On the southern edge of New Jersey’s Franklin Township, Franklin Park is often considered a New York City bedroom community. But with miles of forested trail networks, such as Six Mile Run, and Princeton about 11 miles south, there’s plenty of activity closer to home. And it’s this convenient and exciting location that has attracted Franklin Park’s 13,000 residents. “Nothing is out of the way here. Whether it is parks, schools, shopping or public transportation, everything you need is accessible,” says Rebecca Matyash, a Realtor with Keller Williams Greater Brunswick who sold several homes in the area. “You can come home from working in New York and not be bored, which isn’t always the norm with suburbs.” New York City commuters have easy access to U.S. Route 1, the Princeton Junction train station and bus stops.
Homes sell quickly in Franklin Park
Franklin Park has New Traditional detached homes, Colonial-revival townhouses and midrise condo complexes all built between the 1980s and early 2000s. The median price of a townhouse is around $450,000, while the median price of a single-family house is about $735,000. Both prices are higher than the national medians. Condos can cost between $200,000 and $450,000. On average, homes sell after 26 days on the market, which is faster than the national average.
According to 2023 data from the Somerset County Sheriff's Office, the county has lower property and violent crime rates than state and national figures.
Franklin Park neighborhood offers an abundance of homes on spacious lots.
Newly constructed townhouse developments are beginning to emerge in Franklin Park.
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Princeton University is nearby
The community is zoned for the Franklin Township Public School District, which earns a B from Niche and educates about 7,300 students with a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio.
Offering more than 30 majors, the Ivy League Princeton University is nearby, and Matyash says some students live in Franklin Park. “Parents will buy off-campus houses for their kids and then keep renting the property out after they graduate. But [Franklin Park] isn’t walkable to Princeton, so it’s not super common.” The College of New Jersey is 20 miles south, and Rutgers University is 35 miles north.
From Princeton Junction to Penn Station
Route 1 eventually connects to Interstate 95, making New York City about a 42-mile drive north. But people rarely make that drive, Matyash says. “A lot of people commute to New York City, but the drive is too traffic-heavy to do every day, so the train is much easier to use,” she says. From the Princeton Junction train station, passengers travel Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and reach Penn Station in about an hour. Suburban Transit Line buses in the area also offer direct rides to New York City. Philadelphia is about a 55-mile drive south.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is 6 miles north, and Newark Liberty International Airport is 29 miles in the same direction. The Princeton Medical Center is also nearby.
Nearby hiking trails lead to Colonial Park
Franklin Park experiences all four seasons, with hot summers and snowy winters. Six Mile Run is a hiking, biking and horseback riding trail stretching across forestland and along its namesake stream. It connects to the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, a 70-mile trail network spanning Central New Jersey. “Hiking and biking are huge here because of that trail network,” Matyash says. “Some of the best parks in the region are attached to [the trail], so it’s usually packed with people.” Colonial Park, 7 miles north, is also part of the network. The 685-acre green space has a botanical garden, a spray park and a mini-golf course. “During the summer, people will have picnics by the park’s pond, and then they can rent a paddleboat. It’s the biggest and most popular park in Somerset [County],” Matyash adds. The 18-hole, public Bunker Hill Golf Course is less than 4 miles away.
There are a few indoor recreation centers, like Franklin Park Library, where story times and STEM workshops for kids are held regularly. The Pro Skate facility offers hockey and figure skating lessons. Multiple religions are represented in the area, with houses of worship ranging from synagogues to mandirs.
People also like to go birdwatching and horseback riding at Six Mile Run State Park.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park in Pleasant Plains is home to a historical mill.
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Diverse restaurants on New Jersey Route 27
“The restaurants in this area are incredibly diverse, and there are so many big-box grocery stores nearby that I can’t even name them all,” Matyash says. Indian restaurants, Chinese take-out spots and Asian grocery stores line New Jersey Route 27. North Brunswick’s Main Street, about 3 miles south, has several chain grocery stores, fast food restaurants and a movie theater. Art galleries, coffee shops and boutiques fill Federal-style buildings in downtown Princeton.
Mia's Vietnamese Cuisine has authentic vietnamese fare in Pleasant Plains, NJ
Stop & Shop has a fantastic meat area fresh from the butcher in Pleasant Plains, NJ
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Written By
Meghan Baker
Video By
Rebecca Askin
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
Reach out to
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an experienced agent in this area.
GreatSchools:
The GreatSchools Rating helps parents compare schools within a state based on a variety of school quality indicators and provides a helpful picture of how effectively each school serves all of its students. Ratings are on a scale of 1 (below average) to 10 (above average) and can include test scores, college readiness, academic progress, advanced courses, equity, discipline and attendance data. We also advise parents to visit schools, consider other information on school performance and programs, and consider family needs as part of the school selection process.
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On average, homes in Franklin Park, NJ sell after 30 days on the market compared to the national average of 52 days. The median sale price for homes in Franklin Park, NJ over the last 12 months is $377,500, down 7% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
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