Union is a Township in Union County, NJ, which is not to be confused with Union City (Hudson County) and Union Beach (Monmouth County). According to the 2008 Census, Union has a population of approximate 54, 405 people of which there are 19,534 households and 14,162 families residing in the township. In 2008, Money Magazine Union was voted 75th best place to live in its list of America’s Best Small Cities. [i]

Demographics:

Unlike some towns, Union isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Union are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Union is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Union who work in office and administrative support jobs (20.55%), sales jobs (10.55%), and management occupations (9.21%). Also of interest is that Union has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Union is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. People, who call Union home, come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Union is White (67.66%), followed by African-American (19.76), Asian 7.72% and 8.93% Latino. Important ancestries of people in Union include Italian, Polish, Irish, Portuguese, German, and Haitian.[ii]

Education:

The Union Public School District serves students in preschool through grade twelve. The ten schools currently in operation (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[17] are six K-4 elementary schools — Battle Hill School (441 students), Hannah Caldwell School (541), Connecticut Farms Elementary School (457), Franklin School (536), Livingston School (447) and Washington School (569) — Central Five-Jefferson School for grade 5 (591), both Burnet Middle School (1,020) and Kawameeh Middle School for grades 6 through 8 (763) and Union High School for grades nine through twelve (2,573).

Union is also home to Kean University, several private nursery schools, two Roman Catholic elementary schools: St. Michael’s and Holy Spirit, and The Deron School, a private school for learning disabled students ages 5–13.

• Parts and Sections of Union: Five Points, Area around the junction of Galloping Hill Rd, Chestnut St, Salem Rd, Delaware Ave, Walton Ave, and Tucker Ave.
• Brookside Heights (Curreyville), Area west of Vauxhall Road, past Tiffany’s Bar & Restaurant
• Vauxhall, Area of Union north of 1-78 and west of Stuyvesant Avenue. Aspirant to become own town, only getting as far as getting its own zip code 07088.
• Union Center, Area around the intersection of Morris and Stuyvesant Avenues.
• Putnam Manor, a wealthy section between Colonial Ave and Salem Road.
• Orchard Park
• Parkside Manor, a three road section off of Union Terrace, feature in the movie She Devil with Roseanne Barr.
• Larchmont, area behind a church on Morris Avenue by Spruce Street.
• Green Lane, new community between Kean University and Union Station. Suspenders Restaurant & Pub is located here.
• Fairway Drive, community bordering the Galloping Hill Golf Course
• In some cases, real estate agents and Union, NJ residents will refer to their section by the school district in which they are assigned to. Common areas in Union are often referred to as Battle Hill Section, Washington School Section or Connecticut Farms, etc.

Courtsey of NeighborhoodScout.com

[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Township,_Union_County,_New_Jersey

[ii] http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/nj/union/