Best places to live when commuting downtown (Newark, Jersey City: to rent, condos)

[EAD61]

We are relocating to NJ and need some help decided where to search for housing. I"ll be commuting downtown and would like to stick with strictly taking the Path (no buses or other trains). The shorter the commute the better. (I"m not familiar with this part of Jersey).
What towns are ideal for this? Concerns are location, safety, housing availability. Looking for a large newer condo, nice townhouse or small home, again in a safe family friendly neighborhoood.
Any suggestions, all are appreciated!
Thank you!!!!

[Lusitan]

Where exactly do you work downtown? Reason I ask is that the PATH to the WTC might not be the closest spot (i.e., you might still have a 15 or 20 minute walk from the WTC to your office). In that case, looking at what subway lines get you close to your job might lead you to expand your search to look for towns where you can take a train into Grand Central Station (Connecticut or suburban NY like Westchester) or a train into Penn Station (in which case you open up a lot more connecting towns in NJ and Long Island).

If you're set on using the PATH exclusively, you don't have many options in the way of suburban lifestyle. Hoboken is a nice trendy town with great PATH connection to WTC (like 10 minutes) but it's almost like living in Manhattan in terms of how much space you'll get for your money ... maybe a little cheaper, but not much.

Jersey City is more urban, although I guess along the waterfront near Port Liberty and the Exchange Place PATH station there are nice condos.

[EAD61]

Ok, so my job is about a 20 min walk from the WTC. What town and train bus lines would bring me a bit closer and be a convenient commute (no more than an hour to an hour and a half total).
Thank you!

[Lusitan]

You have a lot of options if you can go up to a 90 minute door-to-door commute, here are some ideas: Maplewood, South Orange, Cranford, Westfield, Fanwood, Summit, River Edge, Montclair ...

Best bet is to rent around here for at least a year, that way as prices fall you'll get to know the area and what you like and dislike. You can commute from all of the towns above (plus others that different people will suggest) into Hoboken or Newark and take the PATH to WTC from there.

Good luck!