Working in Boston on weekdays living in NYC (Framingham: apartment, renting)

[Lynch100]

I just want to know if anyone has done this similiarly to make sure I am not making a crazy decision.

I am going to be moving to Brooklyn in the summer (family reasons I have to). However I am still looking for a job there and I still have one in Boston. I plan on working in Boston during the work week (renting a room in an apartment) and then taking a bus back to NY for the weekends. I anticipate the longest this will happen will be about 4 months max.

I think it seems feasible but if anyone has any insight or warnings for me to look out for please let me know.

thanks!

[holden125]

I did it the other way. I was living in Queens and spending weekends in Boston for a long time. After a while I was able to work in NYC only 4 days a week, which made it less of a drag. I also wound up getting a car once I got really tired of the bus.

I'm not entirely clear on the plan-is it to find a full time job in NYC as soon as possible and stay there permanently? If you are not staying in NYC beyond a few months, I'd hold on to the job in Boston.

Check the various buses (Greyhound/Peter Pan, Fung Wah, Bolt Bus, etc.) for the best deals and the most convenient locations, at each end. Some of the Greyhounds stop at Riverside or Framingham, which may be convenient for you if South Station isn't. Fung Wah or Lucky Star are nice for Brooklyn since they stop close to the B/D, N, and J/M/Z trains.

It's doable but it can get a little tiring. You never really get to just relax on the weekend, you're always on a bus. The bus also hits traffic on Friday and Sunday nights. I think it's better going from Boston to NYC for the weekends. Coming out of NYC on a Friday night was a royal pain.

Basically, you do what you have to do, and it's not so bad. You'll just get tired of the bus ride after a while. Bring an Ipod and/or some good reading.

[DreamworksSKG]

Why not commute back and forth via Acela Express? Its a fast convenient and fun way to travel, and you can relax or finish up any business you need to on wifi and such.

[Lynch100]

Thanks for the reply! I am going to be staying in NYC permanently so I am looking for a job there. It's not until the summer and I might already get a job by then but I like to have a backup option just in case. (I can't delay the move there).

I have a car but I figure $40 a week on a bus is probably cheaper with gas and tolls or is it just easier to drive by car? It takes 4 1/2 hours by bus I am not sure about by car probably just under 4.

thanks again!

[G.Costanza]

Depends on how fuel-efficient your car is, and which bridges/routes you take to minimize your tolls vs your time. Problem with the bus is, you have to get from Brooklyn to either Chinatown or Midtown. Then you have to get from South Station to your home in Boston. So that adds another 45-90 minutes to your door-to-door time.

There's no way to really know whether you'll prefer the downtime on the bus (sleep, work, etc.) with the ultimately much longer ride vs the quicker, more flexible but less productive driving option. Neither is really fun on a weekly basis.... personally I drive every time I go to Boston because I enjoy driving, it's much quicker door-to-door and I can choose my times but I know lots of people who prefer the bus instead and use it to catch up on work or sleep (or just find driving more stressful).

[holden125]

Originally Posted by G.Costanza

Depends on how fuel-efficient your car is, and which bridges/routes you take to minimize your tolls vs your time. Problem with the bus is, you have to get from Brooklyn to either Chinatown or Midtown. Then you have to get from South Station to your home in Boston. So that adds another 45-90 minutes to your door-to-door time.

There's no way to really know whether you'll prefer the downtime on the bus (sleep, work, etc.) with the ultimately much longer ride vs the quicker, more flexible but less productive driving option. Neither is really fun on a weekly basis.... personally I drive every time I go to Boston because I enjoy driving, it's much quicker door-to-door and I can choose my times but I know lots of people who prefer the bus instead and use it to catch up on work or sleep (or just find driving more stressful).

This is basically the tradeoff. I like to drive and I like being able to stop when I want or check out different places along the way. I commute by mass transit during the week, so I'm not burned out on driving.

A big reason I stopped riding the bus is that I'm 6'3" and have knee injuries from sports, and the lack of legroom was killing me. But I also was tired of having to get to and from the bus. On the Boston end, I was most often heading to west of town and it added a lot of time to pass my destination and double back from South Station.

Driving also enables you to take roads like the Hutchinson or Merritt Pkwy that the bus can't go on. The bus takes I-91 to I-95 in New Haven. That stretch of 95 in SW Conn. is awful for traffic at times. Greyhound and BoltBus also do a long stretch on the streets of Manhattan, which can take a long time. Driving, I tend to take the Mass Pike to 84 to 684 to the Hutch. Generally the traffic was not too bad going that way. Sometimes it backed up in the Bronx or Queens.

[boston2denver]

I had a professor at the school I did my undergrad who commuted weekly. Same goes for grad school. Both individuals were only in Boston a couple of days a week because they teach in NY as well. NY was/is their primary place of residence.

[rranger]

Originally Posted by Lynch100

I just want to know if anyone has done this similiarly to make sure I am not making a crazy decision.

I am going to be moving to Brooklyn in the summer (family reasons I have to). However I am still looking for a job there and I still have one in Boston. I plan on working in Boston during the work week (renting a room in an apartment) and then taking a bus back to NY for the weekends. I anticipate the longest this will happen will be about 4 months max.

I think it seems feasible but if anyone has any insight or warnings for me to look out for please let me know.

thanks!

I did the opposite for quite a while a couple of years ago. I left Boston on Monday mornings and returned from Manhattan on Friday nights. If you can get someone to pay for the train (through expensing), I'd do that. It's a lot more comfortable. Otherwise, the bus - as I'm sure you know - is lot cheaper.

I found myself ridiculously tired on weekends, and it became a chore pretty quickly. Effectively, your weekend is limited to Saturday, because by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, you'll already be thinking about the shlep back up to Boston. It starts to rule you.

Best of luck, and I hope you don't have to do it for too long. 'Cause - unless you're the type of person who likes traveling all the time - it'll wear on you. Wish I could be more positive about it

[shiver]

I know someone who was in Boston during the week and traveled to NYC almost every weekend. He alternated between driving and the bus. The bus was more economical, but as other posters have pointed out, getting to and from the bus added time to an already long commute. He did it for almost a year and I remember that the last few months really wore him down. In your case, however, doing it for 4 months or so may get annoying, but I think it's certainly manageable.