Centraljerseygirl

Actually have you looked into East Brunswick? Many people commute to NYC from there by bus. The cool thing is that you hop onto the bus and then fall asleep.
I am looking into Princeton Landing too, which is very nice, and unique, but the association fee is very steep ($400 easily per month). Most of the units have 2 master suits, the 3 bedrooms ones feels a bit smaller, and the tax is easliy $7K a year. Actually, townhouses (with garage and basement) price in surrounding communities are very closed to this $350K-$400K range. Montgomery has spacious townhouses (but not as unique as Princeton Landing) too, but I don't think the commute will be fun. So you can only save $ by picking one with lower property tax and/or association fee.
Check the Asbury Park Press APP Data Universe for property tax and transaction record - I find it to be a very useful tool. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=data
You can also go to the West-Windsor/Plainsboro bulletin board http://www.wwptoday.com - and type "commute to NYC" on its search box for local advice/experience in related topics (e.g. train parking etc.). Unfortunately this WWP seems to be the only forum for this area (I cannot find a similar forum for South Brunswick.)
Honestly if I were you (I mean, if you haven't lived in this area before), I would not buy now but to rent for a year first. Good luck!! - Sun Jun 22 2008, 21:26

Fun and hip...beside Princeton itself, there is no fun and hip place around, and Princeton is not even half as hip/fun as Chicago. Many rich people in Princeton, mostly preppy and Talbot's kind of richy rich ladies. Stores in Princeton are closed quite early. Some people may consider New Brunswick fun, but it's not safe...I wouldn't live there as a single female. If you crave bigger city life, Philadelphia will be a bit far and the commute is not fun, but I know people who commute from Philly. Basically areas surrounding Princeton are affluent suburbs and in my eyes, a bunch of yawns (although traffic and obnaxious SUV drivers everywhere). Jersey is no San Francisco/NYC...(but not as boring as Wisconsin).

For rental I recommend you look into craigslist.org (choose Central New Jersey), and the Princeton Packet (newspaper) http://www.packetonline.com. It really depends on how much you want to spend.

For apartment management companies, definitely look up http://www.apartmentratings.com

By the way Lambertville and New Hope, PA is fun. They are 2 neighboring towns, one in NJ and one in PA, separated by a river. It's a thriving artist community with lots of gallery and many people love to go there for weekends. Many people consider it more fun than Princeton, but still it's no city. Rent is a lower than the Princeton area too. I have friend living there and she used to commute to Princeton and now she commutes to NYC.

Well it's really tough to say...if I were you I probably would stay in places like Residence Inn for the first month (they have free breakfast and dinner), drive around to see for yourself before signing a year-long list. Good luck!! - Wed May 21 2008, 07:22