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I'm hoping some of you will have some suggestions on places to live in Central NJ. We're looking for a town with rentals (apt or condo) that's accessible to both Camden (where I'll be working) and Princeton (where he currently lives and works). We'll have one car, so only one of us will be able to drive while the other one takes public transportation. Ideally, we'd like to keep the driving commute to a minimum. Trains commutes are ok, up to an hour. Also, being in a safe community is important.
We've been doing research on our own, and currently the options are:
1. live in Princeton, and I do the 1 hour drive to Camden everyday. (This is attractive because we'd be able to extend his current lease or get university housing, and it's a nice walkable town. The negative is it's expensive and the long drive. Anyone know how the traffic is for a drive from Princeton to Camden?)
2. live in a town on the Riverline, like Bordentown (he drives to Princeton, and I take the Riverline to Camden). We don't know much about any of the towns along the Riverline though, and I'm worried about feeling isolated because he works longer hours and will have the car.
3. live in Trenton (he takes NJ transit/dinky to Princeton, and I take the Riverline to Camden). While I know some areas of Trenton are nice, I have to admit I'm wary of living in Trenton. Since we'll only have one car, the we'll be doing a lot of walking.
Any insights on these options and new ideas would be much appreciated! Frankly, I feel like Trenton would be perfect but for the crime/safety problem. We're leaning toward Princeton right now--my job is one year commitment, so if the commute from Princeton to Camden is bearable, I could endure it for the year. I just don't want to be making that drive unnecessarily if there are better options or missing big pitfalls for that plan.
Do you have to live within walking distance to the train station or will the one with the car be able to pick-up and drop-off?
Out of your 3 options I would probably vote for Bordentown. The commute to Camden from Princeton can get old real quick. Its going to take well over an hour on most days.
That's good to know about the commute from Princeton to Camden. I was hoping it'd be the clean under an hour drive listed by mapquest---that was wishful thinking, huh?
As for pick-up/drop-off to the train station, he'd be able to drop me off in the mornings, but evening pick-up is harder to arrange. So we'd probably want to live in walking distance of the train station, even if it were a long walk.
1. Live in Bordentown. Its a nice city, decent amount of things to do without the crime problem we have in Trenton. Better commute ( The closest of the three choices to Camden. ) If you live in Bordentown City you wouldnt always need a car to get around since a lot of it is pretty walkable.
2. Live in Trenton... I live there now. If you have children then this would be the number 3 choice because of the schools, but I'm assuming you don't from your post. There are def nice sections in Trenton. The Polish section by Route 1 and a few areas in the West Ward... Hiltonia, etc. Commute with train not too bad.
3. Living in Princeton. Princeton is a great town but the commute would be rough every day. Driving from Princeton to Camden would usually take me 55 minutes, but more if there's a decent amount of traffic. hope this helps a little, good luck!
Thanks for your thoughts JackedinPrinceton! We don't have kids, so Trenton is definitely a good option. I keep thinking the 55 minute commute is doable, but with traffic it would get old. Anyway, I was also thinking about living in Princeton and driving to one of the Riverline stations with free parking. It'd probably take longer time wise, but at least I could relax on the train and not worry about traffic as much or parking in Camden.
The worst part of the traffic will probably be getting out of Princeton. I know Route 1 is pretty much a nightmare at rush hour. And there will probably be traffic in the Trenton area as well. I would do some trial-run commutes to see how the traffic is during rush hr.
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