Apartment for a couple working in Fair Lawn and Midtown (Passaic: flat fee, real estate)

[psychopompos]

Hi there, I'm currently living in Astoria, Queens but am moving to Jersey with my girlfriend. My work is in Midtown East and hers is in Fair Lawn. We're looking for a place that would give her the shortest/quickest drive possible, while allowing me to get to work in about/under an hour.

Looking to rent. 1800 tops, but I'm thinking that a non-luxury 1 bedroom in Jersey should cost a lot less than 1800. Schools aren't important, getting to Penn/PABT quickly is.

Speaking of PABT, are the bus schedules on njtransit.com accurate in the way they account for traffic? I'd rather take a direct bus than switch trains at Secaucus, but then traffic comes into play.

Areas that I've identified as possibilities so far are Rutherford(and East), Lyndhurst, Moonachie, South Hackensack. Secaucus and anything west of the turnpike seem to make the Fair Lawn commute a bit of a pain. Anything that I should consider that I haven't? Any of those places(or any around them) that should be avoided?

Thanks

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by psychopompos

Hi there, I'm currently living in Astoria, Queens but am moving to Jersey with my girlfriend. My work is in Midtown East and hers is in Fair Lawn. We're looking for a place that would give her the shortest/quickest drive possible, while allowing me to get to work in about/under an hour.

Looking to rent. 1800 tops, but I'm thinking that a non-luxury 1 bedroom in Jersey should cost a lot less than 1800. Schools aren't important, getting to Penn/PABT quickly is.

Speaking of PABT, are the bus schedules on njtransit.com accurate in the way they account for traffic? I'd rather take a direct bus than switch trains at Secaucus, but then traffic comes into play.

Areas that I've identified as possibilities so far are Rutherford(and East), Lyndhurst, Moonachie, South Hackensack. Secaucus and anything west of the turnpike seem to make the Fair Lawn commute a bit of a pain. Anything that I should consider that I haven't? Any of those places(or any around them) that should be avoided?

Thanks

Why not Fair Lawn itself? There are express buses from there, lots of apartment complexes or two-family houses, and your commute will be less than anto the PABT. It's usually on time if you leave early enough, and the only times there are real problems if is there is a breakdown in the XBL going to the Lincoln Tunnel.

You probably don't want to live in South Hackensack. Lyndhurst is decent, not sure about Moonachie, but I think it's OK.

Rutherford's also a good choice.

One-bedroom apartments seem to be running around $1200 - $1400 in Fair Lawn, maybe $1100+ for Rutherford.

Glad to see someone being realistic. For some weird reason, we get a lot of New Yorkers on the forum thinking they can get apartments in Jersey for $600.

[brokenaperture]

My girlfriend and I also just moved out of Astoria to NJ, we ended up finding a great apartment in Bogota. My job's in Edgewater, hers is in Murray Hill. Bus gets her to the city in about a half hour and she just walks from there. You could look around here and surrounding towns like Ridgefield Park or Teaneck. Lots of express bus options and the drive to Fair Lawn would be around 15-20 minutes since she'd be going against rush hour traffic on Rt 4. To get closer to FL you could look in towns off the NJT Pascack Valley line like Hackensack (Fairmount area is very nice), River Edge, Oradell, New Milford, Emerson, Westwood. All nice towns, Westwood has a nice downtown area across from the train station.

[psychopompos]

Ha, that's such a similar situation. I live in Astoria right now, and she actually lives in one of the towns on the Pascack Valley Line (Hillsdale). I've taken the train to and from there and don't want to put up with that sort of commute.

It looks like getting the express from Radburn would be borderline reasonable, as long as we can find a place that's really close to the station. Otherwise I'm also looking at towns that have direct service to Penn: Bloomfield, Montclair, Glen Ridge... anything to watch out for there.

[ALackOfCreativity]

You will want to either take the bus or train into the city; she will want to commute along route 4 to get to Fair Lawn. Ideally, she will be commuting against traffic.

This suggests either Fair Lawn itself (nice town, transit options to city, very convenient for her) or one of the towns along route 4 close to the express bus stops. Since you don't have kids, I would look into the area around the Teaneck armory on the border of Englewood/Teaneck/Bergenfield (there is a very good bus line that goes through the area, and a lot of cheap rental housing -- further into Teaneck for a nicer area still with access, check the 167/177 schedule)

Fair Lawn will be nicer and a shorter commute for her. Farther east will be a shorter commute for you and cheaper (you are effectively getting a discount for the local schools you won't use anyway). Both are safe, both are easily within your budget.

As an aside, the bus schedules represent a "usual-case" scenario. They will usually be relatively close to the mark, but, the best case scenarios aren't that much faster while the worst case ones can be far worse when they do happen.

[brokenaperture]

Ha yeah the PV line isn't the greatest, and the further north you go, the less fun it is. Most of my friends who use it take from Anderson St in Hackensack and very rarely do they have raving reviews of their mornings, but it is an option! Towns off the Bergen County, Main or Montclair-Boonton Lines would offer less headaches.

Montclair and Glen Ridge are really nice towns. Bloomfield as well but there are a few areas that could be considered a little rough around the edges. But also coming from Astoria, what some would call rough around the edges here was a perfectly nice block there.

You might want to also look into Rutherford/East Rutherford. A great walkable downtown, some nice pubs by the train station, direct access into the city on the buses or a quick transfer at Secaucus on the train.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by psychopompos

Ha, that's such a similar situation. I live in Astoria right now, and she actually lives in one of the towns on the Pascack Valley Line (Hillsdale). I've taken the train to and from there and don't want to put up with that sort of commute.

It looks like getting the express from Radburn would be borderline reasonable, as long as we can find a place that's really close to the station. Otherwise I'm also looking at towns that have direct service to Penn: Bloomfield, Montclair, Glen Ridge... anything to watch out for there.

Yes, the Bergen County line has a lot more trains than the Passaic Valley line (which Hillsdale is one), plus many of the rush-hour trains are express from Radburn and therefore skip the next four stops before they hit Secaucus junction.

There are the Chandler Drive apartments right by the Radburn station--I used to know people who lived there, and they were OK with them, but I don't know what shape they are in now--was a while ago. There are also several condo complexes scattered around within walking distance. Also, on the north side of Plaza road, also within walking distance to the train, are some brick four-family houses where you might find a rental. My sister used to live in one of those.

[psychopompos]

Thank you for the responses, I think that now I have a better sense of where and what to look for.

A couple of additional questions. We have 2 cats. Are non-refundable pet deposits(why call it a deposit??) and 25$/month cat fees the norm for "pet-friendly" places?

Also, craigslist postings seem to be dominated by a couple of real estate agencies who charge 100-200$ for access to the actual listings. Do they really have those apartments for rent or are they more likely to be a bait-and-switch type of operation? Any personal experiences?

Thanks again.

[brokenaperture]

Those Craigslist listings with a "Flat fee!!!" are a sham, don't waste your time with those. Your best bet is researching some developments that have actual websites or just taking a drive around. After several Craigslist fails, my gf and I just drove around, found apartment complexes we liked and made some calls. Ended up with a great and spacious 1 bed in a very nice town, 100% pet friendly with no pet deposit or additional monthly fees for less than our expected budget.

The pet deposit isn't unheard of, but we've yet to have to pay one. Let me look through my old bookmarks of places we had looked into that while not dog friendly, were cat friendly. I'll PM you with some links. All were in the central Bergen County area with quick access to highways and buses or trains to the city and well within your budget.

[psychopompos]

That will definitely be very helpful. Thanks in advance.