James Lockard - Realtor, Allendale, NJ

What do softball games, soccer games, ice skating, an Easter Egg Hunt, barn owls nesting, a 9/11 Memorial, rugby matches, July 4^th fireworks and, oh yes, swimming all have in common? They all happen at Allendale's Crestwood Lake. The 71 acre park is town owned and the focal point for many of the town's activities bringing it's residents together. But it wasn't always like this.

I've lived in town since 1965 and can give you a fairly accurate description of the history of the lake since then. Prior to that point I rely on bits and pieces I have gathered over the years from the old timers, and Allendale history books. From what I can gather, back in the 1920's the land around Crestwood lake was purchased and the plan was to build a lake community. As the depression hit, the need for housing declined and with it the idea of the lake front homes. Instead a swim club was opened. Unique to its day, in the early 1930's Crestwood Lake put Allendale on the map. Located only about a quarter mile from the train station, people numbering in the thousands made their way to Crestwood lake from southern Bergen County and Paterson. I have seen pictures which show a parade of people coming down West Allendale Ave from the train station during this time. Accounts I have read say more than 3000 people visited the lake on a summer Sunday.

I actually remember one day in the late 1960's while playing a baseball game at the Recreation Field across the street from Crestwood, a line of cars waiting to get into the swim club. As the cars drew closer to the entrance, people would get out of the car and open the trunk of the car and get inside. They were trying to save the per head cost of admission for a day's swim by hiding in the trunk.

The owners of Crestwood Lake tried to sell the property in the mid 60's but meet resistance from the planning board when attempting to get the area zone for industrial use. A couple of years later, the town opted to try to purchase the lake itself and in 1972 Crestwood Lake was opened for swimming for town residents only.

Since that time, tennis courts have been added over by the red barn, a softball diamond was added in back of the barn and a soccer field was landscaped over on the west side of the lake. Today Crestwood Park has a children's playground and is home to the town's 9/11 Memorial which sits in a serene area in the north corner of the property.

In 2007, the new mayor has formed a committee to look at ways to improve the lake area. As the swimming season has begun, you can see improvements in the refreshment stand area, new paint on the docks and dam areas and a general refreshing upgrade overall. Allendale is proud of its crown jewel, Crestwood Lake and its ability to bring its residents together in fun and games.

Interested to know more about Allendale and about its real estate market? Contact me for a free consultation!

James Lockard
RE/MAX Properties
Office: 201-825-6600
Cell: 201-674-3114
Email: jlockard@remax.net
Website: http://www.bergencounty-homes.com/

On May 14, 2008 there will be seven distinct Allendale homes on display between 9:30 am and 2;30 pm.

This is a great way to get some decorating ideas for the interior and exterior of your home while supporting a worthwhile cause.

The Allendale Womens's Club will host the event for the benefit of The Smile Forever Foundation a 501 (c )(3) not for profit charitable organization dedicated to providing financial aid directly to families touched by cancer. Other local charities will also benefit. Tickets are $40 and can purchased from local merchants. Check the Allendale Womens's Club website for more information.

There is also a raffle for four Grand Prizes:A GreenLife African Safari for 2; a Samsung 42" Flat Panel HD Plasma TV, a $1000 BestBuy gift certificate and a private dinner party for 15 hosted by the Allendale Bar & Grill. Raffle tickets may be purchased for $10 prior to the event from AWC members, anytime during the House Tour or by logging onto the club's website .The winning raffle tickets will be drawn at 5:00 pm on May 14 at the AB&G. ( Winners do not need to be present.)

County Executive McNerney still pushing shared government services for small NJ towns!

In the Opinion section of The Record today( Sunday, 2/17/2008) there were two articles as a follow-up to an earlier article which ran this week commenting on County Executive Dennis McNerney's call for consolidation of services of towns which have less than 10,000 residents.

The first article was an open letter by McNerney. He states that the solution to his constituents complaints about high taxes is for small towns to consolidate administrative services. He proposes a plan for a pilot program in which two smaller towns would merge all government services. The carrot on the end of the stick is for a five year timeframe of transition, taxes will be frozen, the state will supplement the towns for any justifiable financial increases and homeowners would be entitled to a 100 percent increase in property tax rebates.

The second article was an evaluation of McNerney's plan by Ernest C. Reock Jr., who was director of the Rutgers University Center for Government Services, until 1992. In his opinion article Come Together , Reock states "When we rank the state's municipalities by size and examine their budgets, we find that there is little difference in the average budget per capita for large and small communities". He goes on to say this is so because the smaller towns do not offer the services of the larger towns.

I said in my last blog on the subject (Allendale - Past to Present - And into the Future?) I don't think town mergers will ever happen in New Jersey and especially in Bergen County. I do think Reock said it best in his article when he wrote:

"Obviously, these New Jersey residents or their ancestors did not choose urban living - they chose small-town living. And this is what they are getting in New Jersey. This is a small-town state by choice, and a large majority of its residents apparently prefers to keep it so."

I would love to hear other views about this proposal. Can it work? Will it work? Does it have even the slightest chance of becoming law? Let me know.

Interested to know more about Allendale and the Allendale real estate market? Contact me for a free consultation!

James Lockard
RE/MAX Properties
Office: 201-825-6600
Cell: 201-674-3114
Email:jlockard@remax.net
Website: http://www.bergencounty-homes.com/

Allendale and Waldwick to merge into new town of Allenwick.

Not it hasn't happened yet but beware, if Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney gets his way, towns of less than 10,000 people would merge with similar towns with the purpose of reducing administrative costs and decreasing taxes.

Ok so call me old fashion, a homer, or a snob, but my first thought is I like Allendale the way it is and that is why I chose to live here for the last 42 years. Yes, taxes are high. The majority of that going to the school system. Already the high school is regionalized with Upper Saddle River, Saddle River and Ho-Ho-Kus. But the schools are what initially attract people to move to Allendale. The local town feel, the small neighborhoods where everyone knows your name and the community activities is what grows on you over time.

If I review the proposal and think about it a little deeper, I can understand the rational. Yes, it does maybe make sense to combine such services as garbage collection, recycling, street sweeping and other DPW functions where it makes economic sense. Should Allendale open up Crestwood Lake to Waldwick? The place is really never crowded and I am sure Waldwick residents would like a lake instead of a little pool. In exchange how about Allendale using the Waldwick high school's new turf field. That sure would stop some of the bickering going on in town on whether(weather?) to turf the Highlands football field. Combine libraries? Sure why not? Fire departments and police departments? I am not so sure about these.

But let's get down to the real issue. How will property values be affected in each town?

According to the NJMLS in 2007, for residential properties in Allendale,

In Waldwick in 2007 for residential properties,

Can you see where this is going? In order to make the McNerney's plan work, there is going to have to be more equity in the choice of the towns that merge. In any case, someone is always going to feel they are getting the short end of the stick in some way.

While I understand the intent of the proposal, I don't ever see a full merger of towns in Bergen County happening. Some services, yes. It could help to some degree. Stay tuned. You will be hearing a lot more of this in the future as the battle to decrease taxes in New Jersey and Bergen County continue in the political arena.

Please read the article in The Record for more detailed information: Bergen Towns to Merge?

I would love to hear other views about this proposal. Can it work? Will it work? Does it have even the slightest chance of becoming law? Let me know.

Interested to know more about Allendale and about its real estate market? Contact me for a free consultation!

James Lockard
RE/MAX Properties
Office: 201-825-6600
Cell: 201-674-3114
Email: jlockard@remax.net
Website: http://www.bergencounty-homes.com/

Allendale Real Estate Market Conditons

Below are the market statistics for Allendale residential homes from the New Jersey MLS system for the period 1/1/2008 through 1/31/2008.

Current Inventory remains constant at 31 homes or about 6 months of inventory using the statistic of 61 homes being sold last year. List price to sales price of the three homes which sold in January was down drastically from last years average of 95.169% to 88.573%. These three homes sold in January were on the market for an average of 85 days.

Anything in these numbers you see that you would like to discuss? Would you like to see any other statistics for Allendale or surrounding towns? Send me an email and let me hear your thoughts! I am always interested to hear what you have to say.

If you are interested to find the current value of your home allow me to provide a free Comparative Market Analysis specifically for you. Please visit my website at http://www.bergencounty-homes.com/ or call me directly on my cell phone: 201-674-3114

If you would like a free list of homes for sale in Allendale or would like more information about Allendale, or you would like to be the first to know about hot new listings before other Allendale buyers do, then give me a call at:

James Lockard
RE/MAX Properties
Office: 201-825-6600
Cell: 201-674-3114
Email: jlockard@remax.net
Website: http://www.bergencounty-homes.com/