Moving to Central NJ (Trenton, Atlantic City: car insurance, homes, buy)

[Kimco]

I need to find a town in NJ from which I could commute by train to both Philadelphia and NYC. Good schools are important, and could spend in the $700k range. Also would prefer to be near a city and don't want to live in too rural an area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[berryjuice4life]

almost all of jersey is surburban, living near the city would be northern NJ and a hike to commute to philidelphia..I live in Jackson and we are 1 hour to phili and 1 hour 45 min to manhattan..rural I wouldnt say that however we dont have trains here...You could consider the Princeton Area, West Windsor there is a train in princeton and in the 700's range you buy a nice house

Staci

[block911]

somerset... u can take north east corridor to philly and nyc.

[downtownjc]

If you want to be between New York and Philly you are by definition not going to be near a city--that is just one of the concessions you have to make to be between the two.

That said, the most "city-like" are between the two may be Princeton, which is a large town and has a very nice downtown area. However, you would probably have to drive from Princeton to Philly (1:30 with traffic, most likely), but from Princeton you can take NJ Transit to New York (about 1:15 or so).

The only way to take the commuter trains to both NYC and Philly is to live near (but definitely not in!) Trenton, as you can take both SEPTA to Philly and NJTransit to NYC from there. Of course, you will have to drive to the Trenton train station from a relatively close town--you will not want to live in walking distance to it, believe me. You might consider Hamilton, which has a number of nice suburban areas, or maybe parts of Lawrenceville (from which you could drive either to Princeton Junction or Trenton).

The only way to live somewhere other than the Trenton area (if you want to take the train both ways) is to get an Amtrak monthly pass to Philadelphia, as NJ Transit runs only as far south as Trenton and SEPTA runs only that far north. Although Amtrak will be much faster and allows you to live at more stations, it is *much* more expensive, with a monthly pass costing probably $800 (or maybe more).

No matter what, though, you really won't be close to a city and you will have a 1-1.5hr commute to each city--that's just the way it is commuting to cities 90 miles apart.

[Kimco]

Thanks. Do you know how far the drive is from Princeton to Trenton train station. It only seem to be about 20 minutes.
Also, any thoughts on Hopewell or Pennington. I know they're a bit rural, but there seem to be some more suburban type areas.

[downtownjc]

The drive probably would be a bit over 20 minutes, as there is only one main road (Route 206) out of Princeton and it can be a little crazy during rush hour.

Pennington and Hopewell are indeed nice areas; Pennington might lean a little closer to the suburban, while Hopewell might be a little more rural. Both are probably in the 1:15 to 1:30 driving distance range to NYC and Philly, but keep in mind you would hit traffic heading to both so there might be some variability. Driving from Pennington (or even Hopewell) to Trenton to catch the train probably wouldn't be too bad, but getting to Princeton Junction might be annoying, probably more so from Hopewell (probably 20 minutes' drive, I would guess).

If you are looking at areas around Trenton, you may also want to look at Washington Crossing and Titusville in NJ (suburban but woodsy and almost a bit rural, but gorgeous area and pretty close to Trenton), as well as some of the areas in PA right across the Delaware River (like Newtown, Langhorne, and Yardley). Home prices are likely to be a bit cheaper in PA, and property taxes + car insurance (and potentially income tax, although it depends) tend to be lower in PA. I personally love the Newtown and Langhorne areas in PA--for suburbs they tend to be quite beautiful.

[downtownjc]

Also, forgot to mention that Langhorne and Yardley have their own SEPTA stops, so no need to go to Trenton to get to Philly. However, to catch the NJ Transit train you'd need to drive to Trenton. Coming from Langhorne you could take Route 1 across the bridge and be pretty much at the train station in 15-20 minutes (IIRC there's not too much traffic on Route 1 heading into Trenton in the AM, but I am not sure). Then train to Penn Station takes about 1:15-1:30 depending on the number of stops.

[njmom8]

Metuchen is a really cute town- nice downtown w/ restaurants and shops. Metropark train station is very close- has a ton of parking, and you can get amtrack to Philly, and NJ transit to NY. You are closer to NY- but it a fast train ride to Philly...

[LittleMissSunshine]

Princeton, Jamesburg, Cranbury are kind of smack in the middle of nyc and philly.

[Allentown]

Hi!
I've lived in the Central NJ area ( Allentown ) for 37yrs. We are currently looking to relocate to South Carolina. Recently retired educator we cannot afford to stay in NJ where the taxes and overall expense is out of sight. It sounds from the price of the home you are suggesting , that this area would not be a detriment to you. Actually, Allentown is located off of Exit 7a of the NJ Turnpike, less than an hour both ways to NY & Philly. Allentown has some great homes & the school system is very good; nearby, the West Windsor Plainsboro School System ( North ) is exceptional. Neither Allentown or West Windsor are large cities, but are not what I would consider rural. More like the suburbs. Princeton, NJ and Trenton would be the largest cities. Princeton has the University and a very diverse community. Further South, the Cherry Hill & Mount Laurel areas are close to Philly and somewhat further from NY. In the Allentown/Trenton & West Windsor area you have train stations that go to Philly & NY.

Other than being newly retired and in need of relief, the Central NJ area has been a very nice place to live. The pace is fast but not like LA, you are close to many areas such as Philly, NY and all of the Casinos in Atlantic City and now just across the river into Pennsylvania. This area has many excellent school systems not just those mentioned.

Good Luck and maybe we'll pass on the turnpike!
Dan