Fair Lawn is ranked among best small cities
WalletHub report places borough sixth in nation
Many people tend to take pride in where they’re from, but residents of one Bergen County town may have proof to back it up.
Of 1,321 total municipalities rated, Fair Lawn has ranked as the sixth-best small city in which to live across the country, according to a recent report from WalletHub.
This ranking was based on five factors: affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and safety.
The borough — which has a population of just over 35,000 people — ranked 17th overall for education and health, as well as 18th for overall safety.
Fair Lawn also scored highly in terms of affordability and economic health, ranking 143rd and 241st, respectively. But, according to WalletHub, the borough struggled in quality of life, ranking 883rd overall in this category.
“The school system is phenomenal. It’s always ranked high,” said Jane Ferlanti, an agent with Coldwell Banker Realty based in Ridgewood and a 50year resident of Fair Lawn. “We have every activity there is here, all kinds of activities for children. We have a great senior center and a bike path that runs all the way up to Ridgewood one way and past Saddle Brook the other way.”
Ferlanti said Fair Lawn has two train stations, as well as both local and express buses with easy transportation to New York City for commuters.
In terms of affordability, Ferlanti said, while the costs of homes are rising and inventory is scarce — just as in most towns across North Jersey — houses are fairly cost-friendly compared with surrounding areas such as Ridgewood and Glen Rock.
“Now, first-time home buyers can probably get a house for about $450,000 and above. Whether that’s going to change, we have no idea. Inventory is scarce, and that’s always a problem that makes the prices go higher,”
she said. “But the market has slowed down, so we don’t have lines of people for open houses. It has slowed down, and it’s going to become a normal market.”
Other New Jersey towns that were ranked in the 90th percentile or above — or in the top 10% of small cities in America — according to the report, were Princeton (97), Ridgewood (97), Paramus (96), Hoboken (95) and Westfield (90).
WalletHub’s list of the best small cities to live in across America was based on the five factors using 45 relevant metrics, with each metric graded on a 100-point scale and a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for small-city residents. Each city’s weighted average was determined to calculate its overall score, and the resulting scores were used to rank the cities.