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I'm looking to relocate from Brooklyn to Essex County (most likely Verona or Bloomfield). I have to get to Wall Street area by 3:30pm and take the last NJ Rail train home, leaving Penn Station @ 12:30 midnight.
I don't think buses are an option, considering the hours that I leave work at night.
I guess that leave me with the only option of driving to one of the Montclair-Boontoon train stations, park there and take the NJ Rail to Penn Station.
My question is that:
1) Where do I park?
I heard that finding parking at the train stations are hard to come by
2) The fact that I work 2nd shift, which is likely that I'll be at the train station around 2pm. Does that mean I have better chances of finding a parking spot?
Before I start house hunting, I would like to make sure that I would be able to park someone and commute to work in the city.
Please enlighten. Hope someone could provide me with the information as to what my parking options are?
Here are some helpful facts, in no particular order:
I believe you need to be a Bloomfield resident to use their parking...i.e. you cant drive from Verona to Bloomfield to use the primary parking lot. Bloomfield does have a huge new lot across the street. I am unsure how full it becomes.
Verona, as you know, doesnt have a train, so you would need to drive into Montclair. I am fairly certain all of Montclair's stations have a waiting list for residents, with the exception of Montclair State University, which has tons of parking. I would look into that. Just know that it adds like 5 or 6 stops beyond Bloomfield. This could be a materially longer train ride if youre going off peak.
If looking in Montclair, note that MANY homes within walking distance of a train station routinely sell for 15-25% OVER teasing asking price. That's not a typo. Bloomfield and Verona do not do sealed bids with teaser prices and are traditional real estate markets.
Glen Ridge has very limited private parking by the station, which fetches like $700/mo. Also, if youre interested in living in Glen Ridge, they do have a jitney service, but it only runs during peak hours, so that town would not work for you unless you lived within walking distance to the train station. Bidding wars frequent like Montclair.
Lastly, regardless of where you live, the fastest route, especially off peak, is to drive to Harrison and take the PATH downtown. Parking is 200+ a month, but the PATH tickets are way cheaper than a NJ Transit train line. The only downside? Going through Harrison that late at night may make you uncomfortable, as it is not the safest place. Plus half your commute will be in the car, which may not be optimal if youre working late into the night, and are tired.
Oh...and taking the train to Penn to Wall Street makes little sense. For all of the above, you would likely want to take the train to Hoboken, then the ferry to the east side, or PATH to the west side...unless i am missing something, and they dont have connections that late at night...
My vote goes to driving to Harrison. For your hours, I would want 1. The least amount of connections, and 2. the most frequently running trains late night. The PATH is the closest thing you could get to the subway, and you connect to your car...which operates when you want it to...also, many opt against this route due to traffic. You dont have to deal with traffic during your hours, which could make it a no brainer....Please be sure to walk through Harrison at 1am a few times though before you fully commit.
thank you for the information that you provided. They are very helpful!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JaRuss01
I believe you need to be a Bloomfield resident to use their parking...i.e. you cant drive from Verona to Bloomfield to use the primary parking lot. Bloomfield does have a huge new lot across the street. I am unsure how full it becomes.
Though, I'm more leaning towards moving to Verona as it seems that Verona has much better schools in comparison to Bloomfield.
I was driving past Newark this past week on the way to Bloomfield. I didn't feel safe even as I was in the car driving past the neighborhood. Don't know if Harrison is the same. I might try look into driving to Jersey City, park there and take the path to World Trade Center.
Not sure the name. It is a big new complex attached to food town
Yes the schools are better in Verona. For what it's worth, I know someone that is looking to move from Bloomfield to Verona bc his kids are getting to school age. He is able to do this because he could keep his Bloomfield parking permit and explicitly said he would not consider moving if he wasnt able to continuously renew his pass. As crazy as it sounds, it makes me think that non residents are locked out from a majority of parking options.
Just to let you know, driving from Verona to Bloomfield to subway downtown will be pushing and hour 30 min commute true door to door. Harrison to the path could easily shave 15 minutes off that.
The DeCamp bus from Verona is close to an hour during peak times, but becomes 40 minutes or maybe less if you're traveling way off peak. That's another option. I just am not sure if it runs at midnight. Something to look into.
You want Verona schools over Bloomfield....just make sure you have a secondary commute. If you find some loophole to commute through Bloomfield, you don't want to have to sell your house if the main parking garage changes their policy, etc in a few years.
Personally, if I was working those very off hours, I would ditch the two or three connection commute and just drive to the city and pay up for parking downtown. A 90 minute commute at 12am sounds pretty brutal. Driving at your hours is pretty easy. I'd circle towns with the worst public transit access, with the best schools, to get the most value in the house, and spend more on daily tolls and NYC parking. Life would be way less stressful. Although resale is impacted, and I'm unsure on your SOs commute
My son commutes downtown 2x a week. He swears by Bloomfield light rail from Grove St. to Path at Newark Penn. He gets there early so plenty of parking @ $2 a day. Not sure about when you would need to go.
My son commutes downtown 2x a week. He swears by Bloomfield light rail from Grove St. to Path at Newark Penn. He gets there early so plenty of parking @ $2 a day. Not sure about when you would need to go.
That’s a terrible idea during off peak hours.
Best idea is to drive to Harrison and take PATH to WTC from there.
Another option is the DeCamp express bus from PABT. Last bus leaves PABT at 12:45 AM and arrives in Verona at 1:30 AM. Only issue is, like the train, if you miss the last one because you worked later than normal or the subway was late, you’re stuck.
I think PATH is a safer bet because it runs 24/7. There’s never a “last train” to rush to.
Yep, PATH is best for this. I don't know if there's garage parking available at Harrison at 2PM (though I suspect there is), but there's plenty of lots so you should be able to find something.
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