COMMUNITIES AND AREAS OF EXPERTISE

The biggest and busiest of them, with six train stations along four miles of track, a serious arts scene and several distinct downtowns strung along Bloomfield Avenue. Closer to a small city than a suburb.

MONTCLAIR

A village centered on its station, with Seton Hall University, the SOPAC arts center and gas-lamp streets lighting the residential blocks at night. Two stops on the line, and the school district shared with Maplewood.

SOUTH ORANGE

Three square miles at the highest elevation in Essex County, almost entirely residential, with large homes on wooded, winding roads. No downtown and no station, but Grover Cleveland Park and genuine quiet.

NORTH CALDWELL

Maplewood Village is the draw: a compact, walkable downtown a short stroll from the station, with Midtown Direct into Penn in roughly half an hour. Schools are shared with neighboring South Orange.

The largest and most varied of these towns, twelve square miles running up the Watchung ridge. Thomas Edison's laboratory, Turtle Back Zoo and South Mountain Reservation are all here; a train station is not.

WEST ORANGE

Union County rather than Essex, with a genuinely busy downtown along Springfield Avenue and its own Midtown Direct service. Overlook Medical Center is here, and the walk-everywhere lifestyle draws buyers who want to drive less.

SUMMIT

A planned commuter community inside Millburn Township, built around its own station and still organized around that one-seat ride to Penn. Expect estate lots, a top-ten school district and the tax bill to match.

SHORT HILLS