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After Edison was recently selected by U.S. News & World Report magazine as one of "America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up," Jewish natives and community leaders couldn't help but kvell about their hometown.

The list, which used criteria such as low crime, strong schools, green spaces, and fun activities, ranked Edison 10th behind (from No. 1 through 9) Virginia Beach, Va.; Madison, Ala.; San Jose, Calif.; Overland Park, Kan.; Boston; Denver; Rochester, Minn.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Plano, Texas.

"Working parents in Edison, N.J., can take advantage of the township's expansive after-school programs, which expose youngsters to a host of activities, including magic, piano, cooking, and arts and crafts. More than 30 area parks have facilities for tennis, basketball, soccer, and other sports. At the same time, this community of about 100,000 also offers organized youth leagues for everything from softball to lacrosse," the report said.

David Dessau grew up on Celler Road and now lives right around the corner on Edgemount Road, attending Congregation Ohr Torah from childhood through the present. He said his father moved the family to Edison because he got a job in Princeton but still wanted to live close enough to Manhattan, just like most of the other families who helped grow Edison's Jewish community after finding work in New Jersey.

Edison's location is appealing because of its proximity to both New York City for commuters and the Jersey Shore for vacationers, Dessau said. The local Jewish community was growing during Dessau's childhood and is still growing, he said.

"We all got together and walked to the park, played tennis and baseball as a Jewish group, all together," Dessau recalled about his group of childhood friends.

Lauren Rosenthal, who grew up on North Fifth Ave. and is now a sophomore at New York University, said there was certainly no shortage of after-school activities for youths at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva (RPRY) and other sites, including karate, dance, basketball, and girl scouts.

The North Eighth Avenue tennis courts and Schenkmeyer Park are also great local resources for recreation, Rosenthal said. Edison's Jewish community is very warm, friendly, and connected, she said, as all of her friends got the chance to grow up within a few blocks of each other.

"I would definitely have my kids grow up [in Edison] if I had the chance," Rosenthal said.

Edison has a diverse population with very positive inter-religious relations, said Rabbi Yaakov Luban, who leads Ohr Torah. The community is also financially strong with mostly middle to upper-middle class residents, but not materialistic, he said.

"The strength of the community is that there is a great deal of unity," Luban said.

"The character of the community is extremely fine," he added. "Wherever there is a crisis, people respond."

Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth-El on Jefferson Boulevard for the last 20 years, raised four children in Edison, sending them to RPRY for elementary school followed by Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School (MAYHS) in South River or Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston.

"This was a wonderful place to rear our children in a religious environment," Rosenberg said. "[Edison] has a great variety of synagogues and kosher facilities. For young kids growing up it's wonderful."

Also a police chaplain in Edison for the last 14 years, Rosenberg praised the area's secure environment.

"It's a safe town," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in our police and fire department."