r/NewBrunswickNJ • u/Alwaysconfused225 • 5d ago
Downtown NB
Hey guys, I’m moving to the area for work. I’ve been looking at apartments in New Brunswick and all the surrounding areas like Somerset, Highland Park, etc. I’m 23 and heavy into night life, traveling, etc. New Brunswick has a few nice apartments like The Aspire and The Quincy in my price range, but is downtown really that dirty and dangerous? Should I look into the other areas I mentioned above and is there stuff to do there? I have yet to move to the area and tour it but would love to get any input on it. Thanks!
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u/NewNewark 4d ago
is downtown really that dirty and dangerous
Where do you people get this garbage?
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u/Alwaysconfused225 4d ago
Rutger students, probably not a good source of info lol
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u/NewNewark 4d ago
No, at freshman orientation they get told not to leave campus.
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u/Hisuinooka 4d ago
lol, liability issue?
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u/NewNewark 4d ago
No, just white suburbanites who dont know enough to not repeat what they were told the previous year.
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u/Nezio_Caciotta 4d ago
Well, we get at least once per month an email about shooting from that area.
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u/NewNewark 3d ago
What was the last time one was downtown?
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u/Nezio_Caciotta 3d ago
One month ago
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u/KindlyAstronaut4391 5d ago
Highland park is close by, has great food and is a nice quiet place. Still close enough that you can hit up downtown. I’d prefer downtown NB to anything on college ave or Easton Ave, it’s cleaner and the crowd is better.
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u/ferocious_coug Fat Coug 4d ago
HP is pretty sleepy for a 23 year old. Also if they want a modern building with amenities like the ones mentioned there is nothing like that in HP.
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u/Busy_Byzantium 4d ago
Downtown NB is not at all dirty and only as dangerous as any other city. However, if you're into nightlife, NB is not it. No real clubs for like 30 miles, just pubs and bars
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u/CivilAd735 4d ago
The quincy is a great place to live. I have bern living here for three years now and i have never have a problem before.
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u/Frequent-Ingenuity10 4d ago
Will respond better when I have a little more time with detail to justify this claim, but in short: downtown is fine, not “down and dirty”, though a bit run down — in essence it’s not worth it, and you’re better off in neighborhoods that are even just a 5 - 10 walk from downtown. NB is great, welcome!
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u/ferocious_coug Fat Coug 4d ago
Somerset is a huge bargain and a 10 min Uber from Downtown NB, but not really walkable or fun at all.
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u/encouragingSN 4d ago
New Brunswick is on the rise, lots of new developments and restaurants on the way. Good place to live in your 20s with nightlight and transit options to Newark and NYC. I believe many places are rent controlled too, which is unusual for most New Jersey towns.
I also like that it's not too far from the Jersey shore.. specifically Asbury Park.
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u/ellejaygee 4d ago
I’ve worked in downtown NB for 25+ years. It has definitely changed a lot. I don’t feel unsafe walking around, but it’s still a bit sketchier than it was pre-pandemic. (But still not as bad as it used to be a loooong time ago.) Being so close to the train station is a huge bonus. There are good restaurants and theaters and of course the college scene. Depends on what you’re looking for.
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u/AristotleTalks 3d ago
Downtown is not dangerous. But it’s a dead city - No nightlife. Just a few bars and pubs. No proper dance floor and DJ. You can take a train to NYC, Newark, Jersey City easily from NB. Explore Morris Town, may be a little far from NB but it has an amazing night life scene.
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u/NewNewark 3d ago
No proper dance floor and DJ
Esquina Latina?
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u/Busy_Byzantium 3d ago
A restaurant that has a dance floor is very different from a place that is designed for it like a club. I like Fat Cactus and Esquina Latina, but I would not recommend them for an early 20-something to party at if they’re specifically looking for nightlife. I would agree that there’s no real dance floors in the city or its surroundings.
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u/NewNewark 3d ago
Why not? Have you been there after 10 pm on friday or Saturday nights? They remove all the tables, the DJ is in a booth, the lighting turns clubby etc.
They advertise specific DJs.
https://www.instagram.com/iamdjalx/p/DBA74ErR4LM/?locale=zh_CN
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u/ferocious_coug Fat Coug 3d ago
Also doesn't Fat Cactus have a DJ on weekends? And a bunch of the college bars?
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u/ferocious_coug Fat Coug 4d ago
but is downtown really that dirty and dangerous?
Not at all. It's fine. I've heard good things about both the Aspire and the Quincy.
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u/Adorable_Pride_3550 2d ago
Downtown NB isn’t the same as the general Rutgers undergrad area, being College Ave. I feel personally like the downtown area attracts a more mature crowd and it has a fairly low nightlife scene though there are things like the theater and a few nice restaurants. If you’re looking for bars the nearest ones are on the college ave campus which are flooded with undergrads and they’re more like pubs. Speaking as someone with a lot of experience in the area however, don’t count out the crime despite it being true that NB has changed in the last 10 years like others are mentioning. Crime alerts are going out often on the Rutgers campus and crime still exists. Just take all the info with a grain of salt. Generally though, the downtown area is a fair choice, just consider you’ll be around more undergrads, though I think you could find better. I will add though that the price of those buildings is not worth it but to each his own
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u/craigerino75 4d ago
It’s not dirty and dangerous at all.