Commuting to CUNY (Jersey City, West Orange, Montclair: apartments, home, school)

[jlav10]

I am going to CUNY next fall for grad school and I am considering commuting from NJ. I have some anxiety about living in Manhattan not being from the area. I am looking through communities close to NYC to look for apartments. Obviously there is Hoboken, but I've read that parking is a nightmare. Are there other towns close to NYC with an easy commute that don't have quite the parking problem that Hoboken has?

[nehs]

Which CUNY campus do u need to go to? You can consider living in Queens or Brooklyn

[jlav10]

The Graduate Center. I'm considering Brooklyn and Queens too but also don't want to neglect NJ.

[stoic]

Hi,
I'm a CUNY Grad student who grew up in Bergen County.
You may want to state a bit more about your demographics (age/marital status) and needs for a real answer, but I'll take my best shot at answering your question.
CUNY is pretty much accessible to the entire NY Metro area, since it is walking distance to Penn Station, Port Authority, and Grand Central. It is also right near the PATH. The latter is important, because NJ Transit, MetroNorth and LIRR are not 24/7, whereas the PATH is. The problem with the PATH is that none of its stations are really car friendly, except for Harrison (which is a bit of a longer commute to midtown than you might think) and most of the areas that it runs through are not wonderful.
I asked for demographics, because, unless you're raising a family, I see very little advantage to the Jersey burbs over the accessible areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan is wonderful and I would recommend getting over your phobias, but $$$ could be a problem (CUNY is building a new student housing complex that should be ready for next year - but it is in East Harlem, which is not for everybody).
Here are some more reasons to prefer staying in the City:
1. Nearly all of your classmates will be in the 5 boroughs. You will be socially isolated out in the burbs, and NYers (especially new arrivals) have a funny attitude to crossing the Hudson River. They think that NJ is somewhere between Australia and New Zealand and their willingness to visit your home will be accordingly.
2. CUNY is a NY state school with little $$$ so there are advantages to being a NYS resident. If you are not, you have to pay out of state tuition. Even if you are getting one of the fellowships, part of the fellowship is structures around the assumption that you are getting in state tuition. Otherwise, you may be restricted in the number of courses you can take. Look into this with your department.
That said, if you are considering NJ nonetheless:
- The Exchange Place part of Jersey City is convenient, nice, and on the PATH train. They have parking spaces there for $$$. But it is not cheap.
- Grove Street in Jersey City is improving. I don't think it is particularly car friendly, if that's an issue.
- Try some of the nicer, townier suburbs in Jersey, such as Montclair (decent NJT train access during peak hours, but spotty off peak) or West Orange (both of which are reasonably close to Harrison or to Secaucus Junction) or some of the Bergen County suburbs near the bridge (Edgewater, Fort Lee, Englewood). Fort Lee has easy access into Manhattan via the huge bus station at Bridge Plaza, but getting back late at night is tricky.
- You might want to consider