Elmwood Park, NJ

Dundee Dam changed the western edge of present-day Elmwood Park before the borough existed. Completed downstream on the Passaic River in 1860, it backed up the water into Dundee Lake, which became both a recreation site and the early community's name. Residents separated from Saddle River Township as East Paterson in 1916 and adopted Elmwood Park as the official name on January 1, 1973. The modern borough fits 21,422 residents counted in 2020 into 2.64 square miles. Major roads divide that compact area: Routes 4 and 46, Interstate 80, and the Garden State Parkway all cross it. NJ Transit Route 160 runs from stops on Boulevard to New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal, while the Elmwood Park park-and-ride also has Route 151 and 161 service. Borough Park and the Recreation Complex at 500 Boulevard concentrate many everyday services in one location.

The park has baseball and soccer fields, street hockey, a playground, and a summer spray park; the borough's 2026 program also includes day camp. The adjoining Senior Center serves breakfast and weekday lunch and schedules exercise, yoga, ceramics, dance, trips, and social programs for Bergen County residents age 60 and older. Seven smaller borough parks distribute playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer and softball fields across neighborhoods, and a dog park sits near River Drive and Kipp Avenue. Elmwood Park Public Library holds more than 50,000 books, periodicals, recordings, movies, audiobooks, and games. Membership in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System lets local cardholders borrow through more than 70 participating libraries. The library serves a population in which Census estimates for 2020–2024 found that 52.1 percent of residents age five or older spoke a language other than English at home.