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I have a job offer in NYC and I need help deciding what town to live in.
Where are you coming from? Maple Grove, MN
Why are you moving? I have a job offer in NYC around 100 Broadway, Manhattan.
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC?around 100 Broadway, Manhattan.
Will you buy or rent? Rent
What is your budget ? $2500/month
What kind of place are you looking for ? Safe for kids and good schools.
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ? 3 girls 2, 5, and 8 and my wife.
Do you need/want good public schools?Yes, very important.
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in
(examples: families with young children, young, mature, artsy, diverse, safe, close-knit, block parties, etc)
Safe with parks and bike paths. My 5 year old is a figure skater so relatively close to an ice rink/skating club. My oldest is on a swim team so close to swim club/pool.
List three things that are important to you in order of importance.(examples: nightlife, outdoor activities, rural/urban, safety, downtown area, charming, new construction, proximity to XYZ, family oriented, easy parking, short commute, etc)
Good school, parks/ice rink/pool, reasonable commute into the city.
I have been trying to work out the commute and have found the PATH that seems to go right to the WTC area but I,m not sure if there if there is parking at the station.
Some towns to consider: Cranford, Westfield, Metuchen. The trade-off (as I'm sure you're seeing) is commuting time. You could go a little further into Monmouth couty and still have rail access to Newark (and transfer to PATH) -- places like Old Bridge could fit.
$2500/mo rent for a family of 5 in commuting distance from NYC in nice area in northern NJ with good schools seems little unrealistic to me. I think you are looking at $3000/mo minimum.
100 Broadway is downtown in the financial district near the WTC. Understand that the PATH train stations on the Jersey side are not located in places where you would want to live per your OP. You would therefore take a NJ Transit train to Hoboken from towns in north and central Jersey.
If you live in Central/coastal NJ, you have the choice of Academy Bus, which runs directly to the Wall Street area where you want to be, or the ferries, which run from Atlantic Highlands or Sandy Hook directly to the Wall Street pier, but the ferry is about $635 for a monthly ticket. The ferry ride is about 45 minutes--you pay for a shorter commute.
I suggest you start your search in the Red Bank area. Has Academy Bus access in the area to Wall Street, the North Jersey Coast Line to Hoboken, or the ferry, and it also has this:
For $2500 and a relative easy commute your options are pretty limited. I would check out Rutherford and Montclair for starters. Both will get you to/from the city in under an hour and are located in safe, family oriented towns.
Regarding the PATH, you can pick it up in Hoboken. Most NJ transit lines go into Hoboken, so you would simply make a transfer to the Path from there.
Personally, I think the Red Bank area suggestion will be too far for your commuting tastes, while Westfield/Cranford might be too expensive, although I haven't checked out the rental market down there lately.
For $2500 and a relative easy commute your options are pretty limited. I would check out Rutherford and Montclair for starters. Both will get you to/from the city in under an hour and are located in safe, family oriented towns.
Regarding the PATH, you can pick it up in Hoboken. Most NJ transit lines go into Hoboken, so you would simply make a transfer to the Path from there.
Personally, I think the Red Bank area suggestion will be too far for your commuting tastes, while Westfield/Cranford might be too expensive, although I haven't checked out the rental market down there lately.
Agree, since I'm the one who recommended Monmouth County. It is not a short commute, although there certainly are thousands of commuters going to the city from down here every day. We do it for the tradeoff of the surroundings where we live. My door-to-door commute is currently two hours, but it would be a little shorter for someone working in the WTC area. For a person from out of state, the commute might indeed seem outrageous. I was thinking of the budget of the OP, however. I lived in Bergen County (Midland Park) while raising my daughter, and I rented a three-bedroom house for $2200, but the house was old, things like the furnace were always breaking, water leaked in from outside regularly, the basement flooded when it rained (and of course the landlord was reluctant to ever fix anything). And one of those bedrooms was just big enough to squeeze in a bed and a computer desk. The OP has three kids and probably needs enough room and a rental house that isn't disintegrating. I thought of Monmouth County because they might find something in their price range.
As always, we all know that the ideal trio of cheap rent/short commute/good schools doesn't exist in NJ. Something has to be sacrificed.
Some towns to consider: Cranford, Westfield, Metuchen. The trade-off (as I'm sure you're seeing) is commuting time. You could go a little further into Monmouth couty and still have rail access to Newark (and transfer to PATH) -- places like Old Bridge could fit.
All, Thanks for the realistic information. I would like to keep my commute down to about and hour. It looks like I will have to bump up my rent budget to 3k a month though.
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