NJ vs. PA for Waterfront office in Camden ? (Oakland, Haddonfield: city hall, house)

[BigOil]

New job and relocation.

Office (eventually) will be on the Camden waterfront bit south of Campbell's Field & north of the Aquarium. Think this just off the I-676 Bridge "Ben Franklin Bridge?".

Originally thought only NJ search for a house. Pretty clear which NJ communities to consider too.

Strongly (re)considering living in PA for many reasons, PA-NJ tax agreement (only pay PA tax) being the kicker. Our political assessment is this will not be going away.

Good to us is maybe 30ish minutes commute under typical conditions. Budget is wide but maybe $750K target. Schools only factor for resale. Not urban, need a nice backyard, garage etc. maybe 2500-3000SF++ not including basement SF

Any thoughts on NJ vs. PA for this? Not at all sure similar areas (commutable) in PA to this part of the waterfront.

[Ms_Christina]

I don't think you can get away with a commute under 30min if you want to live in a PA suburb. It will be more like 60min. Living in PA don't forget to add $100 a month in bridge tolls.

I did NE Philly to NJ and hated sitting in traffic, but your tolerance may be totally differant than mine.

If you don't mind a commute you could live on the main line, take the train to Market East then transfer to PATCO at 8th and Market then walk a short way to your office in Camden. Should be relatively safe during working hours.

I always liked Media and Swathmore. Cute towns, nice, safe, pretty homes.

[Leps12]

I agree with the previous poster on this. Maybe if you lived in philly itself it would be doable, but the kind of house you want is only to be found in suburbia, so to commute to Camden, first you need to go from the PA burbs through philly and then over the bridge to Camden after that. I don't see that being doable in 30 minutes or less. If you are okay with a longer commute, then PA is an option.

[Gerania]

I third this. The generously sized homes with a big yard and two car garage are going to be out in the suburbs. That's not a 30 minute drive. It might be once in a while if you leave really early and there's no construction, accidents or weather delays.

[BigOil]

Darn, I kind of guessed that a 30 ish commute might not be real here. The transit option (drive to station) with occasional days driving over is *maybe* consideration. We did Bart into SF for years. It was IMHO pretty ratable, and pretty well run operationally but VERY spendy, BUT it had frequent on-time trains that made of for how political & fiduciarily horrible it was. Never forget the smells and sights of bart!

I wonder if Philly has a "Haddonfield"-type place --premium sorta close-in burb, that is not run or taxed by city government, that would be realistic. We might go to a ~45 minute door to door nominal commute driving to transit station (bart can be that on a typical day -- think near Lafayette-Moraga Stations for those with SF/Oakland knowledge...)?

We *might* look at 45 minute transit(some work on train)/hour drive "if you gotta drive" nominal things...no way hour nominal drive commutes now.

THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES!

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by BigOil

Darn, I kind of guessed that a 30 ish commute might not be real here. The transit option (drive to station) with occasional days driving over is *maybe* consideration. We did Bart into SF for years. It was IMHO pretty ratable, and pretty well run operationally but VERY spendy, BUT it had frequent on-time trains that made of for how political & fiduciarily horrible it was. Never forget the smells and sights of bart!

I wonder if Philly has a "Haddonfield"-type place --premium sorta close-in burb, that is not run or taxed by city government, that would be realistic. We might go to a ~45 minute door to door nominal commute driving to transit station (bart can be that on a typical day -- think near Lafayette-Moraga Stations for those with SF/Oakland knowledge...)?

We *might* look at 45 minute transit(some work on train)/hour drive "if you gotta drive" nominal things...no way hour nominal drive commutes now.

THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES!

You could look at Chestnut Hill, which is part of Philadelphia. You'd be paying city wage tax plus at least a one hour commute.

What you're asking for is neither doable nor a good idea. You aren't going to save money. The money would be eaten up with either mass transit costs or gas & bridge tolls. Have you ever been in Philadelphia &/or South Jersey? The 30 minute window is a no go.

[withasigh]

Originally Posted by BigOil

I wonder if Philly has a "Haddonfield"-type place --premium sorta close-in burb, that is not run or taxed by city government, that would be realistic. We might go to a ~45 minute door to door nominal commute driving to transit station (bart can be that on a typical day -- think near Lafayette-Moraga Stations for those with SF/Oakland knowledge...)?
\

There are similar and even nicer places than Haddonfield in PA burbs, but as other posters have noted, your commute is going to be at least three times as bad as driving in from Haddonfield. You'll also end up spending a lot more on the same house, and you won't find a better public school district.

I would also not recommend any mass transit from PA to the Camden waterfront. You'd have to come in on regional rail, then walk from a regional rail station to a PATCO station (4 blocks at least) or transfer to one of the subway lines to get to a patco station, then take PATCO to the City Hall station in Camden. That alone would be 50 minutes to an hour if you hit everything just right. Then you still have to find a way to get from City Hall to the Waterfront, which is not a short walk. Safety wise, as a man I don't mind that walk during the daytime, but I wouldn't expect anyone would want to do it on a regular basis after dark and it will be dark at 4:15-ish in the afternoon in the dark of the winter. All that compares with a fifteen minute tops drive from Haddonfield to Camden.