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Hi there. I am a 24 year old professional who would love to move to Hoboken. The problem is, is that I work in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Does anyone know what the commute is like from Hoboken to Woodcliff Lake, or just Bergen County in general? Would you recommend it?
I did it for 3 years.
50 mins in perfect conditions depending on how far you are off the gsp. Weather problems in the morning will kill you getting out in the morning, and any traffic problem anywhere in the tristate area will inevitably back up the only two ways into hoboken in the afternoon.
What is the Turnpike and 80 west like? I know 80 east is pretty good in the morning. I don't know what 80 west is like though.
Thanks,
Dara
Rt. 80 is horrid! It must be avoided at all costs during rush hour. Traffic is horrible and accidents abound. On route 80, I have seen cars flipped over, pile-ups, cars on fire, trucks overturned (with whatever they were carrying spilled all over the highway), etc. You name it, I've seen it on 80.
surprisingly there's a good amount of traffic heading northbound during the morning rush hour, as there are a lot of people who commute to central and northern bergen county for work. personally i'd be especially wary of rt. 17, especially between rt. 80 and rt. 4 - that particular stretch has a nasty bottleneck and is always congested, especially right now due to a complete rebuild of the essex street bridge on the lodi/maywood border (which won't be complete until later this year).
even though it's a 25 mile drive, you're probably looking at about a one hour drive each way. it's certainly doable but if i were you i'd consider living somewhere like hackensack, which has a quasi-urban feel in some parts, is eminently walkable, and is about halfway between hoboken and woodcliff lake. it's not as fun for a young person compared with hoboken, but it's worth looking into.
if you do end up living in hoboken, it's really critical that you map out several different routes to get to and from work. you're going to hit traffic regardless, but because hoboken is in very close proximity to both the holland and lincoln tunnels, you could inadvertently get stuck in tunnel traffic (which is akin to getting sucked into a black hole) if you're not careful. driving from hoboken on a daily basis is more of a challenge than most areas of nj because there are only a couple of routes in and out of town.
alternately, you could also head north through hoboken and try to catch rt. 495 west to the nj turnpike near the lincoln tunnel, but there's a major risk of getting stuck in tunnel traffic.
from the turnpike, you can take 80 west to 17 north to the garden state parkway north to get to woodcliff lake. but if 80 west traffic turns out to be horrible in the morning, you could avoid that highway by taking a detour through local roads to get to rt 4 west - to do this, stay on 95 north rather than getting on rt. 80. the first exit on 95 north after the 95/80 split is exit 70A for teaneck, which leads you onto degraw ave westbound. from degraw, make a right onto teaneck rd northbound, then take rt 4 west to 17 north to the parkway north: from:hoboken nj to:Hoboken Ave @40.735311, -74.047492 to:Tonnele Ave/US-1-9 @40.740630, -74.064240 to:40.882371,-74.008369 to:Woodcliff Lake, NJ - Google Maps
the route mapped/outlined above would allow you to avoid the rt. 17 bottleneck south of rt. 4.
a final option for commuting between hoboken and woodcliff lake is to take the nj transit pascack valley line to the woodcliff lake station; local trains take about 50 minutes from the hoboken terminal. once you arrive at woodcliff lake, though, i doubt you'd be within walking distance of work (most offices in that town are on chestnut ridge road, which is 2-3 miles from the train station), so you'd need to hitch a ride for that final stretch. needless to say, driving's probably better unless your office happens to be right next to the train station.
Do you have any advice about Hackensack? I know you said its not the same as Hoboken, but if it has somewhat of a nightlife and is somewhat safe, that would be ok.
Do you have any advice about Hackensack? I know you said its not the same as Hoboken, but if it has somewhat of a nightlife and is somewhat safe, that would be ok.
Thanks,
Dara
i personally like hackensack because it's diverse (racially and income-wise), walkable, has multiple train stations to hoboken, buses to nyc, and has several highways passing through it (i.e. you can drive to nyc or to the malls in paramus). that said, it doesn't have much of a nightlife - it's the burbs (or more accurately, an "urban-suburban" area, if that makes sense). hoboken is clearly a more fun place to live as a young person. the advantage of living in hackensack is that your commute would be cut in half (20 minute drive without traffic, maybe 35 at most with heavy traffic). it's a compromise - the town is closer to work and still pretty close to hoboken, but there's not as much nightlife or a bar scene. you'd probably be heading down to hoboken or nyc all the time when you want to party.
although some people on this board seem to think hackensack is ghetto, i completely disagree. certain areas are a little sketchy, but not dangerous - there's some occasional low-level crime (loitering, small-time drug dealing, etc) but i have to stress that these things are confined to specific areas (central hackensack, esp near the intersection of central and 1st st or along railroad ave). the area around the county courthouse, and just south of it, is resolutely working class - kind of depressing, actually, but certainly not dangerous.
there are also areas of town that are very nice, with luxury high rises (prospect ave), old-school mansions (summit ave), or quiet, safe middle class homes (most of the rest of the city). again, it's a diverse place that you can't judge merely by one neighborhood; things can literally change from block to block, which is unusual for bergen county. most of the town is very safe, and even the worst parts are not terrible - use common sense and you'll be fine. but again, it's a small, quasi-urban pocket surrounded by suburbia, so it's not going to be overly exciting.
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Thanks
