[MovingOut12]

I am a teacher working in a Queens, NY junior high school and my fiancé is an engineer working in Connecticut. Taking into account the state of the economy, neither one of us feels comfortable leaving their job, so we are considering housing in Stamford & Norwalk, since they are a half way point for us. However, I am concerned about the commute from Connecticut to Queens. Is there a specific route I should take? What time do you think I should leave in order to make sure I could get to work by 7:50 am? I am so worried about not getting to work on time. If anyone has experienced this type of commute first hand, your advance would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your help!

[CTNYCT]

Hi -

I live on Staten Island right now, with my parents living in New Haven. I can tell you that the Metro North train from Stamford to Grand Central would be 40 minutes, and then I'm guessing you would have to take a train from there. I haven't lived my whole life in Staten Island so I'm not too savvy about Brooklyn, Queens, etc. so I'm not sure if that would be a hassle for you, but I'm thinking that would be your best bet for the quickest and easiest commute. For example, my husband has driven from the West Side of NYC to New Haven and its taken him anywhere from 2 hours to 3.5 when he was stuck in major traffic. When he takes Metro North, its a quick walk to the subway and ten minutes to Grand Cen, then an exact hour and forty minute ride.

Hope that can give you some sort of perspective! Good luck!

[MikefromCT]

I think the best route would be to take the Merritt Pkwy - if you're not familiar with it it's the same as the Hutchinson River Pkwy, it simply goes by the Merritt once you enter Connecticut. It's not a far commute in terms of meilage from Stamford or Norwalk to Queens, but during commuter traffic I've been told it can be a schlep - especially in Westchster. But unlike I-95 (which wouldn't be the best route to Queens), at least it moves.

I'm not sure just how long it would take to get there since I don't live there, alot of that would depend on which town you commute from and where exactly in Queens you're going to (I say that because I know the boro is big geographically, with many different highways running through it.)

[JayCT]

Norwalk is over 40 miles from Queens and to get there you must travel through very busy Stamford. I would not recommend living there and commuting. Stamford is over 30 miles and that commute is not great either but better than Norwalk. The problem is traffic crossing over the two bridges connecting the Bronx to Queens (Throgs Neck and Whitestone) is also very difficult at times. I would allow at least an hour may be an hour and a half. Not fun.

I know the economy is not great but maybe one of you should consider changing jobs. Because the area is so expensive, there has been a bit of a shortage of qualified teachers in lower Fairfield County. Teaching positions can be available. Engineering jobs are a bit tougher to get these days because of the economy but your fiance should look in New York too. You never know. Good luck, Jay

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by CTNYCT

Hi -

I live on Staten Island right now, with my parents living in New Haven. I can tell you that the Metro North train from Stamford to Grand Central would be 40 minutes, and then I'm guessing you would have to take a train from there. I haven't lived my whole life in Staten Island so I'm not too savvy about Brooklyn, Queens, etc. so I'm not sure if that would be a hassle for you, but I'm thinking that would be your best bet for the quickest and easiest commute. For example, my husband has driven from the West Side of NYC to New Haven and its taken him anywhere from 2 hours to 3.5 when he was stuck in major traffic. When he takes Metro North, its a quick walk to the subway and ten minutes to Grand Cen, then an exact hour and forty minute ride.

Hope that can give you some sort of perspective! Good luck!

If you take Metro North to Grand Central station, you can take from there the number 7 subway train into Queens.

[MovingOut12]

Thank you so much for your replies! There are several options my fiancé and I need to consider. However if we do decide to move to Stamford and I leave at around 6:30 do you think I am giving myself enough time to guarantee I will get to work by 7:50? I am sorry for asking so many questions, I am just very concerned about the commute.
Thank you once again!

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by MovingOut12

Thank you so much for your replies! There are several options my fiancé and I need to consider. However if we do decide to move to Stamford and I leave at around 6:30 do you think I am giving myself enough time to guarantee I will get to work by 7:50? I am sorry for asking so many questions, I am just very concerned about the commute.
Thank you once again!

No need to apologize.

I still think you might be cutting it close just because of traffic if you left at 6:30. Have you decided how you plan on getting to the city? I mentioned earlier that the Merritt/Hutchinson Pkwy would probably be the best route, but I forgot to mention that if you live closer to I95 you could always jump on that - and THEN pick up the Hutch in the Bronx since these 2 highways intersect. Or just stay on the Throgs Neck EXPWY which takes you over the TN bridge into Queens.

As someone else mentioned, you could also take Metro North to Grand Central, then take either the #7 train or the E train, depending where in Queens you will be working.

[val2447]

we too are moving to the Norwalk area and commuting to school @ 187-30 Grand Central Pkwy., Jamaica Estates. if you are interested in discussing carpooling options, please let us know. we need to organize carpooling arrangements in the morning only on monday, tues., and thurs. we are very flexible with pickup locations.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Norwalk is over 40 miles from Queens and to get there you must travel through very busy Stamford. I would not recommend living there and commuting. Stamford is over 30 miles and that commute is not great either but better than Norwalk. The problem is traffic crossing over the two bridges connecting the Bronx to Queens (Throgs Neck and Whitestone) is also very difficult at times. I would allow at least an hour may be an hour and a half. Not fun.

I know the economy is not great but maybe one of you should consider changing jobs. Because the area is so expensive, there has been a bit of a shortage of qualified teachers in lower Fairfield County. Teaching positions can be available. Engineering jobs are a bit tougher to get these days because of the economy but your fiance should look in New York too. You never know. Good luck, Jay

I am not sure there is a shortage right now, but perhaps for an experienced teacher like the OP it is still so. A LOT of the people in the alternate route program I was in this summer were ex-Wall Streeters in lower Fairfield and also a lot of ex-Pfizer people from there who commuted to HQ in Manhattan (Pfizer has had a LOT of layoffs the last two years, in fact one reason I lost my job is Pfizer was a major client of ours I did a lot of DB work for and they cut all our work).

While even as recently as last year most of these people got jobs (and these were in the real "shortage" areas like secondary math and science), not too many have this year, and this is in lower Fairfield. So outside of this crazy budget year JayCT is probably correct.

Also, many people have told me that CT is one of the more difficult states to switch a license from another state to (whereas getting an initial certificate is not, even if you live in an adjacent state). But I don't know the details of that. I know in NYC itself they're limiting new hires right now to currently employed and recently excessed NYC teachers (one reason I looked to CT for my career change), so maybe you can get a position in the Bronx? Maybe not as nice as Queens but in a "normal" year (and I think you still have an edge as an existing NYC teacher) you'd get one easily and at least you could eliminate the bridge. If it weren't for budget issues, I'd suggest Westchester County for teaching too which would get you even closer without having to switch your license. But I know the "nice" districts in Westchester are always hard to get into (some experienced teachers earn six figures there! Of course there's no "shortage") and the "poor" districts like Yonkers and Mt. Vernon are not hiring at all because of budget crises.

On the other hand, for commuting as a teacher, I can give you a unique perspective as I live in southern Westchester near the Hutch Parkway and have interviewed all over CT (with the idea of possible relocation) and have seen the traffic along the Hutch, I-95, and the Merritt at many different hours lately. My impression is that especially if you are willing to go into your class early (like arrive at 7-7:15am if that's possible) you'll beat the Hutch/Merritt and bridge traffic. but what I found is once you get to the 7:30-8am hour, you start getting it fast and hard unfortunately. Now the trick may be getting back, I think if you can leave your school by 3:45 or earlier you'll mostly be OK but after that you'll start getting into trouble, especially on the Hutch parkway.

Good luck!

[Tubulus]

This may sound obvious, but if you do the commute, buy a GPS with a traffic feed (any garmin ending in "t") or at least check google/yahoo maps traffic. You are lucky in that you have 2 highways (95 and the hutch) and 2 bridges (well, really 3 with the triboro).

Also, google mas has a new feature where once you click "traffic", you can change it to historical, and it will give you avrage historical trffic at any time of any day of the week