Help: City girl from Houston, TX to work in Edison, NJ (Newark: affordable apartment, rentals)

[candyala]

I am undecided on a job offer in Edison and I am looking at where would be a good place to live. I am moving by myself n I do like the city life and I know I will miss the Gulf Coast! Would like some opinions. Please help!

[twista6002]

You should check out New Brunswick around the Rutgers campus. Decent city environment and a lot of young singles, clubs, bars, etc.

[candyala]

Thank you, I greatly appreciate it!! Do you live in that area?

[twista6002]

Originally Posted by candyala

Thank you, I greatly appreciate it!! Do you live in that area?

I used to live moderately close but I did do a lot of partying in New Brunswick as recent as last May.

[candyala]

Well I did take your word on New B and checked on line for rentals and it didn't look that appealing. Maybe I am trippin n not checking right.

[GiantRutgersfan]

Originally Posted by candyala

Well I did take your word on New B and checked on line for rentals and it didn't look that appealing. Maybe I am trippin n not checking right.

That is pretty much the only city like area in the vicinity. No where else in the immediate area has much of a nightlife...

You could live in Hoboken or Jersey City, but you would be looking at a 45 min to an hour commute each way and much higher rent.

[MontyLaSalle]

New Brunswick doesn't have any large buildings in a concentrated downtown, does it? I wouldn't consider anyplace without that a city in this context (which is different than official municipal designations). If the OP has anything like my take on it, New Jersey has just a few places that would count as a "city", and none of them are cities in the Houston or Dallas sense (the only "world-class" cities nearby are New York City and Philadelphia)--they're more cities in the Amarillo sense, if that: Atlantic City, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, and then there are a few borderline places like Camden and Paterson (maybe even Trenton should go in this category instead).

There are other places that have a larger population than some of those, but often in New Jersey, it's more like really congested suburbs that have scattered office buildings that are maybe 5-9 stories, and places that are more like quaint old "downtowns"--a few streets of concentrated consumer businesses in older 2-5 story buildings. They're more like overgrown versions of those older one-traffic-light downtowns in smaller Texas towns; the feeling/atmosphere to them is very similar.

So for Edison, your easiest commute from someplace that I'd consider a city would probably be from Trenton. However, not many people would recommend moving to Trenton, and I wouldn't really either. In most cases, people would recommend against it because of crime. In my case, I'd recommend against it because it just isn't that attractive and there just isn't that much going on. It's not quite Detroit (and it's certainly not as large as metro Detroit), but it's probably not that far removed from a similar atmosphere.

Newark is the closest city in the other direction. Again, most folks here would recommend against it. Newark is the kind of place that I'd consider living if it were in another location, but with the places it's near, I'd have to have some kind of unusual deal to cause me to pick Newark over the other places. One of the close places I'd rather live is Jersey City, which is just a few miles from Newark. Of course, if you're doing a commute like Jersey City (maybe 40-45 minutes to Edison in moderate traffic, probably a bit better on a train as long as your departure and destination points are near a station), you could instead live in New York City, which depending on where you'd be, might only add another 10-15 minutes to your commute. Note that Staten Island, though technically a part of New York City, and much closer to Edison, is again just a very congested suburb. If you're driving, you could do the part of Brooklyn that's city-like, though, and then cut through Staten Island to Edison for your commute. That might actually be no longer than the Jersey City commute.

In the other direction you've got Atlantic City, which is only a city in the way that Las Vegas is--if it weren't for the casinos, it might as well be, say, Del Rio, TX, although quality-wise as a city, Atlantic City to Las Vegas is kinda like comparing Newark to New York City. Like going all the way to New York City, you could also choose to go all the way to Philadelphia. However, pretty much every time that I've tried to drive from Philadelphia back to northern New Jersey it's been a big mess--so that you'd have to count on about 2 hours to Edison. However, that might be because I've tended to only go to Philadephia for short holidays--Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc., and I've usually been coming home when half a million other New Jerseyans, New Yorkers, and so on are also trying to go north on the NJ Turnpike. In terms of distance, you'd think that Philadelphia should only be about a 40-45 minute commute, too. I just don't know what it's like trying to drive it on a normal workday, during normal working hours.

Soooo . . . the bottom line is that you're going to have to compromise on something. If you want a short commute and more affordability, you'll need to be in one of those congested suburb areas rather than a city. Or, you can live in a so-so city that's fairly affordable but that has a longer commute, or you can live in a great city that has a long commute and where you're going to have to really hunt for an affordable apartment that's not too small. If the Brooklyn commute can be done in 45 minutes, and that seems probable to me, then that might be your best bet, it will just take more work to find the right apartment.

[FrmlyBklyn]

Originally Posted by MontyLaSalle

New Brunswick doesn't have any large buildings in a concentrated downtown, does it? I wouldn't consider anyplace without that a city in this context (which is different than official municipal designations). If the OP has anything like my take on it, New Jersey has just a few places that would count as a "city", and none of them are cities in the Houston or Dallas sense (the only "world-class" cities nearby are New York City and Philadelphia)--they're more cities in the Amarillo sense, if that: Atlantic City, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, and then there are a few borderline places like Camden and Paterson (maybe even Trenton should go in this category instead).

There are other places that have a larger population than some of those, but often in New Jersey, it's more like really congested suburbs that have scattered office buildings that are maybe 5-9 stories, and places that are more like quaint old "downtowns"--a few streets of concentrated consumer businesses in older 2-5 story buildings. They're more like overgrown versions of those older one-traffic-light downtowns in smaller Texas towns; the feeling/atmosphere to them is very similar.

So for Edison, your easiest commute from someplace that I'd consider a city would probably be from Trenton. However, not many people would recommend moving to Trenton, and I wouldn't really either. In most cases, people would recommend against it because of crime. In my case, I'd recommend against it because it just isn't that attractive and there just isn't that much going on. It's not quite Detroit (and it's certainly not as large as metro Detroit), but it's probably not that far removed from a similar atmosphere.

Newark is the closest city in the other direction. Again, most folks here would recommend against it. Newark is the kind of place that I'd consider living if it were in another location, but with the places it's near, I'd have to have some kind of unusual deal to cause me to pick Newark over the other places. One of the close places I'd rather live is Jersey City, which is just a few miles from Newark. Of course, if you're doing a commute like Jersey City (maybe 40-45 minutes to Edison in moderate traffic, probably a bit better on a train as long as your departure and destination points are near a station), you could instead live in New York City, which depending on where you'd be, might only add another 10-15 minutes to your commute. Note that Staten Island, though technically a part of New York City, and much closer to Edison, is again just a very congested suburb. If you're driving, you could do the part of Brooklyn that's city-like, though, and then cut through Staten Island to Edison for your commute. That might actually be no longer than the Jersey City commute.

In the other direction you've got Atlantic City, which is only a city in the way that Las Vegas is--if it weren't for the casinos, it might as well be, say, Del Rio, TX, although quality-wise as a city, Atlantic City to Las Vegas is kinda like comparing Newark to New York City. Like going all the way to New York City, you could also choose to go all the way to Philadelphia. However, pretty much every time that I've tried to drive from Philadelphia back to northern New Jersey it's been a big mess--so that you'd have to count on about 2 hours to Edison. However, that might be because I've tended to only go to Philadephia for short holidays--Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc., and I've usually been coming home when half a million other New Jerseyans, New Yorkers, and so on are also trying to go north on the NJ Turnpike. In terms of distance, you'd think that Philadelphia should only be about a 40-45 minute commute, too. I just don't know what it's like trying to drive it on a normal workday, during normal working hours.

Soooo . . . the bottom line is that you're going to have to compromise on something. If you want a short commute and more affordability, you'll need to be in one of those congested suburb areas rather than a city. Or, you can live in a so-so city that's fairly affordable but that has a longer commute, or you can live in a great city that has a long commute and where you're going to have to really hunt for an affordable apartment that's not too small. If the Brooklyn commute can be done in 45 minutes, and that seems probable to me, then that might be your best bet, it will just take more work to find the right apartment.

There is NO way that commute can be done in 45 minutes - she'll spend 45 minutes alone just getting to the Verrazano, cross the tolls and get about 5 miles into the Staten Island Expressway - she'll still have to get onto 440 and then over the Outerbridge, down the parkway - nope, ain't gonna happen in 45 minutes.

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by MontyLaSalle

New Brunswick doesn't have any large buildings in a concentrated downtown, does it? I wouldn't consider anyplace without that a city in this context (which is different than official municipal designations). If the OP has anything like my take on it, New Jersey has just a few places that would count as a "city", and none of them are cities in the Houston or Dallas sense (the only "world-class" cities nearby are New York City and Philadelphia)--they're more cities in the Amarillo sense, if that: Atlantic City, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, and then there are a few borderline places like Camden and Paterson (maybe even Trenton should go in this category instead).

There are other places that have a larger population than some of those, but often in New Jersey, it's more like really congested suburbs that have scattered office buildings that are maybe 5-9 stories, and places that are more like quaint old "downtowns"--a few streets of concentrated consumer businesses in older 2-5 story buildings. They're more like overgrown versions of those older one-traffic-light downtowns in smaller Texas towns; the feeling/atmosphere to them is very similar.

So for Edison, your easiest commute from someplace that I'd consider a city would probably be from Trenton. However, not many people would recommend moving to Trenton, and I wouldn't really either. In most cases, people would recommend against it because of crime. In my case, I'd recommend against it because it just isn't that attractive and there just isn't that much going on. It's not quite Detroit (and it's certainly not as large as metro Detroit), but it's probably not that far removed from a similar atmosphere.

Newark is the closest city in the other direction. Again, most folks here would recommend against it. Newark is the kind of place that I'd consider living if it were in another location, but with the places it's near, I'd have to have some kind of unusual deal to cause me to pick Newark over the other places. One of the close places I'd rather live is Jersey City, which is just a few miles from Newark. Of course, if you're doing a commute like Jersey City (maybe 40-45 minutes to Edison in moderate traffic, probably a bit better on a train as long as your departure and destination points are near a station), you could instead live in New York City, which depending on where you'd be, might only add another 10-15 minutes to your commute. Note that Staten Island, though technically a part of New York City, and much closer to Edison, is again just a very congested suburb. If you're driving, you could do the part of Brooklyn that's city-like, though, and then cut through Staten Island to Edison for your commute. That might actually be no longer than the Jersey City commute.

In the other direction you've got Atlantic City, which is only a city in the way that Las Vegas is--if it weren't for the casinos, it might as well be, say, Del Rio, TX, although quality-wise as a city, Atlantic City to Las Vegas is kinda like comparing Newark to New York City. Like going all the way to New York City, you could also choose to go all the way to Philadelphia. However, pretty much every time that I've tried to drive from Philadelphia back to northern New Jersey it's been a big mess--so that you'd have to count on about 2 hours to Edison. However, that might be because I've tended to only go to Philadephia for short holidays--Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc., and I've usually been coming home when half a million other New Jerseyans, New Yorkers, and so on are also trying to go north on the NJ Turnpike. In terms of distance, you'd think that Philadelphia should only be about a 40-45 minute commute, too. I just don't know what it's like trying to drive it on a normal workday, during normal working hours.

Soooo . . . the bottom line is that you're going to have to compromise on something. If you want a short commute and more affordability, you'll need to be in one of those congested suburb areas rather than a city. Or, you can live in a so-so city that's fairly affordable but that has a longer commute, or you can live in a great city that has a long commute and where you're going to have to really hunt for an affordable apartment that's not too small. If the Brooklyn commute can be done in 45 minutes, and that seems probable to me, then that might be your best bet, it will just take more work to find the right apartment.

Have you been to Houston? If you define a "city" as a lot of skyscrapers, then only one small downtown area of Houston qualifies as a "city".

The OP is from Houston, most likely an area that resembles one of the big towns or small cities in NJ (e.g. Montclair, Edison, New Brunswick, Linden, etc.) Her experience living in a place like New Brunswick will be comparable to living in many parts of Houston, except it's a longer commute to the area's really big city/downtown (Manhattan) and everything is on a bigger scale here compared to the Houston Metro.

New Brunswick was the best suggestion for someone young who wants a nightlife but needs to commute to Edison. Hoboken and JC are good also but the commute would be longer.

Brooklyn? Maybe 45 minutes if you go off-hours (like 11 PM to 4 AM) and hit no traffic delays and do the speed limit, but realistically, any normal time of day, that commute will easily exceed an hour; not to mention that on such a commute there is an $8 toll into SI from NJ and on the Verazzano, which I believe is around $11!! That's about $20 in bridge tolls alone, every day!!!

Forget Brooklyn - stick w/ NB, or else do Hoboken/JC.

[TheGambler]

Red Bank isn't TOO far away... that could be a possibility. A little city-like and close to the beach.