Is that an office or apartment building at Orange station?

Does anyone know whether that's an office or apartment building at Orange station?

Thanks

Yes, it is.

Just being a wiseass... I don't know. Maybe mixed use

It's an apartment building.

North side or south side?

I'm new to the area, what's the deal with Orange? Parts seem nice. Is the downtown improving?

Meh. Orange is better than East Orange for sure, but parts are pretty rough.

The Main Street is pretty utilitarian. One neighborhood (a little bit down from South Orange past Mountain Station, around Hat City Kitchen) is meant to be a revival of sorts with artists' lofts and whatnot, but I don't think that's really caught on.

I'm sure the new apartments near the train station will be nice, but I imagine that will be a bedroom community.

Orange does have Star Tavern, which is totes awesome, so there's that.

There are sections of both Orange and East Orange that are improving/in transition/whatever. The Seven Oaks section of Orange (near the park) near really fell on hard times.

There are apartments going up (or possibly done in one case) on both sides of the tracks in Orange.

Are there any stores or other restaurants of note in Orange? Isn't Hat City in West Orange?

Hat City is in Orange, which was once a huge manufacturer of hats, among other things (including beer). The city faced huge changes over time, including having 280 built through its downtown in the 60s or 70s. There are some great bakeries like Zen and Serrani's, probably some good restaurants, though I don't know them well. Libretti's is a well-known old school Italian place.

The Orange Public Library was designed by McKim, Mead and White in the Beaux-Art and Classical Revival styles, and there are some beautiful old churches.

BubbaTerp said:
Are there any stores or other restaurants of note in Orange? Isn't Hat City in West Orange?

The border between West Orange and Orange is all over the place along Valley so I have given up trying to figure out which store/restaurant is where.

There are tons of useful stores in that area, including Orange Valley Glass, Orange Valley Hardware, several decent auto repair facilities, Don Juan Restaurant, etc.

Part of Orange is a NJ Urban Economic Zone so the state sales tax is one-half of the rate. Karl's Appliances in Orange gets this tax benefit.

chopin said:
North side or south side?

Sorry just saw this. I'm talking about the North side. It's right at the station.

The north side apartments are still under construction. Not sure about the complex on the other side of the tracks

There's also a Salvadorian restaurant in Orange right off 280. I haven't been, but I have seen people say that they preferred their papusas to those from Guanticos. (For the record, I've found the ones at Guanticos to be quite good, especially the loroco ones.)

As far as if Orange is improving, I haven't really seen signs of that. There do seem to be signs that East Orange is improving in the past few years. I saw something a while back about their crime now being lower than Orange, which hadn't been the case for I think quite some time.

The dynamic right now is that anything along the rail line is desirable right now. And with the development along the rail line in SO and Maplewood commanding such high rents there is a lot of room for development at a somewhat lower price point in East Orange and Orange. Whether than translates into wider improvements in the towns is still very much up in the air.

East Orange has definitely improved over the last 15 to 20 years. There has been a large influx of immigrants that have helped to stabilize neighborhoods.

Orange has benefitted from both quasi public and private housing.

Is there any bleed off of potential SOMA residents into Orange? Are they seeing benefits due to adjacency?

The school district is the killer. There are some condos in East Orange on Harrison that I've heard of some people moving to that want something cheaper once their kids are out of school. I don't think there are a ton of people doing it though.

BubbaTerp said:
Is there any bleed off of potential SOMA residents into Orange? Are they seeing benefits due to adjacency?

Since the apartments near the train station appeal to younger people before they have kids I can see them renting there then looking to buy a house in SO or Maplewood when they have school age kids. (or just joining the legion of Orange / East Orange / Irvington / Newark kids in the MSO school system)

VERY MUCH just kidding on that last sentence - being playful with the never dying urban legend.

That Salvadoran place is good. I've been there. Sweet people there, too.

I've heard this is true, like Andrea in Season 1 of 90210

bramzzoinks said:
Since the apartments near the train station appeal to younger people before they have kids I can see them renting there then looking to buy a house in SO or Maplewood when they have school age kids. (or just joining the legion of Orange / East Orange / Irvington / Newark kids in the MSO school system)


VERY MUCH just kidding on that last sentence - being playful with the never dying urban legend.

BubbaTerp said:
I've heard this is true, like Andrea in Season 1 of 90210

bramzzoinks said:
Since the apartments near the train station appeal to younger people before they have kids I can see them renting there then looking to buy a house in SO or Maplewood when they have school age kids. (or just joining the legion of Orange / East Orange / Irvington / Newark kids in the MSO school system)


VERY MUCH just kidding on that last sentence - being playful with the never dying urban legend.

That was a bus line. Huge difference.

Those condos on Harrison Street certainly get empty nesters from SOMA. That long-empty loft building near the Highland Avenue station is finally being turned into residential condos, and apparently most of the people who put down down payments are from SOMA. The Seven Oaks area has always been a stable neighborhood so far as I know, with great housing stock.

And no one noticed she was 32 years old.

BubbaTerp said:
I've heard this is true, like Andrea in Season 1 of 90210

bramzzoinks said:
Since the apartments near the train station appeal to younger people before they have kids I can see them renting there then looking to buy a house in SO or Maplewood when they have school age kids. (or just joining the legion of Orange / East Orange / Irvington / Newark kids in the MSO school system)


VERY MUCH just kidding on that last sentence - being playful with the never dying urban legend.