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For example, the amount of time you spend on the train according to the schedule is not the actual commuting time. I live in Cranford, for example, just under the 45 minute limit. I think the only time it's ever taken me to get to Manhattan in 45 minutes is on the weekends, during the weekday, forget it. The train backup around Secaucus adds another 10-15 minutes. And that's just to Penn Station, walking or training up to Times Square is another 10 minutes.
Again, this is if your train schedule lines up perfectly, the idea that if you want to be at work by 9 you'll get to Penn by 8:50 and therefore the train from your town, 50 minutes away, would ideally leave at 8. But it's probably going to be something more like a 7:50 train. So now your commute is over an hour. Except you need to park the car and add five minutes to do that. And leave time for any traffic in town as everyone else tries to get to the 7:50 train.
So you can see that someplace like Berkeley Heights can easily be over an hour and closer to 90 minutes even though on the map it's less than an hour. There's a lot of little five minute things here and there that add up quickly that you need to keep in mind.
Everyone here keeps saying Maplewood, which shows a 30 minute commute as being about an hour away from Times Square. They're speaking from experience, it takes about an hour.
Excellent analysis! You highlighted the main reason I left NJ years ago. And where you live is one of the better commutes to NYC. And since I work downtown it takes even longer. You just have to switch too much, pay too much (parking, bus/train + often PATH).
My commute now: I leave my house 7:40, 5 minute walk to express bus, and I can time the bus using the MTA app. So I get the 7:45 bus which gets me to work at 8:30 most of the time (thank you HOV lane on the VZ bridge and BQE!) Bus stop is a block from my office. The big savings: we only need one car since I can walk to the Xbus.
Granted I work downtown- if you work midtown you have to switch to the subway so you are better off in NJ if you live in one of the closer in towns or along the midtown direct line.
Here is unorthodox suggestions as food for thought. Most often, people reference train as primary commute since it covers more distance and more wide spread. Path too but only covers few towns.
What is sometimes overlooked is bus service. While bus is not reliable due to traffic and weather conditions compared to Path and Train, bus take you to Port Authority is right there in Times Square. If you don't mind accepting bit of unreliability of 1 hour commute of bus service. It opens up other towns that does not have train such as Leonia. Or even Fort Lee.
However you will have tough time finding new construction in town like Leonia.
The big savings: we only need one car since I can walk to the Xbus.
This is basically why we ended up in Cranford, the house is a five minute walk to the train. After we moved here I found out we had an express bus too, which means when the train goes down I take the bus. If I need to go to Times Square in the morning I take the bus.
Having both adds so much flexibility to getting to and from the city, but the housing stock isn't new and some people think the town is too far out for them. It's not right for everyone but it's certainly right for us right now.
This is basically why we ended up in Cranford, the house is a five minute walk to the train. After we moved here I found out we had an express bus too, which means when the train goes down I take the bus. If I need to go to Times Square in the morning I take the bus.
Having both adds so much flexibility to getting to and from the city, but the housing stock isn't new and some people think the town is too far out for them. It's not right for everyone but it's certainly right for us right now.
No way! Because the sudden market upswing in the past year we can't afford to buy in this town anymore, I don't even think we could buy the house we're in right now.
No way! Because the sudden market upswing in the past year we can't afford to buy in this town anymore, I don't even think we could buy the house we're in right now.
Fine. I'll just continue living in 3rd world country union city
No way! Because the sudden market upswing in the past year we can't afford to buy in this town anymore, I don't even think we could buy the house we're in right now.
Many years ago, I lived in that big old pile of bricks at 4, 6, 8 Riverside Drive in Cranford, and when it was converted into condos, I was offered the insider price of $245k for my 3rd floor apartment--in a very old building that had no elevator, its original, totally-inadequate 1915 electrical system, and an appalling infestation of bats in the attic area. A few times each month, I would come face-to-face with a bat zooming though the stairwell, or in my apartment. Not pleasant!
While I really loved living in Cranford, that offering price--circa 1987--was just not in my budget, and I chose to move to a brand-new townhouse in Rahway that sold for $115k. The crooks who did that condo conversion essentially priced me out of Cranford.
Last edited by Retriever; 02-28-2018 at 03:31 PM..
I take a 8am train every morning and a 7:30 to 830 pm bus most nights. The 40 pack bus tickets, subway cards, and 10 pack train passes purchases average out to a max 250/mo wage works pre tax. The bus home to Glen Ridge is 27 minutes at that time, and my door to door is 47-52 minutes at night. No transfers. I work in Times Square. The train is better during peak hours. A 39 minute train in the morning still translates to an hour 10 to 15 door to door once you factor in the jitney to the station, 5 minute train delays, and transferring to the 1 subway to Times Square. Not dealing with a car allows me to take the train in the morning and bus at night.
So in summary -
70-75 minute door to door in the morning
50 minute door to door at night
250/mo pretax
And depending on weather, summer months, cancellations, I have the flexibility of deciding on either the bus or train after I walk out my house on foot with a wallet full of bus passes and train tickets. It’s pretty nice.
Fine. I'll just continue living in 3rd world country union city
If it makes you feel better I just checked, the only place for sale right now that's about a five minute walk to the train station is a million dollar home. It's being touted as a place you can tear down and build three townhomes on. So it would be a million dollar teardown.
That's insane. You're better off in JC, I can't imagine prices have come down around there either...
Many years ago, I lived in that big old pile of bricks at 4, 6, 8 Riverside Drive, and when it was converted into condos, I was offered the insider price of $245k for my 3rd floor apartment--in a very old building that had no elevator, its original, totally-inadequate 1915 electrical system, and an appalling infestation of bats in the attic area. A few times each month, I would come face-to-face with a bat zooming though the stairwell, or in my apartment. Not pleasant!
While I really loved living in Cranford, that offering price--circa 1987--was just not in my budget, and I chose to move to a brand-new townhouse in Rahway that sold for $115k. The crooks who did that condo conversion essentially priced me out of Cranford.
245K in '87? That is criminal, our house wasn't that much more than that 25 years later.
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