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7 Quickly Growing Ridgewood Neighborhoods

Ridgewood is a bustling neighborhood. It is made up of numerous communities, each of which has something unique to offer. Here is a list of some of them, along with their characteristics. Check them out!


Village Center
The village center, which is typically between 10,000 and 30,000 square feet in size, provides a variety of goods and services tailored to the everyday needs of the neighboring neighborhoods. A village center, which sometimes includes a small specialty food market or pharmacy, houses a small number of tenants who provide a mix of food, personal, and professional services. The shopping center business has characterized the village center’s typology as a “convenience” center in the past, but the name is more usually applied to smaller stores linked with gas stations.

The village center’s principal economic advantage is its proximity to residential areas, which allows time-pressed shoppers to make a quick purchase on their way to or from home. Convenience stores, like corner stores, don’t necessarily have the best prices, but they do focus on offering high-quality items and services that can be obtained quickly. These shopping complexes don’t require the lure of a huge anchor store like a supermarket or hardware store because of their size and proximity to households.

The Lawns
The Lawns is a one-of-a-kind neighborhood in exclusive Ridgewood that was built to house returning World War II soldiers. The project began with 127 acres of farmland, 37 of which were donated to the Bergen County Park Commission along the Saddle River. Sewers were installed in these homes, which was unusual at the time.

Ridgewood lawns are 60 by 100 feet and larger. Originally, all of the houses were Cape Cods, with two bedrooms on the first level and two bedrooms on the second story. Many Capes have been converted to colonials throughout the years by raising the roof to create a second level.

Salem Ridge
Ridgewood’s east of Route 17 section has a distinct identity from the rest of the Village. Property sizes are often greater, and there are more forested areas. For those reasons, some residents favor this side of town, while others desire a closer connection to the Village.

Salem Ridge, a subdivision of this region, was established in the 1950s. Every year, Salem Ridge hosts a block party and has a neighborhood association (membership is voluntary). 
The neighborhood offers a wide range of housing options in terms of pricing. Smaller cape codes and ranches may be bought for under $400,000. Thus, you may check out Ridgewood homes for sale to see what would fit you and your family best. There are also enormous, contemporary residences that sell for more than a million dollars. And, like in other sections of Ridgewood, residences dating from the pre-revolutionary period to the 2000s may be found. One example of a historic residence is the Ackerman-Naugle house, which was built in 1692. The majority of the houses were constructed in the 1940s or after.

Scrabbletown
Scrabbletown includes Northern Parkway, Sterling, George, and Van Buren Streets. Before 1915, a farmer named Edgar Cromwell, who lived on what is now Northern Parkway, established the moniker in reference to the hard life of the early residents. William Pearson of 464 Van Buren Street declared himself “Mayor of Scrabbletown” in the 1970s and hung a sign that is now in the Schoolhouse Museum’s collection. William worked for the Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department for 36 years after serving in the Army during WWII. Scrabbletown grew over time, with vernacular Victorian homes, cottages, capes, and single-level houses among the architectural types.

The Heights
The Heights, between W. Ridgewood and W. Glen Avenues on the west side of the Village, was largely developed between 1892 and 1930. Ridgewood’s population quadrupled over that time. Many of the houses in the district have a remarkable uniformity in size and scale, and they share common architectural components and materials (shingle, stucco, stone, and brick) without being repetitive, resulting in a high level of aesthetic harmony. The houses, rather than being developed by individual architects, were designed by builder-architects and come in a variety of styles. About half of the houses are Tudor and Colonial Revival, with the rest being Arts and Crafts, Swiss Chalet, Dutch Colonial, and Spanish Eclectic.

Paramus Point
Since colonial times, the entire Ridgewood area has been known as Paramus. Paramus Point, the region on both sides of the Saddle River encompassing the Paramus Church at E. Glen and Franklin Ave., was the neighborhood’s epicenter. The chapel, a mill, and roughly 20 dwellings are seen on an 1840 map. There was also a school, a blacksmith shop, and a store at various times. Since what was formerly connected by a bridge is now divided by Route 17 and the Saddle River, we have little appreciation for the community’s continuity. The Schoolhouse Museum, the Old Paramus Reformed Church and its parsonage, the Zabriskie-Schedler house, the David Ackerman house, and the Maple Homestead are among the remaining structures. This area harkens back to Ridgewood’s early days as a rural hamlet dominated by a few Jersey Dutch families who arrived in the early 1800s before the railroad transformed Ridgewood into a commuter suburb. 

Upper Ridgewood
Upper Ridgewood is the designation given to the Ridgewood community that grew up on the hill above the Ho-Ho-Kus train station. The Upper Ridgewood area is made up of a succession of tree-lined streets that run west from Upper Boulevard (formerly known as “The Boulevard, Upper Ridgewood”). The Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club and the Upper Ridgewood Community Church both bear the name Upper Ridgewood. Upper Ridgewood School was the previous name for Willard School. A few Victorian cottages from the late 1800s can be seen on Summit Street and Hillcrest. The majority of the rest of the region was created between World Wars I and II, with homes influenced by the Colonial and Tudor Revival styles.
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Pros of Living in Ridgewood
Ridgewood’s rich legacy will be carried on in the future, thanks to great schools and a thriving downtown commercial sector, all of which are conveniently located near Manhattan. Ridgewood provides a unique combination of city and suburb for many residents. The village square’s downtown bustle of local eateries and businesses fits effortlessly with the way of life of its beautiful residential areas and residences.
​Ridgewood’s schools are routinely ranked among the top 10% of schools in the state. The Public Schools are made up of nine public schools and two extra school buildings that contain a district-run pre-school program and a private daycare center.
This picturesque town in New Jersey can be a good fit for you, whether you want to raise a family there, retire there, or simply relocate to get away from the hustle and bustle of major cities. Ridgewood offers everything, so think about it!

​This article originally appeared on "The Ridgewood Blog"  written by James

​A brief history of Ridgewood NJ 

Ridgewood is a suburban bedroom community of New York City, located approximately 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Midtown Manhattan.

The village has been one of the state's highest-income communities. In 2000, Ridgewood had a per capita income of $51,658, which was ranked the 35th-highest in the state. Based on data from the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, the village had a per-capita income of $67,560, ranked 31st in the state. Based on data from the American Community Survey for 2013–2017, Ridgewood residents had a median household income of $162,011, ranked 7th in the state among municipalities with more than 10,000 residents, more than double the statewide median of $76,475.
Ridgewood was ranked 26th in Money magazine's "Best Places to Live" in 2011
2018 US Census Bureau, American Community Survey. Home value data includes all types of owner-occupied housing.
Ridgewood NJ Restaurants
Michael Latour has been the Chef/Owner of Latour, A French-American Grill for the past 22 years, and is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island. He has held several Chef positions in New York's finest hotels, including being part of the opening team of the Four Seasons Hotel prior to opening Latour.
He is a member of the Societé Culinaire Philanthropique and a recipient of the Gold Medal awarded by the Les Amis d'Escoffier Society Foundation for Best Sugar Work Piece in the 2010 International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show at the Javits Convention Center.