Commuting sucks. (Newark, Union, Hackensack: housing, rent, jobs)

[dhanu86]

I commute by car 18miles or 40 minutes and i think that kinda sucks. I wouldn't want to do this for years to come. I see some people who commute so long and I never really understood why? So you're a rich man and commute from Moorestown to Morristown everyday in a Mercedes [90minutes each way]. Do people do it because they dread getting into work so they need a long drive with coffee and 101.5 or cd-novels? lol. Why don't u just move to Morristown, it's a similar place. In NJ u are always within half hour of the right community and office so people should remember this.

Do you realize 3 hours a day u are commuting? 3times5 is 15 times 4weeks is 60hours/month commuting! And there are people who still buy SUVs and use them to commute [1person communting in a big SUV] HA! what a waste. Gas will continue to climb no matter what they say, 3years ago it was almost half what it is now. Tolls are likely to skyrocket, right now Tolls aren't so bad. I don't see Hybrids anywhere, 10 years ago I would think Hybrids would have tooken over the market.

[GJM]

I use to commute for 1 1/2 hours one way per day and then 1 hour per day, then 20 minutes.

Reason - when my husband and I got married he was in the Air Force and I moved down to McGuire, but worked in Hackensack, I was with my company a long time and loved my job and made decent money. I realized I couldn't do that kind of commute so we moved to a half way point. It took him 45 minutes to get to McGuire and it took me an hour to get to work.

We did eventually move back up closer to my job because he was then working there also.

If you have seniorty at your job you just don't want to leave it and sometimes there are no jobs in the area that you may live.

My sister now commutes because her company that she has been with for 20 years has moved. She isn't going to quit a good job with good pay. She is a single mom with 2 kids. She is looking at the hybrid cars now to buy.

[Machinist]

My wife also commutes 18 miles to work. It takes her almost 40min in the morning and about an hour coming home on rt 22. My commute is 16 miles and i do it in about 30-35min driving on back roads. For me I have no problem trading "a little more" driving time to live where I live.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by dhanu86

I commute by car 18miles or 40 minutes and i think that kinda sucks. I wouldn't want to do this for years to come. I see some people who commute so long and I never really understood why? So you're a rich man and commute from Moorestown to Morristown everyday in a Mercedes [90minutes each way]. Do people do it because they dread getting into work so they need a long drive with coffee and 101.5 or cd-novels? lol. Why don't u just move to Morristown, it's a similar place. In NJ u are always within half hour of the right community and office so people should remember this.

Do you realize 3 hours a day u are commuting? 3times5 is 15 times 4weeks is 60hours/month commuting! And there are people who still buy SUVs and use them to commute [1person communting in a big SUV] HA! what a waste. Gas will continue to climb no matter what they say, 3years ago it was almost half what it is now. Tolls are likely to skyrocket, right now Tolls aren't so bad. I don't see Hybrids anywhere, 10 years ago I would think Hybrids would have tooken over the market.

Well, being in the car is the only time I get some Dennis & Judy time. Can't stand the "new" Jersey Guys. Casey is so annoying. He doesn't even have a good radio voice!

I don't know anyone that doesn't commute. When I was in North Jersey, my dad drove 11 miles, which back then was a lot. I also started making the commute via moped after school & on weekends. These days riding from Roselle to Watchung on a moped is probably suicide.

My son drives about 45 minutes - Browns Mills to Rt 73 while my hubby goes from here to Hainesport, get his truck and drives to Port Jersey.

How long will you keep doing the 40 minute commute? Where are you commuting to? I remember that you were looking for a place to live, the problem as you know is rent / mortgage and finding affordable housing.

For us, quality of life matters. You can't pay me enough to move back to Union, Somerset / Middlesex counties. I do not miss the traffic.

So, right now we're getting ready to move. We've lived in this house a long time and it's time to move on.

btw, I'm going to send you a DM.

[NJDevil]

NJ is the most densely populated state in the country, so you're guaranteed to hit traffic no matter where your commute is. People living in NJ with their jobs 10 minutes away is a rarity. Why, because everyone wants the perfect house and the perfect job. Usually, the right house is not where the right job is. It's called sacrifice. In NJ, you guys are so lucky because each town is full of businesses, it's just town after town of possibilities, you don't know where you'll end up working. It was a shock to my system to move from where a county has 50 towns in it to a county that has 2 towns. And I don't know about you all, but every time I have moved closer to my job location, I have then lost the job, it NEVER FAILS.

[stevemorse]

here is the reasoning, I lived in Hillsdale, the supermarket was less than one mile away, actually I had choices also !!!! So it took less than 2 minutes to get there, now im in the supermarket, it takes me 1 hour to check out of the damn place. Now I live in an area where I must drive 10 minutes to get to the one supermarket, however its takes me 15 minutes to get in and out. Some things are worth the sacrafice!!! Its nice to get to the action but nicer to go home with none!!!! This is why we commute, its not the money!!!! Bergen county made me very angry, I always got behind some defective prozac bad driving gene person. I really hated it. Overcrowded, and I was getting more angry by the minute. This is why 7-11 was so busy, shopping, driving and just buying anything became an angry task, I would rather eat cereal than deal with the shoprite. I would wake up at 6 am just to food shop. I had my choice ofscreaming the prozac bad drive or the cop, honestly I was very angry living in the cage of the 5th boro. This is why we commute. You will get it when you get older!!!

[MPBsr]

I commuted 35 miles north for 12 years. Now driving 28 miles south and loving that the fact that there's never any traffic driving to or from work.

[syncmaster]

As gas prices continue their upward climb - and you can bet your last dollar it will - commuting behavior will change. Development patterns will change. You can bank on it.

[MJJersey]

It's a balance based on your personal needs and desires. I know people who commute to East Jersey from PA every day. They do this because it is far less expensive to live in PA. They also have kids, and this way they can afford a bigger house with a yard. Personally, I dread commuting. I don't have kids so I don't mind trying to find a place that is close to my job and school. I used to commute from Andover to Newark 5 days a week in "rush hour" and sometimes it took me 3 hours of just sitting in traffic. I promised myself that I would never do that again. But for some people I guess the trade-off is worth it. If you can buy a 5 BR house in PA for 250K and a few hundred dollars in property tax, when that same house might cost 750K in NJ and a few thousand in tax, the incentive to sit in traffic might be enough.

[Calico696]

I commute over 40 one way per day. I would commit murder to only have to do 18 miles