Travel + Leisure's August 2010 issue has a list of "Coolest Suburbs Worth a Visit," and Montclair is first on the list. Baristanet is unimpressed, as to live in Montclair is to know it's a "cool" suburb, but the article does make you think- what makes a suburb a travel destination? There is a lot here for a variety of different sightseers. [...]

In the season 5 premiere of the NBC show "The Office," two dating characters who are for the moment living apart in Scranton, PA, and NYC meet in the middle for lunch at a rest stop at "exit 17" on Rt 80. But the one coming from NYC, Pam, realizes it wasn't actually in between the two [...]

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal,

"Today's home buyers aren't just looking for good schools and low crime rates when they evaluate a neighborhood, many brokers say. They're paying much more attention to what they can walk to." (emphasis added)

The growth of walkability as a desirable quality comes from homebuyers [...]

I'm a big fan of the Brookdale section of Bloomfield. It has charming, well-maintained houses right by Brookdale Park, as well as a great mix of traditional and trendy shops and restaurants on Broad Street. Italian food fans have two delicious choices, each open less than a year.  [...]

Many first-time home buyers go through a learning process to figure out what exactly they are looking for in a house, and what architectural style will provide those qualities. Looking for a big porch to sit out on in the evening? Why not go for a [...]

Glen Ridge, the beautiful little town that's a short walk to the Bloomfield train to NYC, is teaching its children the blues. Local teacher and longtime musician Paul Byrne will be teaching children ages 7-11 the fundamentals of blues music with hands-on learning and a performance at the end of the 4-day program. This program is aimed at all [...]

After closing on their bank-owned Colonial in Verona, one of the first "improvements" Bil and Ashli made was to add a vegetable garden to their backyard. They are predicting a prolific harvest of beans, onions, tomatoes, and Chinese sweet potatoes, of which they only eat the [...]

As reported in MinnPost.com, housing researcher John McIlwain has predicted that the period of suburban sprawl is over, and that more Americans will be pushing to live in more urban (one could even say "walkable") suburbs. "[A] combination of economic, demographic and regulatory trends over the next decade will create 'a new normal' in [...]

Despite both the state Assembly and Senate voting to approve a tax credit for NJ home buyers, Gov. Christie vetoed the program on July 23. The NJ Home Buyer Tax Credit Program would have allowed home buyers could claim a credit of either $15,000 or 5% of the home purchase price over the course of three years following the home purchase in [...]

A city school district in southern Texas has come up with a new way to combat childhood obesity that also makes their neighborhoods more walkable - by constructing new sidewalks, redesigning crosswalks, and adding bike racks to two dozen school campuses in Edinburg, TX, almost all of which are elementary schools. The team behind [...]