Hillsborough in a Nutshell

In the southern part of Somerset County and spanning 55 square miles, the large town of Hillsborough has transformed over the last quarter-century—prompted by the growth of nearby Princeton—from a mostly rural, agricultural area into a bustling, mixed suburban and rural community with an excellent school system, robust volunteer-based sports programs for kids, and comparatively reasonable house prices for the area. In 2013, Money Magazine listed Hillsborough as the 16th Best Place to Live in the nation. Running between Somerville and Montgomery/Princeton, the very busy (congested during rush hours) commercial and commuter artery of Rte. 206 serves as the town center, with loads of restaurants, retail stores, medical offices, a movie theater, and a mix of middle- and upper-middle-income housing. Near the intersection of Rte. 206 with Amwell Road are townhouses, condos, a set of business condos, chain restaurants, everyday shopping, including a large ShopRite supermarket. The southern and western portions of the township remain part farmland and part forest preserve, respectively. Bridgewater Commons mall is about five miles away, and Princeton’s vast array of cultural activities are nearby. 

Schools

Hillsborough has an excellent school district. Elementary schools are Hillsborough Township Elementary (520 students, K-4), Amsterdam Elementary (511 students, K-4), Sunnymead Elementary (490 students, pre-K-4), Woods Road Elementary (475 students, pre-K-4), Woodfern Elementary (363 students, K-4), and Triangle Elementary (369 students, K-4). Auten Road Intermediate houses Hillsborough’s 1,165 5th and 6th graders; Hillsborough Township Middle School 1,209 7th and 8th graders. Hillsborough High School (420 students, grades 9-12) offers more than 20 sports teams and 80 extracurricular activities. The public schools provide a free Chromebook to each student starting in the 3rd grade.

Parks and Recreation

The town’s previously rural nature remains in a few pockets, such as the 4,000-acre Sourland Mountain Preserve, which offers hiking trails, mountain biking, and a stocked fishing pond. At the northern edge of town is the popular 2,700-acre Duke Farms, the estate previously owned by the heiress Doris Duke. This private nature reserve has an environmental education center, a large community garden, hiking and biking trails, a gorgeous orchid greenhouse, a farm-to-market cafe, summer season farmers market, and seasonal family oriented environmental activities. 

Just over the eastern side of the township running south out of Manville along Rte. 533 is the Delaware & Raritan Canal Park, with a walking/biking trail along the D&R Canal paralleling the Millstone River. The large Colonial Park in neighboring Franklin Township is a lovely spot for picnics, with biking paths, open fields, paddle boats, public tennis courts, and a beautiful rose garden.

Dining and Nightlife

There are plenty of dining options in Hillsborough, including burger places, pizzerias, sub shops, falafel restaurants, Indian food, and more. Cafe Graziella, Petrock’s Bar and Grille, The Falafel House, Thai Chili House and Ricky’s Thai, Old Man Rafferty’s, Sakura Sushi and Lee’s Sushi, La Costenita, and Hillsborough Star Diner Restaurant are favorites. Petrock’s Bar and Grille and Old Man Rafferty’s do double duty as bars, and there’s also The Landing Hillsborough or The Extra Pint in neighboring Manville for karaoke. 

Arts and Culture

Hillsborough Township is 25 minutes away from both Princeton and Rutgers Universities, each thriving centers of arts and culture. Princeton has the lovely Princeton University Art Museum and the beloved McCarter Theatre. New Brunswick has the Rutgers’ Zimmerli Art Museum and Rutgers’ myriad lectures, concerts, films, and other cultural offerings, as well as the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and the State Theatre. Hillsborough is home to the Somerset Valley Players, a community theater group based in a cute 19th-century little red schoolhouse.

Housing Stock

Hillsborough’s growth since the mid 1970s was spurred by the growth of nearby Princeton, whose expensive homes priced-out many of the new professionals working there. Hence Montgomery and Hillsborough, 15 minutes north of  Princeton, took on this demand for more reasonably priced housing. In recent decades, single-family home developments have been constructed mostly on the east side of Rte. 206, such as County Classics, with more than 800 homes. 

The condo, townhome, and apartment growth dating to the 1970/80s is mostly in the central and northern sections of town, around Amwell Road, where you’ll find Beekman Gardens and New Center Greens. Sunnymeade Run apartment complex is in the northern part of town off Rte. 206 on Falcon Road. Lower-priced apartments and condos can also be found mostly east of Rte. 206 toward Millstone Borough. Several new apartment complexes are in the planning stages.

The Commute

There is no train station in the township. The closest stations are about 15 minutes away in Bridgewater and Somerville, however most commutes will be faster using the New Brunswick station (an extra 5- to 10-minute drive), because it’s on the main line that goes straight up and down the east coast, usually requiring no transfers from one train to another. The trip from Bridgewater to NYC Penn Station takes as little as 73 minutes, with a change in Newark. Cost is $14.75 one-way, $421 for a monthly pass. The train trip from New Brunswick is slightly cheaper, but parking is far more expensive. Some people take Uber. 

Before the pandemic, daily express buses left every half hour from 6 to 7:30 am from the Hillsborough Promenade shopping center. The cost was $15 one way and $420 monthly, with a time of about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Return trips ran from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. Due to Covid-19 service was suspended; please check for updates at https://www.coachusa.com/bus-schedules.

Driving to midtown Manhattan takes about 1.5 hours via Rte. 287 and then the NJ Turnpike.

Newark International Airport 45 minutes by car.