u/Beautiful_Citron_982

We're an East Asian American family with two young kids trying to decide between staying in Edison (we're in the JP Stevens school zone) or moving to Metuchen. We've spent a lot of time on the data - school rankings, demographics, tax differences, commute - and we're roughly stuck because both look defensible on paper.

What we're really trying to understand is the lived experience side. Hoping people who've lived in one or both can weigh in:

For families who've raised kids in either town:

• What's the social environment actually like day-to-day?
• How does the school pressure culture in North Edison compare to Metuchen's smaller-school feel?
• How welcoming is each town to families that don't fit the dominant demographic?

For East Asian families specifically:

• Has your kid found community? Felt included?
• Any race-related issues, and how were they handled?

For anyone who moved from one to the other:

• Would you do it again? What did you underestimate going in?

Happy to take honest answers, including hard ones. DMs welcome if anyone prefers privacy. Thanks in advance.

We're an East Asian American family with two young kids considering a move to Metuchen. We've done plenty of research on schools, demographics, and town stats, but data can't tell us what daily life actually feels like for families like ours. We keep going back and forth on this decision and would really value hearing from people who've lived it.

For East Asian parents (or families with East Asian kids) who've been through Metuchen schools:

• How has your child's social experience been? Have they found peers and felt included?
• Have you encountered any race-related issues - bullying, exclusion, microaggressions - and how did the school handle it if so?
• What's the experience like for Asian American parents trying to build community? Welcoming, or cliquey?
• Anything you wish you'd known before moving here?

Honest answers welcome, positive or negative. Happy to chat by DM if anyone prefers. Thanks.