Shopping for first home in Central NJ. Questions (Edison, East Brunswick: big house, transfer)

[capriguy84]

Hello

I currently live in South Edison(08817) and looking to buy a house in next 2-3months. We are having a baby in December, so I would close it by then and move in by Feb'17. I take NJ Transit everyday but hate it because my work is north of Grand Central and it's difficult to get there witout transferring 2 MTA trains.

I have narrowed down my search to below 3 areas.
- North Edison(closer to Metropark stn)
- Iselin (closer to Metropark stn)
- East Brunswick

Questions:

1. To the folks who have commuted from central jersey using NJ transit as well as Bus in past, which one do you prefer? Do you think the trains are faster than bus and run on schedule?

2. School district: Edison vs Iselin vs East Brunswick. My baby is not yet born and I am already thinking about this. ) Anyway, I want to be prepared, since we expect to live in that house for another 10yrs.

3. My wife currently works in bridgewater. We floated the idea of including that in our search list but commute is really bad from there and also most of our friends are in Edison, East Brunswick & woodbridge area. So we'd like to be closer. But do any of guys strongly think I should consider Bridgewater? I have no clue about buses from Bridgewater to NYC. How long do they take compared to train? Anyone commuting daily pls comment.

4. I like a BIG house with 2 car garage and prefer houses built in 2000's. My budget is less than $600k. I also prefer to have a decent backyard to allow occassinal bbq. Which area do you think offers best bang for buck?

5. I prefer proximity to parks and play areas like Tennis courts, running tracks, biking trails etc. I found one near Metropark called "Merill park". It has basketball and tennis courts and offers children play areas as well. I don't think EB has something similar.

Looking forward to hear your thoughts on the above.

Cheers
Shawn

[amazin09]

Train vs bus, for the Northeast corridor route, train is more reliable (although really both are a mess) because of heavy road traffic. I would personally avoid bus commute from East brunswick, apart from that its a great choice. However none of these will resolve the MTA transfers required, that's just a realistic midtown commute factor.

[bluewin888]

Your body and health will be damaged, if you take too many long bus rides.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by bluewin888

Your body and health will be damaged, if you take too many long bus rides.

Please provide us with a link to a credible source for that information.

[practicalposts]

Originally Posted by Retriever

Please provide us with a link to a credible source for that information.

Ask anyone who has done it more than 10 years. It takes away years out of your life. It's not worth it unless you are making big bucks.

[4NJseasons]

Originally Posted by amazin09

Train vs bus, for the Northeast corridor route, train is more reliable (although really both are a mess) because of heavy road traffic. I would personally avoid bus commute from East brunswick, apart from that its a great choice. However none of these will resolve the MTA transfers required, that's just a realistic midtown commute factor.

It depends on where you want to go in the city. If you are going to mid town, then bus is more reliable than the train. There is a dedicated bus lane in the morning for Lincoln tunnel. Downtown (Wall Street) buses does get stuck in traffic, they do not have a bus lane for Holland tunnel.

[burnfish]

Hi Shawn, my husband also commutes to Grand Central, you should try the Coach Bus (Crosstown Route 500). It's fast and comfy. My husband takes the bus from East Brunswick Transportation Center (the one near Wal-Mart). Daily parking in the garage is $5. He leaves very early (5:30am), so there is always space in daily parking. His shift starts at 7am and he is there around 6:30am.
http://coachusa.com/CoachUsaAssets/f...9/route500.pdf

There is another Coach Bus (Route 300) to Grand Central too, just FYI.
http://coachusa.com/CoachUsaAssets/f...9/route300.pdf

You may want to check http://coachusa.com/ to see what kind of bus service they have.


Hope this help.

[Rare727]

The train is really a lot more reliable than the bus in that section of NJ. An express train from Metropark (Iselin/North Edison) can get you into NYPS in 35 minutes. You're not going to find anything close to that with a bus during rush hour. Most buses take you into Port Authority on 40th/8th so you'd run into the same subway transfer there. There are some Coach buses that go to Grand Central as noted above - I don't have any personal experience with them but I can't imagine trekking across Manhattan during rush hour takes less time than a subway ride. My guess is that'll it'll be, at best, about even time-wise.

As for your other questions: North Edison and East Brunswick both have great schools. Iselin has good schools, but not quite on the same level. North Edison and East Brunswick are also more expensive than Iselin, so it's up to you if you're willing to make the trade-off for better schools. You could probably find something within your budget in any of the three towns though.