As far as visiting Montclair…Yes, downtown Montclair is about 4 miles from the campus. The village of Upper Montclair is just over a mile away. So if you don’t have a car, and if you are planning to stay at a nearby Air BnB be sure to enquire how far it is from the campus. If you go during the week…NJ transit does have 2 stations that service Montclair State -1) Montclair University Station, and 2) Montclair Heights Station. (Montclair Heights Station is closer to the School of Theater and Dance but both are walkable)
My daughter goes to Montclair and loves it!
We’ve stayed at hotels in and around the Willowbrook Mall.
As far as restaurants are concerned, we LOVE L-O-V-E Bella Gente Trattoria (itlalian, BYOB). They make the best brickfire oven pizza and entrees. Bring a bottle of wine as it is BYOB (which makes it even more affordable).
Forgot to add, as far as restaurants for breakfast/lunch we stopped in a restaurant called Toast in downtown Montclair that was wonderful!
Thanks Everyone! Looking forward to our visit this week.
@Mel2421 pleas let me know how Montclair visit goes. My D is on the fence about applying there and I’m personally wondering how horrific traffic is going there for future reference lol
@theaterwork We were just at Montclair this past week for our D’s orientation. Traffic can certainly be a problem, but there are multiple ways to get around most issues. For instance, this past Wednesday Google Maps provided a great re-route around an accident on the Garden State Pkwy that saved us a ton of time. We live in MD as well and it took us 5 hours going up, but only 4.5 hours coming back and we live about an hour south of DC. Love in state tuition!
Just for the record, Montclair is a very diverse community, both economically and racially. Yes, there are affluent/upper-middle-class areas of Montclair—but there are also many middle class, working class, and poor/run-down areas. According to Wikipedia, 7% of children live below the poverty line.
Also, MSU has a Montclair address, but almost all of the campus is in Little Falls, NJ. Just a tiny little piece at the south part of campus is in Montclair. There’s also a little piece that falls in Clifton.
https://www.maptechnica.com/us-city-boundary-map/city/Upper%20Montclair/state/NJ/cityid/3475020
For future reference, I would recommend the Residence Inn in West Orange.
Thanks @MTDadager for that info. I’m just that driver who gets stressed easy in bad city traffic lol. Yes in state tuition is appealing!! hope your child loves it there! I think my D will end up applying
I don’t know where you’re coming from @theaterwork, but I come from New England to go to Montclair and yes, google maps is your friend. You really can avoid most bad traffic and any city traffic at all. I will say though that I HATE driving on Route 46 which is right near the campus. Seems like just when you get on it, you have to cross lanes of traffic to get off it on the other side. I go out of my way to avoid it, which is pretty easy. I know, I’m a baby. I get off the Garden State Parkway at exit 151 and drive through the residential neighborhoods to get to the school. 
Haha @Calliene, I grew up in North Jersey, and my very first driving lesson was on Route 46! PTSD…