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Same sort of deal as many others I've seen come through this forum. Job is moving me to NYC and we'd rather live in the burbs. Thanks in advance for the help, I really appreciate it.
Where are you coming from? Raleigh, NC
Why are you moving? Job moving us
Where will you be working ? In NYC near Columbus Circle Midtown (56th & Broadway).
Will you buy or rent? Rent
What is your budget ? Up to 5500 but aiming for lower. We try to live modestly and don't want a McMansion. An average comfortable house 1600-1800 square feet is fine.
What kind of place are you looking for ? House, yard....that kind of thing.
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ? Spouse and two kids 7 & 10
Do you need/want good public schools? Schools are irrelevant to us, we home school our children.
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in - safe, families with young children, walkable
List three things that are important to you in order of importance - 1. Safety 2. Family oriented 3. Good access to public transportation
Based on my research, I've been focusing on Montclair, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Maplewood, South Orange etc etc. We are also considering Greenwich, CT, a few towns in Westchester and Jersey City/Hoboken (as a plan B).
I would like to hear if those towns match what is above and about what I can expect from commutes. Is Penn station hell on earth? Bus vs. train? Average commute times?
We are big city and public transportation newbies, so please be gentle.
The parts of Jersey City & Hoboken where you want to live are already densely developed. If you get lucky the building might have a small fenced in back yard or rooftop patio space. Both areas are brownstone neighborhoods giving way to tower developments. The prime benefit is excellent (but crowded) access to NYC and pedestrian friendly vibe.
Penn Station is ugly and old but not really hell on earth. It can get crowded during rush hour but that isn't really different than any major transit hub.
PATH can feel like a Tokyo subway with how packed it gets. The advantage of PATH/NJ Transit trains is fewer time delays as buses tend to get caught in highway traffic. Best advice is to find your tolerance limits by visiting and attempting a mock weekday commute.
That's a difficult area to get to the Upper West Side. I would rather look into renting in Westchester because riding the Metro North into Grand Central is a lot better than any NJ option. From Penn Station, you're looking at 15-20mins+ to Columbus Circle by the 1/9 Subway lines. I hate that train during rush hour and I worked near 53th and 8th.
Metro North is the quickest and cheapest compare to NJ transit. Hoboken area with PATH requires going into 33rd St. which takes 20-30mins to Columbus Circle in the morning.
Disagree completely that Metro North into Grand Central is any quicker or cheaper than NJ Transit...and this is coming from someone who is no fan of NJ Transit. Cost and travel times are pretty much the same. We're talking about commuting from safe suburbs with young families, where you can have a house with a yard? Yeah, you're not getting into Midtown (56th & Broadway is more Midtown than it is the Upper West Side), any faster or cheaper from Westchester. And Grand Central is just as inconvenient to 56th and Broadway, as Penn Station is. Probably more inconvenient.
From Penn Station, yes, you can take the 1 train to Columbus Circle. You can also walk 1 short block to Herald Square and take the N/R/Q/W train to 57th St. and Seventh Ave. (which is closer to 56th and Broadway, than the 1 train station at Columbus Circle).
That's a difficult area to get to the Upper West Side. I would rather look into renting in Westchester because riding the Metro North into Grand Central is a lot better than any NJ option. From Penn Station, you're looking at 15-20mins+ to Columbus Circle by the 1/9 Subway lines. I hate that train during rush hour and I worked near 53th and 8th.
Metro North is the quickest and cheapest compare to NJ transit. Hoboken area with PATH requires going into 33rd St. which takes 20-30mins to Columbus Circle in the morning.
That doesn't make much sense. First off, there is no good way to get from grand central to that location via subway. You'd have to transfer (4/5/6 to E or shuttle to the 1/9) or walk pretty far. Second, he'd probably take the A/C/E since all 3 go to the right place (E would go to 7th and 57th, A and C to columbus circle) whereas only the 1 stops at columbus circle. If he did a bus town, then he could even walk from PA (a bit under a mile).
I'd avoid any commute into GCT (though it's a far superior station than either Penn or Port Authority!) for your office location.
Montclair is a 40-50 minute train ride with a great downtown and lots of culture, and the fact that the schools sometimes have a bad reputation won't really be relevant to you (assuming you are home schooling HS as well?). That's about as close as you can get and be in a leafy-type suburb. Some of the bus towns to the north have similarly short rides but only if you leave early in the morning.
It's just your standard disgusting bus terminal. No good shopping/food options like at Grand Central, and it has quite a large resident shall we way "population." If you are on a reliable bus that doesn't often have long lines, it really doesn't matter though. You show up, you get on your bus, you go. No big deal. There seems to be momentum to rebuilding/moving/renovating it, but they've been talking about that for decades, so who knows.
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