Bagel Buffet
The bagel shop across Plaza Center from the park. A bagel and a coffee to carry back to the bench.
A suburb that happens to sit inside Hudson County: single-family streets and a town swim club on an island in the Meadowlands, with Secaucus Junction reaching Penn Station in one stop and the outlet stores and the Meadowlands sports complex a short drive away. Secaucus is where I take buyers who want a yard, a garage and a rail commute without leaving the county.
Secaucus is the town people know from the train announcement and the outlets, and the part they miss is the small grid of streets around Buchmuller Park, with the Meadowlands on three sides. I show homes here but I do not live here, so I built this day from the places locals rate highest, and I am walking it myself. Every place is real. The map is real. Scroll, and I'll walk you through it. Tap any stop for the full story.
The bagel shop across Plaza Center from the park. A bagel and a coffee to carry back to the bench.
The proper coffee stop, over in Harmon Meadow: crepes sweet and savory, and a latte that took some effort. Opens at eight on weekdays.
The reason this town is on the list: nearly every NJ Transit line stops here, and the next stop east is Penn Station New York.
From here it is a walk to Secaucus Junction, about two and a half miles south of the park — too far to walk, so it is the 129 bus or a five-minute drive, then one stop on any train to Penn Station New York.
The town deli: a hot sandwich, a slice, or a tray of something for later, from a family that has fed Secaucus for more than forty-five years.
A barbershop on Paterson Plank Road near the library, with parking, open seven days. The errand between lunch and the afternoon.
The town library on Paterson Plank Road, open until nine on weeknights, with a children's and teens department for the rainy afternoon.
The town pool complex on Koelle Boulevard at the north end: three pools, a diving pool and a water slide. The after-school hour in summer.
The dressed-up dinner in Secaucus: Italian cooking for more than thirty years, in a dining room that is partly a glass atrium, with jazz from local musicians some nights.
The other dinner: a Mexican grill on Route 3 built around the fire — steaks, hand-made tortillas, and a kitchen that says it does not cut corners, only steaks.
The pub on Front Street, open until two every night: a pint, the shepherd's pie, and the room the town uses for birthdays.
The late option: a local bar on Paterson Plank Road with forty televisions and a wings reputation, five minutes from MetLife Stadium and open until two, three on Saturday.
The county park under the rock: a walkway along the Hackensack River, fishing piers, lit fields, and the last piece of Snake Hill standing 150 feet over the Turnpike.
A one-mile loop through 209 acres of tidal marsh that starts behind a furniture store off Route 3, with egrets on the cedar stumps and Manhattan on the horizon.
And back to the park for the end of the weekend, when the Little League is done and the town is on the benches by the bandshell.
Honest footnotes. None of these places pays me or knows I wrote this. I built this Secaucus day from the places locals rate highest and I am walking it myself — tell me what I missed. Hours change; check before you go.
A suburb that happens to sit inside Hudson County: single-family streets and a town swim club on an island in the Meadowlands, with Secaucus Junction reaching Penn Station in one stop and the outlet stores and the Meadowlands sports complex a short drive away. Secaucus is where I take buyers who want a yard, a garage and a rail commute without leaving the county.
Secaucus is an island in the Meadowlands, ringed by the Hackensack River, marsh and highway, with Route 3 and the Turnpike running past it. The town itself is mostly single-family houses on quiet streets, a main road called Paterson Plank Road with the library and the shops, and a town pool and swim club that most residents use all summer. It feels like a suburb because, for practical purposes, it is one.
The commute is what makes it work. Secaucus Junction, at the south end of town, is one stop from Penn Station on NJ Transit, and nearly every line in the north of the state passes through it. The 129 bus goes into Port Authority, and Route 3 leads straight to the Lincoln Tunnel. The catch is that the station is not walkable from most of the houses; people drive or take the bus to it.
The other side of Secaucus is the warehouse and outlet district along the rail lines and the river, which is where the town's tax base and its reputation come from. The residential side is separate from it, and most buyers are surprised by how green it is: Laurel Hill County Park on the river, the Mill Creek Marsh trail, and Buchmuller Park with its ball fields.
For buyers this is a house town. Detached houses with driveways, some townhouses and condominiums near the Junction, and very little of the walk-up stock that fills the rest of the county. Prices sit below the waterfront and above Kearny and Bayonne; taxes are moderate for the area because of that commercial base.
Best for: families who want a house and a Penn Station commute, and anyone who drives for work and needs the highways. Harder for: buyers who want to walk to dinner and the train, which here means living within a few blocks of the Junction.
The walk above is a real day in Secaucus — coffee, the commute, the park, dinner. Answer four questions and it reorders itself around your morning, or open the route map and follow it yourself.
21,778 people live in Secaucus, where the median age is 38.4 and the average individual income is $68,437.
Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
There is plenty to do around Secaucus — shopping, dining, parks and nightlife. The three scores below rate how easy it is to get around without a car.
Walk Score®, Transit Score® and Bike Score® provided by Walk Score.
The places within walking distance — where to eat, shop, train and get a haircut. Tap a row to find it on the map.
| Name | Category | Distance |
|---|
Places and addresses from OpenStreetMap contributors. Distances are straight-line from the centre of Secaucus. Hours change — check before you go.
Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Daycare through high school, in or next to Secaucus. A starting point for comparison — visit before you decide, and call me about catchment lines, which move.
| Name | Type | Grades | Students |
|---|
Public and charter schools from the NCES Common Core of Data; daycare and pre-school locations from OpenStreetMap contributors.
Before you go
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Next neighborhood day, you'll hear about it first. Now, back to the walk.