The following provides profiles of Greater Princeton Area communities.
For further details of any area community please contact me.

Princeton Borough

Princeton is a small friendly town with plenty of academic and cultural sophistication. Princeton University's ivied walls dominate one side of the town's main street, with Nassau Hall, briefly the capital of the US, lying directly in front of the towns commercial center of Palmer Square. Here one finds a string of bustling businesses, quaint shops. eateries, and the historic Nassau Inn, once a stagecoach stop between Philadelphia and New York. Princeton is home to many historic sites, the McCarter Theater reportedly the seventh busiest performing arts center in the nation, the Princeton Ballet, the Princeton Arts Council, the Westminster Choir College and the Princeton Pro Musica. Princeton has miles of charming, tree lined residential streets offering a variety of housing including Victorian homes, stone and mortar structures, single family homes, townhouses and duplexes. Princeton has been home to famous people including Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland and more recently Toni Morrison and John Chancellor. Also in the Borough are the Institute for Advanced Study, the Princeton Theological Seminary, American Boychoir School and an excellent Medical Center.
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Princeton Township

Princeton Township surrounds the Borough of Princeton like a doughnut around the hole. It is one of New Jerseys most prestigious communities. Whereas the Borough has an urban appearance typified by Nassau Street, the Township is more suburban and offers more open space, larger properties, and a variety of residential areas. It has a more established feeling than many other local area communities. The Township is steeped in American history. Major battles of the Revolutionary War were fought here. Princeton's Battlefield State Park is one key attraction. The Borough and the Township enjoy very cordial relations. Although they have separate governments there are numerous joint agencies. The Princeton Regional School District, shared by the Township and the Borough, is considered one of the best in the State. The Township offers many parks, open spaces, and some of Mercer County's most scenic vistas all of which attract many joggers, bikers, climbers, bird-watchers and nature lovers. Other popular recreation areas are the Delaware and Raritan Canal, for strolling, picnicking or biking, and Lake Carnegie, a man-made 3-mile lake for sailboating, sculling and winter ice skating. In addition to the prestigious Borough academic institutes the Township includes four of the nations best private schools. Housing ranges from two-story townhouses to million -dollar mansions.
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Cranbury

Cranbury Township is a small town that offers an historic village center and a surrounding landscape of farms. There is also a well separated industrial zone where major corporations have headquarters. All efforts are being made to preserve the rural atmosphere of Cranbury, including minimum 6-acre zoning in many portions. The village is dotted with 18th and 19th century historic buildings including small shops, churches, a museum, an historic inn and Victorian homes. A lake in the village adds a bucolic touch and offers boating, duck feeding and ice skating. The tranquil village is a friendly delight but being centrally located offers easy access to Philadelphia or New York.
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East Windsor

East Windsor is a pleasant residential community surrounding Hightstown. East Windsor is affordable with many family oriented communities and offers a central hub location near the New Jersey Turnpike. It is the home of Twin Rivers, the first Planned Unit Development in the state. East Windsor is convenient living with integrated parks, shopping centers and recreational centers including a 50-acre lake. East Windsor offers a great variety of housing from condos to townhouses and Victorian homes.
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Hightstown

Hightstown is a charming small town of mostly older homes with a colonial and Victorian flavor. It is surrounded by East Windsor. A well known private school, the Peddie School, is located here. It is superbly located, with easy access to two major highways and the New Jersey Turnpike, and a short drive to the New Jersey Shore. Hightstown has been successful in attracting numerous major corporations.
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Hopewell Borough

Hopewell Borough is another quiet, attractive small town filled with history. Charles Lindbergh had a home nearby from which the Lindbergh baby was abducted. The town lies at the foot of the Sourland Mountains and is replete with well-maintained centuries-old buildings. It is known as an active antiques center. Visit the Hopewell Museum, housed in a 19th century brownstone, and noted for examples of Colonial and Victorian rooms and historic artifacts.
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Hopewell Township

Hopewell Township surrounds Hopewell Borough and is a 60-square mile rural area of rolling hills, villages, historic landmarks, parks, forests, rivers and farmland. In the Township is the small Delaware River community of Titusville. Here, Washington crossed the Delaware in 1776. Adjacent to Titusville is Washington Crossing State Park, an 850-acre national landmark. There are many other park areas in Hopewell including the Stony Brook-Millstone watershed which offers eight miles of nature trails and fishing. The Township offers respite from more heavily populated central Jersey areas which attracts families as well as some major corporations including AT&T, Jansen and Mobil Research. Housing in Hopewell is varied, ranging from townhouses to cape cods, ranches, colonials and more expensive custom homes.
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Kingston

Kingston is a quaint, quiet and cute village that is just minutes away from Princeton. The Main Street is a little two-block area that is special. It has not changed with time. Everyone is really nice and everyone knows each other. The Delaware and Raritan Canal passes through Kingston inviting canoeists, hikers, bird-watchers, picnickers and cross-country skiers. At the border between Kingston and Princeton is a small dam on the Millstone River which creates Lake Carnegie, popular for sailboating and ice skating.
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Lawrence

Lawrence Township is conveniently tucked between Princeton and Trenton, an urban area and center of state government. Originally a farming community it is now a suburban, predominantly middle class community with a full socio-economic spectrum and diversity. The Route One Corridor that runs through Lawrence and surrounding communities has seen extraordinary development in new office complexes and corporate centers. Educational Testing Service (ETS), Bristol Myers-Squibb, Lenox and IMO de Laval are headquartered here. One finds within Lawrence the Village of Lawrenceville, a quaint community, with tree lined streets and mix of Victorian and post-World War II homes as well as many new single-family homes that imitate 18th century Colonial homes. The Lawrenceville School, one of the nations most respected private preparatory schools, is in the Village. Lawrence is also home to a comprehensive public school system, two Catholic schools, the Chapin School and Rider College. Lawrence offers convenience of highway travel with easy access to I-95, I-295, Route 1 and Route 206.
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Montgomery

Montgomery Township is located north of Princeton in the Millstone River Valley and at the foot of the Sourland Mountains. The area is characterized by sweeping vistas, meandering roads abruptly jogging one way or the other over streams, mountain trails, barns, pastures and open space. Montgomery remains rural despite strong development which touches the entire Township. The Dutch heritage of Montgomery is rich in history of small villages such as Belle Mead, Dutchtown and Harlingen, as well as Revolutionary War sites. Recreation is a major component of the community as can be imagined with all its streams, canals, mountains, parks and championship golf courses. Wonderful newer home developments are to be found throughout Montgomery with most zoning for one acre sites. There is a broad range of housing choice from smaller homes to very large custom homes.
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Pennington

Pennington is a delightful village with its colonial and Victorian origins located in the middle of Hopewell Township. Walk to schools, churches and shops. Pennington offers a small town atmosphere that's rural enough for residents to be away from the usual suburbs while having easy access to shopping and commuting. You have a good feeling in Pennington, the town is well maintained and the homes are well kept. The Pennington School, the oldest Methodist secondary school in the US is in the center of town. Nearby Kunkel Park and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watersheds Reserve with its extensive nature trails provide fine family recreation. Most of Pennington is developed. While there are a few newer homes, most residences are older homes which have enjoyed good resale value.
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Plainsboro

Plainsboro's past landscape of flat farmland with scattered barns and houses has disappeared in the last 20 years giving way to massive corporate campuses, condominium/townhouse communities and single family homes. Many of the people moving in are young professionals who work in and around Plainsboro or commute to New York. A new state-of-the-art municipal complex was opened in 1993 which includes a municipal building, library, and police department. Plainsboro is home to Bristol Myers-Squibb, Merrill Lynch, the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, the Wall Street Journal and American Re-Insurance Company. Plainsboro and West Windsor share the same school district, an excellent one. For recreation the community has several small parks and a new 80-acre Community Park which includes baseball, soccer, tennis, basketball, nature trails and more. Housing is plentiful. New single family homes are predominantly moderately priced two-story Colonials. Older homes of all styles are also to be found. Plainsboro Township is a good choice for the modern mobile family who wants a suburban lifestyle but with easy access to Princeton, Trenton or commute to Manhattan.
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Rocky Hill

Rocky Hill is a one hundred year old village, located, as the name implies, on a ledge of stone. It was part of the land once belonging to the "Unami" or "people down the river", a family group of the Lenape Indians. The area was settled mainly by the Dutch with many Italians following. Rocky Hill was part of Montgomery Township until 1890 when it withdrew to form its own borough. Rocky Hill served as George Washington's headquarters in 1783 while the Continental Congress was meeting in Princeton. Rockingham, his house at the time, is now a state-run historic museum. With only 700 residents, small town life survives in the tight knit community which proudly maintains its own fire company, ambulance squad and even its own water works. Rocky Hill uses the excellent Montgomery school system. Surrounded by Princeton, Montgomery and Franklin, Rocky Hill is a very desirable area. Rocky Hill Borough offers its residents the unbeatable combination of small town atmosphere and geographical convenience.
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West Windsor

West Windsor Township was incorporated in 1797 and comprises several hamlets. Originally a prosperous farming community, by the 1800s West Windsor was prized for its central location between New York and Philadelphia. Today it is a major center for research and corporate offices. A suburban, professional bedroom community adjacent to Princeton it is a commuters haven, with the Princeton Junction Train Station for access to Manhattan and Philadelphia. There are numerous housing developments for large single family homes, many brand new, as well as older village homes. The school system, shared with Plainsboro, is first class. In addition to plenty of shopping along Route 1 and in neighboring Princeton, West Windsor residents enjoy access to many recreational facilities including the 2500-acre Mercer County Park and other Township parks and facilities.

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