When Yuriy Forin and his wife, Alina, started their house hunt in eastern Bergen County, they were hoping for new construction. But in their price range of $700,000 to $750,000, new single-family homes were out of reach.
They found what they wanted in a three-bedroom duplex still under construction in Palisades Park, close to their jobs in New York City and Alina’s parents in Fort Lee.
“We kind of knew exactly what we were looking for,” says Forin, 30. “On day one, we saw nine properties; seven were new construction. Our first thought was, ‘Wow, we could actually afford something like this.’ In a standalone home, you probably wouldn’t get what you could get in an attached home.”
The Forins’ new home is emblematic of a type of housing that has replaced many older, single-family homes in eastern Bergen County, especially in Palisades Park. Over the last two decades, the attached homes have transformed the character of the 1.25-square-mile borough, which once had a small-town flavor and now has a more urban vibe.