One Of New Jersey's Richest Suburbs In 2025 Is A Creative Hideaway Near Manhattan With Artsy Charm And Trails

A concentration of America's wealthiest suburbs lies on the East Coast, specifically in New York and the surrounding areas. In fact, for the second year in a row, Scarsdale, New York — a walkable suburb with upscale shops and fine dining — is the wealthiest suburb in the country. Coming in as the 26th-wealthiest suburb is the small town of Tenafly, New Jersey, population 15,252. While it may not crack the top 25 nationally, this makes Tenafly the wealthiest suburb in the state of New Jersey, with the second-wealthiest being Westfield, an artsy area with an award-winning downtown.

The New York Times refers to Tenafly as "a suburb for urbanites," a reference to its convenient proximity to New York City. Just 15 minutes driving distance from Tenafly, right over the George Washington Bridge, is Washington Heights, Manhattan, a sometimes overlooked neighborhood with grand architecture and tasty eats. It's also just a 45-minute bus ride from Tenafly to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal on 178th Street, placing travelers in the same building as the 175th Street A train station. This makes Tenafly a perfect place to live for those who want a small-town feel and a big-city lifestyle. And with nature right outside and a rich arts scene, it just might be your next dream location to live in.

Tenafly is home to longstanding arts institutions that have nurtured now-recognized actors as well as galleries aiming to launch the careers of burgeoning artists. The Bergen County Players, a nonprofit theater that's been a borough staple since 1932, is the birthplace of the careers of several Tony Award nominees, including Rob McClure, Beth Fowler, and Robert Sean Leonard, among others. But the Bergen County Players isn't just for professional actors; members of the community are highly encouraged to audition and to act in its productions. From the local doctors to the bank tellers, anyone in Tenafly can grace the stage and be the next Tony Award winner. Ticket prices for shows such as The Game's Afoot and It's a Wonderful Life vary, depending on the play.

The ACC Gallery is a place where up-and-coming and international artists go to showcase their work. From paintings to videos to installations and more, visitors can catch these thought-provoking bodies of work before they hit the mainstream. Some names that have passed through this gallery are Kangyong Kim, Eric Diehi, and Kazumi Tanaka — a roster that highlights the gallery's dedication to supporting a range of different ethnicities and backgrounds. One of its recent shows was an exhibition for Michelle Chu, whose illustrations represent her day-to-day chores and routines.

About a six-minute drive or a half-hour walk from the center of town is the Tenafly Nature Center, a 400-acre nature preserve that's mostly covered by woods. It boasts over 139 species of plants and fungi, over 24 species of mammals, and over 190 species of birds — and that's not even mentioning the countless invertebrates, reptiles, and amphibians that call the preserve home.

Eight popular trails bring travelers face-to-face with this abundance of wildlife. Seven are listed as easy, with one ranked as moderate, making Tenafly Nature Center a perfect outdoor excursion for any member of the group. The one moderately difficult trail is the Lost Brook Loop that's just under five miles and generally flat with only 177 feet of elevation gain. It takes 90 minutes to complete. The Haring Rock Trail, Alison Trail, Little Chism Trail, and Seely Trail (yup, that's all one trail) is half the length of Lost Brook Loop with even flatter terrain, just in case the group needs something that's more suitable for an afternoon amble. Tenafly Nature Center is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The trails are also open daily, opening to the public an hour before sunrise and closing one hour before sunset.