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Someone in my family who lives in midwest once made an interesting observation about NJ folks- When asked where they live, many usually answer GSP Exit XYZ or Turnpike Exit XYZ. That speaks a lot about our commuter community.
Someone in my family who lives in midwest once made an interesting observation about NJ folks- When asked where they live, many usually answer GSP Exit XYZ or Turnpike Exit XYZ. That speaks a lot about our commuter community.
Stereotype is no longer true if it ever was. They changed the exit numbers too often, you see...
Almost 15 years ago, I was travelling in Alaska. I was having a conversation with a bartender, told him I was from NJ. He said, "Oh, I'm supposed to ask you what exit right?" I told him that was an stereotype, tried to defend a little bit of NJ's natural beauty. Then I paused and just admitted..."Exit 9".
Another thing we need to add to the sticky...In general, the closer you are to the city, the harder it will be to find parking, and the more likely you will have to pay (some might say through the nose) for parking, or be prepared to circle around for a half hour plus looking for a spot on the street. (and hope no one comes to close to the car and takes out your mirror.)
I "reverse" commute from Weehawken out to Morris County and even I couldn't bear the rush hours anymore. My work hours are somewhat flexible, so I recently switched to 630AM starts (on the road by 545AM) to keep my sanity. You folks that do these 90 minute commutes from Monmouth County (et. al) blow my mind.
I will never, for the life of me, understand why a family would move here. If you're setup somewhere else in the country with a big old house, low taxes, and an easy commute, why the hell would you uproot to make a sorry attempt at recreating that here? Is it the weather? The boundless natural beauty? I don't get it.
For me: work. I used to be in the Philadelphia suburbs. 2008 hit and tech jobs in Philly dried up and haven't really come back. I had found a job after being laid off as a result of the crash, but the company was clearly headed for the skids, so when I got an offer to work for a large tech company in NYC, it was a pretty good choice. Plus my wife's an artist and the Philly art scene isn't so hot.
The house is a little smaller (but a single-family detached rather than a townhouse), it cost three times as much and the taxes are six times as much. And the commute is lousy. But it beats being unemployed elsewhere, or trying to live in an apartment in the city.
I "reverse" commute from Weehawken out to Morris County and even I couldn't bear the rush hours anymore. My work hours are somewhat flexible, so I recently switched to 630AM starts (on the road by 545AM) to keep my sanity. You folks that do these 90 minute commutes from Monmouth County (et. al) blow my mind.
I will never, for the life of me, understand why a family would move here. If you're setup somewhere else in the country with a big old house, low taxes, and an easy commute, why the hell would you uproot to make a sorry attempt at recreating that here? Is it the weather? The boundless natural beauty? I don't get it.
Why do you live here? I'm assuming there's a reason you live in Weehawken, but if it's too long of a commute for you, can you move somewhere closer to your job? My wife and I work pretty far from each other, but we're moving to somewhere in between (in Morris County, actually). The commute won't be bad for either of us, and I think it's a great place for a family.
I can think of a lot of reasons why people live here - some good, some bad. The reason a family uproots to move here is usually because of money. Other reasons are schools and the location.
Many people just like to complain about how bad their situation, even to the point of exaggerating how long their commute is. It makes them feel good for some reason. If they truly are miserable, it's pretty sad that they waste their time on here complaining instead of trying to do something about their problems.
I "reverse" commute from Weehawken out to Morris County and even I couldn't bear the rush hours anymore. My work hours are somewhat flexible, so I recently switched to 630AM starts (on the road by 545AM) to keep my sanity. You folks that do these 90 minute commutes from Monmouth County (et. al) blow my mind.
I will never, for the life of me, understand why a family would move here. If you're setup somewhere else in the country with a big old house, low taxes, and an easy commute, why the hell would you uproot to make a sorry attempt at recreating that here? Is it the weather? The boundless natural beauty? I don't get it.
Maybe we have our reasons. I'm a person with a 90-minute train commute from Monmouth County, and that's no exaggeration, by the way. Often it's longer. It can be shorter if I drive and leave the house before 6:15--then it can be a little over an hour, but it will cost more with tolls and parking.
I knew I would be taking on a longer commute when I moved from Bergen to Monmouth County. There's a tradeoff for everything, and mine was that in Bergen County, I could only ever be a renter, while in Monmouth County, I was able to purchase a condo, the first time in my life (at the age of 52 at the time) that I was able to buy rather than rent. I no longer needed to worry about the combination of good schools and family nearby because my daughter had graduated from high school.
And if I was going to have to move away from the area where I'd lived all my life, I was going to go to where the ocean was easily accessible.
The commute's a drag. I beetch about it all the time. But, I am older and I know I won't have to do this for too many more years. I can't afford to just quit working and retire, although I could retire with a pension on fifteen days notice. I just am not yet in a financial position to live on the pension alone without resorting to eating rat on a stick, and there aren't a ton of job openings in Central Jersey for a 55-year-old person without a college degree, so here I am. But--I will continue to look, and one of these days, the commute will be history!
The point, however, is that your situation and POV is not the same as everyone else's.
I "reverse" commute from Weehawken out to Morris County and even I couldn't bear the rush hours anymore. My work hours are somewhat flexible, so I recently switched to 630AM starts (on the road by 545AM) to keep my sanity. You folks that do these 90 minute commutes from Monmouth County (et. al) blow my mind.
I will never, for the life of me, understand why a family would move here. If you're setup somewhere else in the country with a big old house, low taxes, and an easy commute, why the hell would you uproot to make a sorry attempt at recreating that here? Is it the weather? The boundless natural beauty? I don't get it.
Pretty simple,
People move to NJ because they can make a lot of these $$$$$$$$
People move out of NJ because they don't make enough of these $$$$$$$
Why would there be any other reasons?
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