taxes) to enjoy it. We've searched the township to show you what we think is the best. If you like what you've read, visit us online at Baristanet.com (and The Star-Ledger at NJ.com), where you can find coverage of Montclair 24/7.
Liz George is a co-owner and editor of Baristanet.com.
