Clinton to Newark commute along 78 (Jersey City, Bayonne: apartment, rental, condo)

[miablueiii]

We fell in love with a house right near Clinton in Hunterdon but I work in downtown Newark. I will be driving so comments on mass transit aren't helpful - google says an hour without traffic, what kind of commute during rush hour can I expect? What if I'm on the road at/by 7 a.m.?

[PDD]

1.5-2 hrs. depending on traffic.
If it snows fughedaboutit.

You will have people tell you they do the trip in 30-40 min. but those are the same people who claim 40 MPG in their 500 HP sports cars.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by PDD

You will have people tell you they do the trip in 30-40 min. but those are the same people who claim 40 MPG in their 500 HP sports cars.

Yup!
I've known people like that.
When I was a teenager, one of my father's friends got a job in Matawan. When my father asked him, "Bob, how long does it take you to drive from Bayonne to Matawan?", the response was..."20 minutes".

Even I, as a teenager, knew that this was not very likely, but when my father pressed the guy for more information, the claimed 20 minutes went from unlikely to...impossible.

Why was it impossible?
Because the guy was a notorious cheapskate, and would never take a toll road if he could avoid it.
So...his stated route from Bayonne to Matawan was:

Drive north, from midtown Bayonne to Route 440 in Jersey City
Take Route 440 North, to Truck Route 1 & 9 South (which really goes West at that point)
At Newark, switch to "regular" Route 1 & 9 South
At Woodbridge, switch to Route 9 South
Around the Cheesquake area, switch to Route 34

Because the first two legs of his trip to a southern destination involved going north, in congested traffic, the guy would have been lucky to get to Newark in 20 minutes during morning commuting hours, and--in reality, there is no way that he could have made it from Bayonne to Matawan in less than 50-60 minutes.

My father expressed skepticism, but the guy persisted in his claim, even adding, "...and I get over 30 mpg with my Rambler, because I never go over 35 mph!"
(Yeah, the guy was a major doofus.)

The moral of the story is to be very skeptical of people's claims as to driving time and to gas mileage.
However, I think that PDD's estimate is pretty accurate.

[miablueiii]

I'm a Michigan transplant and slowly but surely realizing that regardless of where we're looking I should just double the commute time google gives me - and make sure I'm comfortable with THAT.

Given that, what affordable (i.e. <$1600/month renting) towns could anyone recommend within a 45 minute to 1 hour REAL TIME commute to Newark? Schools aren't important to us - we just want something SAFE. Open to places that are more blue collar with less "big box" stores, but not anything too backwoods or economically depressed. It's been so frustrating for us spending all our free time traversing the state to find even an AREA we like, let alone a rental in that city that we like too. Any help in nailing down a location would be great.

[KoalaNJ]

Originally Posted by miablueiii

I'm a Michigan transplant and slowly but surely realizing that regardless of where we're looking I should just double the commute time google gives me - and make sure I'm comfortable with THAT.

Given that, what affordable (i.e. <$1600/month renting) towns could anyone recommend within a 45 minute to 1 hour REAL TIME commute to Newark? Schools aren't important to us - we just want something SAFE. Open to places that are more blue collar with less "big box" stores, but not anything too backwoods or economically depressed. It's been so frustrating for us spending all our free time traversing the state to find even an AREA we like, let alone a rental in that city that we like too. Any help in nailing down a location would be great.

A good general rule of thumb is to at a minimum double the travel time stated by google maps or mapquest and add 10%.


You wrote:

"what affordable (i.e. <$1600/month renting) towns could anyone recommend within a 45 minute to 1 hour REAL TIME commute to Newark"




In order to provide you with truly useful suggestions as to towns, it would be very helpful if you could tell us more about what you are seeking in terms of a rental...are you looking for a single family home, or a 1 bd apartment for the <$1600 a month?? What type of community are you looking for?



KoalaNJ

[miablueiii]

Originally Posted by KoalaNJ

A good general rule of thumb is to at a minimum double the travel time stated by google maps or mapquest and add 10%.


You wrote:

"what affordable (i.e. <$1600/month renting) towns could anyone recommend within a 45 minute to 1 hour REAL TIME commute to Newark"




In order to provide you with truly useful suggestions as to towns, it would be very helpful if you could tell us more about what you are seeking in terms of a rental...are you looking for a single family home, or a 1 bd apartment for the <$1600 a month?? What type of community are you looking for?



KoalaNJ

We would prefer a 2 bedroom but are open to a 1 bedroom - but if it's 1 bedroom, I'd like it to be $1,100 or less ideally. Condo, house, whatever. We currently live in Lincoln Park and we like the area/community - to give you a reference point - but rent's too high in our current place. We're just looking for a place that has a good mix of families and young couples, safe enough to walk the streets at night - other than that we're not picky.

[KoalaNJ]

Originally Posted by miablueiii

We would prefer a 2 bedroom but are open to a 1 bedroom - but if it's 1 bedroom, I'd like it to be $1,100 or less ideally. Condo, house, whatever. We currently live in Lincoln Park and we like the area/community - to give you a reference point - but rent's too high in our current place. We're just looking for a place that has a good mix of families and young couples, safe enough to walk the streets at night - other than that we're not picky.

I believe you will have to do some compromising. You can find a 2bd apartment for under 1600 that is within an hour commute of Newark, but it will be in a more urban setting, generally safe towns that immediately come to mind are Maplewood, Nutley, and Caldwell.

I'd look into the eastern parts of Morris County, though be careful about flood prone areas. You will be able to find a 2bd for ~1600 a month, and your commute will be right about an hour. East Hanover, Morris Plains, are a little more suburban than rural, but within your budget and time limits. Other towns to consider would be Florham Park, Whippany, Cedar Knolls, and the eastern side of Randolph. You will be right at your threshold on your desired monetary and commute distances though.

To find a 1 bedroom for under 1100 you'll have to go to Sussex or Warren Counties, and your commute will be much greater than the 45 min to an hour.

KoalaNJ