Moving from San Francisco... Work in NYC and Jersey City (Union: condo, house)

[vikram.panjwani]

I am moving with my family (wife and 2 kids) from San Francisco to the NY/NJ area.. Will be working 3 - 4 days in Jersey City and the balance in 1 - 2 days in NYC (midtown)..

We are looking to buy a house which has a decent commute (less than an hour) to both places, good - great schools, and is a good family neighborhood.. Looking to buy atleast a 3 bed, 2 bath SFH in the 500K - 525K. Thoughts ??

From what I have been reading, Bergen county seems like a good place to live (minus the Blue law)..

Appreciate the help..

[Ninasimonejr]

Will you be driving to JC or depending entirely on public transportation?

[G.Costanza]

The best places for your dual commute, if via public transit, would probably be:

(A) Summit or Secaucus (NJT to midtown; NJT to Hoboken, 2 stops on the PATH to Exchange Place in JC); or
(B) downtown JC itself (walk to work; PATH to midtown).

[vikram.panjwani]

@Ninasimonejr: I am not too sure if my employer will provide for parking, if yes then driving else public..

@G.Costanza: Hows the school district in these cities.. From what I have read, the hudson county schools are not the best.

[G.Costanza]

I'll defer to people with personal experience with schools. You should search this forum for each of those 3 cities and the keyword schools.

I don't think you should put too much stock in broad generalizations ("Hudson County schools are not good"). From what I've read, McNair is a really good high school (JC), apparently one of the best in the state. Not to mention, Summit is in Morris County.

[Ninasimonejr]

Originally Posted by vikram.panjwani

@Ninasimonejr: I am not too sure if my employer will provide for parking, if yes then driving else public..

Personally, I'd recommend clarifying that before you decide where to live. Lots of towns have a relatively short drive to JC & Manhattan, but not great public transit options. If you really need to rely on public transit, you need to choose very carefully.

That said, you might look at Cranford. And use this page liberally!
New Jersey Transit

Also, research commutes on this site - often locals have inside info beyond what's on NJ Transit. For example, the private buses in my town MAKE the commute, but I wouldn't know they existed if I only checked NJ Transit.

Good luck!

[SonorityGenius]

I think your best bet would be Jersey City Downtown where you can get a pretty nice condo/house for 500k WITH parking.

[shorebaby]

Originally Posted by G.Costanza

I'll defer to people with personal experience with schools. You should search this forum for each of those 3 cities and the keyword schools.

I don't think you should put too much stock in broad generalizations ("Hudson County schools are not good"). From what I've read, McNair is a really good high school (JC), apparently one of the best in the state. Not to mention, Summit is in Morris County.

Hudson county schools aren't very good. McNair is indeed one of the best in the state but competitive to get into. Aside from McNair the best school in Hudson county probably isn't as good as the worst school in Bergen county. Greatschools.com is a good resource.

You may want to look at Rutherford.

[zap02]

If your commute is a bus or car, try looking in parts of Bloomfield, Verona, Cedar Grove, Maplewood, Nutley, the Caldwells, West Orange. If you need the train, try towns like Montclair, Maplewood, Millburn and Wayne.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by G.Costanza

I'll defer to people with personal experience with schools. You should search this forum for each of those 3 cities and the keyword schools.

I don't think you should put too much stock in broad generalizations ("Hudson County schools are not good"). From what I've read, McNair is a really good high school (JC), apparently one of the best in the state. Not to mention, Summit is in Morris County.

Summit is in Union County.