work in NJ... commute from Philly? (Yardley, Newtown: apartment, loft, home) - Philadelphia - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

yee8p · 06-28-2010, 10:56 PM

I'm considering an opportunity in Princeton NJ... but I don't think Princeton NJ is a fit for me living-wise. I'm a single young female professional. In my ideal world, I'd live in an urban loft / apt in the middle of downtown with no car. Alas, I don't live in my ideal world. I was hoping that a suburb of Philly would be reasonable... thoughts?

How bad is the commute going that direction?

Any suburb for me to research in? Safety is important. I rent. My idea is to have some compromise of having a more reasonable commute to work, while having easy access into town on the evenings of my choice... Preferably, on evenings / weekend that I don't go into Philly, the surrounding area is not completely dead. Some local shopping, dining, entertainment options would be nice.

I am starting to look at Bucks County, but need specifics to really dig deeper...

Thank you in advance for your thoughts

newmarlig · 06-29-2010, 03:20 AM

If your job in Princeton is near the train station, you could still live in center city Philly. You would take the SEPTA R7 train to Trenton and then transfer to the NJT train to Princeton. It would be an over one hour trip and might be more time than you want to spend traveling, but I wanted you to know that it is doable and not complicated.

Drayb3 · 06-30-2010, 07:31 AM

I commute to Princeton from Philly daily. I live in Queen Village in a apt., and it takes me about 45 minutes to get there in the morning, and an hour at the longest to get home in the afternoon. It's really not bad. Taking SEPTA to NJ Transit takes forever.

FindingZen · 06-30-2010, 06:31 PM

Some here have recommended Yardley as a bit of an active oasis. It will favor a shorter commute to Princeton while being not so distant to Center City for the weekend.

As a mass transit advocate, I'd support that SEPTA/NJ Transit combo too only if you happen to work near the Princeton station. The NJ leg of the trip may be a bit annoying as you'd have to transfer at Trenton, take a 10 minute trip to Princeton Junction, then transfer to a "mini-train" to Princeton itself. This would be after a 1-hour trip between Center City and Trenton. So you'd have to really love urban living to make that ~90 minute commute each way. Of course, there are an increasing number of NY expatriates who go all the way to Manhattan from downtown Philly.

yee8p · 06-30-2010, 07:38 PM

I don't think I'm close enough to the princeton station...

Dray: Do you just drive? I've heard real bad things about traffic... is there like a magic time to leave home or something?

kidphilly · 06-30-2010, 11:05 PM

Newtown in Bucks may not be bad either

Princeton is about a 45-60 minute drive from CC, I used to do quite frequently from CC to Scudders Mill

Drayb3 · 07-01-2010, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yee8p

I don't think I'm close enough to the princeton station...

Dray: Do you just drive? I've heard real bad things about traffic... is there like a magic time to leave home or something?

Yup, I drive. The morning isn't bad, there's rarely any traffic. The thing is that you'd be leaving Philly while everyone else is driving in. I-95 southbound will be at a standstill while I'm going 70-80mph northbound. Coming home has more traffic, but at the longest it takes an hour. I'm usually out of my apartment at 7, maybe a little before. I need to get to work by 8:15ish, and I'm there by 8 at the latest usually.

If you do decide to move to Philly and do the commute by car, make sure you live near I-95.

kidphilly · 07-01-2010, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drayb3

Yup, I drive. The morning isn't bad, there's rarely any traffic. The thing is that you'd be leaving Philly while everyone else is driving in. I-95 southbound will be at a standstill while I'm going 70-80mph northbound. Coming home has more traffic, but at the longest it takes an hour. I'm usually out of my apartment at 7, maybe a little before. I need to get to work by 8:15ish, and I'm there by 8 at the latest usually.

If you do decide to move to Philly and do the commute by car, make sure you live near I-95.

Good point there, Queen Village, Old City, No Libs will definately save a few minutes over closer in the Center city

john_starks · 07-01-2010, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Good point there, Queen Village, Old City, No Libs will definately save a few minutes over closer in the Center city

yup, that's why i live in that area. quick jump over to jersey

JasmineFlower · 07-01-2010, 02:22 PM

Are you working for a large company in Princeton? The jobs I considered there were with some of the pharma companies, and they had shuttles at the train station, just something to think about in terms of getting to and from the station, if that's an option through your company.

Is there a reason you don't want to live in Princeton as opposed to a PA suburb? In terms of a suburb, I don't know that they will be more active than what you will find in Princeton, I would be surprised if they were. I've had friends who lived there for grad school and liked the area enough and went to the city (NYC or Philly) when they got bored.

If you are up for the commute from CC to Princeton, then that's a great option, but if you are thinking about a PA suburb, I'm not sure things will be much more lively there than in Princeton.