Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Irish family of 2 young kids moving to New Jersey 30th June 2022!
Firstly we are SO EXCITED for our new adventure!!
Secondly I could really do with some advice on commuter towns from New Jersey to Times Square as my husband will work in the office there 3 days a week. Looking for a commuter town and trying to keep it 45-60 minutes journey. We will be renting and our budget is $3200 a month max!
My eldest daughter will be in school and the baby will be at home with myself so a nice family area with decent schools too!
You have a lot of options, but might need to add an extra 10 mins or so onto the expected commute time.
The below towns are all suburban, have train stations and good schools. The issue is that there are not a ton of rentals in any of the towns, so who knows what will be available in any particular town before you need to make a decision. I would start with the below list of towns:
Fair lawn
Hawthorne
Waldwick
Westwood
Hillsdale
Emerson
Glen Rock
Little Falls.
You have a lot of options, but might need to add an extra 10 mins or so onto the expected commute time.
The below towns are all suburban, have train stations and good schools. The issue is that there are not a ton of rentals in any of the towns, so who knows what will be available in any particular town before you need to make a decision. I would start with the below list of towns:
Fair lawn
Hawthorne
Waldwick
Westwood
Hillsdale
Emerson Glen Rock
Little Falls.
GR is a great town but doesnt fit on this list IMO (maybe westwood as well). More expensive and no/low rentals. Excellent towns though.
Not in NJ but in NY on the border of NJ is Pearl River. Has a lot of Irish ex pats. Fits all of your criteria if he can take the express train to and from NYC. Same train line as some of the towns already mentioned. Has a great school district. But with all suburban towns with great school districts, there will be limited houses available for rent. These type of towns have very stable single family home housing stocks. Keep in mind though that in NY mailing addresses don't mean anything. There are Pearl River addresses that are not in the Pearl River SD, and vice versa.
How about Montclair? Just looking on zillow and there are a handful of single family homes in this budget range, but also a dozen or so apartments/one floor of a multi-family with 2 or 3 bedrooms. Easy commute into Manhattan via train or bus and the town itself is an attraction in terms of restaurants/night-life/culture. I don't know anything about the elementary / middle schools, but I believe the HS isn't considered top notch by any means (not sure how old your "eldest daughter" is).
I'd also look into options of taking the bus over the train. The bus will probably open up more towns to you, and Port Authority which is the bus terminal is right next to Times Square. Taking the Train into Penn Station and going up to Times Square will likely add ~15-20 minutes to the commute.
Also to keep expectations realistic, a regular commute door to door is ~2 hours. Riding on the train/bus is the easy part, its the commute to the train/bus station, then getting off and navigating through the City to your destination which is where all the stress lays.
Last edited by DannyHobkins; 05-06-2022 at 09:24 AM..
I'd also look into options of taking the bus over the train. The bus will probably open up more towns to you, and Port Authority which is the bus terminal is right next to Times Square. Taking the Train into Penn Station and going up to Times Square will likely add ~15-20 minutes to the commute.
Also to keep expectations realistic, a regular commute door to door is ~2 hours. Riding on the train/bus is the easy part, its the commute to the train/bus station, then getting off and navigating through the City to your destination which is where all the stress lays.
I second the bus option since it’s in Times Square. Bus may be slower than train because of traffic, but it will dump you where you need to be in the city. Might be better. I would suggest finding some towns and plotting out commutes via both bus and train on Google maps to see what it looks like. You can even do so at a hypothetical future time to align with what the commute would actually be like during the travel hours.
The buses go through the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken. The closest town that has good schools and possibly some rental options might be Rutherford. You did not specify if looking for a house or apartment. It does also have a train. You might also consider Nutley and West Orange a little further out. Only bus options for them. Fair Lawn is a little further out but can also be considered. Bus and train there. Also perhaps Teaneck and Fort Lee, which only have buses. Fort Lee is best is you think a driving commute is desirable. Montclair which was previously mentioned is also an option. Plenty of trains and buses there.
If you choose the bus route, you can even stretch it as far as Wayne/Fairfield if you rent something near Willowbrook Mall. There is a bus running out of there right to Port Authority that should take about 45 min during rush hour (at most an hour on bad days). Good schools out there and decent amenities and restaurants but all would require a car to get to/from.
There is also the Park and Ride by the meadowlands that a lot of people use if you don't find a house near a train or bus stop. Would need a second car of course. Just a few dollars extra per day to park there. I'm not sure how traffic is these days, pre-covid the bus ride was pretty painless if you got into the city before 8am, but traffic through the tunnel picked up quite a bit after that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
