Quote:
Originally Posted by jenmee
Thanks SO much for all the great info. Quick question re: Princeton...I was actually very interested in the area as it seems a good fit for our lifestyle but it sounds like the commute ain't so great, correct? Right now, my husband commutes from San Jose to San Francisco and back during the work week...he drives to the train station, takes the train up, and hoofs it a few blocks to his office. I think it's about 1-1.5 hours one way commute. Would Princeton or other towns further "inland" be a lengthier commute than this into the city?
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yeah, the commute from princeton to nyc is kind of a schlep, although plenty of people do it everyday. i'd say that the absolute minimum (door-to-door) is 90 minutes, but with any sort of delay, your husband will be looking at 2 hours or more.
basically, your husband's commute time would depend on three factors:
a) whether or not he catches an express train
b) how long it takes him to get from your house to the princeton junction train station
c) how long it takes from ny penn station to his office
there are
a number of express trains in both directions, which are the key to making the commute bearable. an express train going nearly non-stop from princeton junction to ny penn station takes about 55 minutes, whereas an express making about half the stops will take roughly 75 minutes. local trains take about 90 minutes and are to be avoided except when necessary.
but don't underestimate how much the door-to-door commute can be lengthened by points b and c.
first of all, as frugalmom noted, the
princeton junction train station is actually located in the neighboring municipality of west windsor rather than princeton proper, which means that you can't just roll out of your bed in princeton and hop on a train to nyc 5 minutes later.
to get to the train station by car, you'd have to drive about 3 miles from downtown princeton (the area around the university) or up to 6 miles from the township's northern/western fringes. and as viralmd mentioned, commuters who are not residents of west windsor township have a 4 year wait for a parking permit at the station, meaning that your husband wouldn't be able to get there by car unless you dropped him off everyday. this would require leaving the house 15-20 minutes in advance.
the other option for getting to princeton junction is to ride the "
dinky", which is a shuttle train that connects downtown princeton with princeton junction and takes 5 minutes one-way. since no parking is available at the dinky station, this is really only an option if your house is located within walking distance.
if he were to take the dinky, your husband would still need to leave the house at least 20 minutes in advance: figure on a 5 minute walk to the dinky stop, 5 minutes to wait for its arrival, a 5 minute ride on the dinky to princeton junction, and then 5 minutes (or more) waiting for the train to nyc.
assuming he catches the express train, in this best case scenario (no delays and only 5 minute waits for each train) your husband would arrive at ny penn station about 75 minutes after he left the house.
from there, factor in the time needed to get from the lower level of penn station to his office. even if it's within walking distance, he'll probably need about 15 minutes: 10 minutes just to get upstairs and onto street level outside of the station, then if he's lucky, maybe a 5 minute walk to the office.
so your husband is looking at a 90 minute door-to-door commute at an absolute minimum.
but if he has to switch to the subway or bus once he arrives at penn station, add another 10-20 minutes. and if there are any delays with the dinky or northeast corridor train or traffic on the way to princeton junction, tack on some more time, which could easily bring the commute up to 2+ hours.
in my opinion, the daily commute from princeton is not worth it unless you have a job or family ties in that part of nj. princeton is a great town and is close to some lovely rural areas that totally defy the popular stereotypes of the state, but i think you can find everything you're looking for in one of the inner-ring suburbs mentioned earlier.
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