South Orange and Maplewood are sister towns and share a school district. The downtown train station has been transformed into a transit village, with many shops, restaurants, and the requisite Starbucks as well as a nice kosher bakery, Cait & Abbey’s. SOPAC, the South Orange Performing Arts Center is in full swing bringing in nationally acclaimed musical acts, plus there’s a nice new Clearview Cinema with five screens. Garden of Eden Gourmet is the best grocery store in the area – great produce at competitive prices (sorry Whole Foods) and an impressive deli & cheese counter as well as the new home of Zayda’s kosher foods. In the summertime you can enjoy concerts at Floods Hill and in the wintertime it becomes one of the best hills to sled down.
South Orange is also home to Seton Hall University.
The housing stock in South Orange varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. From downtown condos to Tuxedo Park, to Historic Montrose, to Wyoming, upper Wyoming, and Newstead, South Orange offers homes in all price ranges, from Cottages to Colonials to modern Splits and Ranches to the grandest Tudors and Victorians. From $200K to roughly $2M, South Orange has something for everyone. South Orange has jitney service with jitney stops all around South Orange that run in the morning and rush hour/early evening to/from the South Orange Train Station.
South Orange (along with parts of Maplewood, Short Hills and West Orange) shares Essex County’s largest park, South Mountain Reservation, which is 2,110-acres of trails, ecology, and natural beauty. Numerous trails and overlooks offer inspiring scenery such as incredible views of New York City and a dramatic 25-foot waterfall at Hemlock Falls. The South Mountain Dog Park in Essex County South Mountain Reservation opened July 2006. The two-acre facility is divided into two sections – 1.3 acres for large dogs and 0.7 acres for small dogs. Both areas have a crushed stoned and compacted stone dust surface, dual drinking fountains, park benches, agility equipment for the dogs, a wash and spray area, “time out” areas for dogs, and DogiPot stations. The entrance to the Dog Park contains a memorial to honor emergency service dogs that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
