Passaic River Borough
Welcome to North Arlington, a compact Bergen County borough set on the Passaic River, minutes from Newark and the Meadowlands.
North Arlington is a densely settled residential borough in southern Bergen County, New Jersey, occupying a compact area along the Passaic River that forms the border with Essex County and the wider Newark area. Incorporated in 1896 from portions of Union Township, the borough developed from nineteenth-century agricultural roots into a commuter suburb, and today its streets are lined largely with older single-family and two-family homes packed tightly together on a footprint of about 2.6 square miles. The borough's most recognizable landmark is Holy Cross Cemetery, a 208-acre Catholic cemetery established in 1915 by the Archdiocese of Newark. With more than 289,000 interments, it is among the largest cemeteries in New Jersey and gives much of North Arlington a serene, park-like eastern edge. The borough's western and southern sides descend toward the Passaic River, providing riverfront scenery and recreation access shared with neighboring towns. As a close-in Bergen County community, North Arlington functions primarily as a commuter borough. Its location places residents minutes from the Meadowlands Sports Complex, Newark Liberty International Airport, and the employment corridors of Hudson and Essex counties, while NJ Transit bus routes and nearby Route 21 and the New Jersey Turnpike provide direct links into the region. The North Arlington School District operates the public schools through grade twelve, and the borough maintains an extensive recreation program that includes youth athletics and the Inline Skating Club of America facility. Homebuyers in North Arlington typically find a mix of modest single-family houses, two-family homes, and small apartment buildings on tree-lined streets. The borough's small size means most services, schools, and parks sit within a short walk or drive, and the overall character is one of a stable, long-established Bergen County neighborhood rather than a newer subdivision community. The result is a tight-knit, walkable community where urban convenience and small-borough scale sit side by side, and where the river and the cemetery's open lawns provide green relief within a dense county.
North Arlington is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, in the northeastern corner of the state. It sits along the Passaic River at the border with Essex County, close to Kearny, Lyndhurst, and the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
The North Arlington School District is a single K-12 district that operates the borough's public schools. Because the borough is compact, its schools are centrally located and closely tied to the surrounding community.
North Arlington sits roughly 10 miles west of Manhattan, across the Hudson River. NJ Transit bus connections and the region's highways, tunnels, and rail hubs link the borough to New York City and northern New Jersey employment centers.
The borough is best known for Holy Cross Cemetery, a 208-acre Catholic cemetery established in 1915 that ranks among the largest in New Jersey. Its riverside setting near the Meadowlands is another defining feature.
City Guide
Housing stock in North Arlington is dominated by older, densely arranged single-family and two-family homes, many built in the early-to-mid twentieth century, along with a scattering of small apartment buildings. Streets are typically narrow and closely spaced, reflecting the borough's compact footprint and its development as a streetcar-adjacent suburb of Newark and Jersey City. Buyers are drawn to the borough for its proximity to regional employment, though homes are generally smaller and lots tighter than in newer suburban subdivisions farther north and west.
North Arlington reads as a single cohesive borough rather than a collection of named subdivisions. The areas nearest the Passaic River and the Kearny line offer older, closely built housing, while the blocks around Ridge Road and near Holy Cross Cemetery tend toward quieter, more landscaped residential streets. The cemetery itself functions as a large open-space buffer on the borough's eastern side, and the Riverside County Park corridor along the Passaic provides green space shared with neighboring Lyndhurst.
Life in North Arlington is practical and community-centered, shaped by the borough's small size and its position as a close-in commuter town. Municipal recreation programming, youth sports leagues, and local events anchor the social calendar, while the Inline Skating Club of America gives the borough a distinctive recreational niche. Dining and shopping are drawn from the borough's commercial strips and from neighboring Kearny, Lyndhurst, and Rutherford, with the wider offerings of the Meadowlands and Newark a short drive away.
Public education in North Arlington is provided by the North Arlington School District, a single K-12 district serving the borough's students. The compact district keeps schools centrally located and closely tied to the community, with neighborhood elementary schools feeding into a borough high school. Families also have access to a range of parochial and private schools in surrounding Bergen and Essex county towns, and the borough's location places several higher-education institutions and county technical programs within commuting distance.
North Arlington sits in a highly connected corner of Bergen County. NJ Transit bus service links the borough to Newark, Jersey City, and New York-bound transit hubs, while Route 21, the New Jersey Turnpike, and Interstate 280 are all within a few minutes' drive. Newark Liberty International Airport is close by, and the Meadowlands sports and entertainment complex sits just across the river, giving the borough direct access to the region's core road and transit network.
The Passaic River frames much of North Arlington's outdoor life, with Riverside County Park offering walking paths and open space along the water in conjunction with neighboring communities. The borough runs an active recreation program of youth and adult athletics, and the Inline Skating Club of America, home to the New Jersey Grizzlies inline hockey club, is a notable local facility. Holy Cross Cemetery's landscaped grounds provide additional quiet, tree-lined walking space within the borough.
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