After seeing all of the negative press for
Short Hills, I feel that, as a resident, there should be an unbiased, neutral
opinion that contains fact, as opposed to fiction, about the town itself, not the
people whom are targeted by these negative diatribes.
Short Hills is one of the wealthiest towns in New Jersey. According to Forbes' 500 Most Expensive Zip Codes of 2006,
Short Hills was ranked 5th overall in NJ behind Alpine, New Vernon, Mantoloking and Stone Harbor. The town also was ranked 66h overall, ahead of almost all of the affluent communities in Fairfield county, CT (Only Riverside, New Cannan and Greenwich placed higher). Many of the town's residents are Investment Bankers, Doctors, Laywers and members of other
well-respected, fairly well paid professions. There are two majors draws to living in
Short Hills. The first draw is the town's proximety to New York City. Along with Millburn, Summit, Madison, Chatham, Maplewood and South
Orange,
Short Hills acts as a Bedroom community for many commuters. All of the afforementioned towns are connected to NYC via the Morris and Essex Line on NJTransit and have direct service to New York City's Penn Station as well as Hoboken's train station, which provide access to NYC through the Path
Train system and both the Financial District and Wall Street bound ferries. The other key reason why
Short Hills has such drawing power is that the school system is considered to be one of the best in the nation, ranked 181st according to Newsweeks' 2006 top 1200 high schools publication. According to the same publication, when compared to other schools in New Jersey, the school system was ranked 6th. As a point of refference, Newsweeks' top 1200 list is based around the top 5% of public schools in the nation.
Short Hills is also known for its mall,
home to many of the upscale merchants that have residences on Fifth Avenue in NYC.
