commuting from allentown area to philly (Philadelphia, Scranton: houses, schools, wages)

[marcelle]

how is the commute from allentown area to philly? is it better than commuting to nj to work??

[memoriesbre]

We are up near Scranton and the ride from there to Philly is just under 3 hours. Now from Allentown it would be much faster, probably like 1 1/2 hours or less. Anybody else have a better idea on timewise?

[marcelle]

I was just wondering if philly is Easier to drive to than nj....

[memoriesbre]

It depends on where in Jersey you are headed. Allentown isn't far at all from NJ.

[toobusytoday]

Both drives are horrid. Route 78 is full of trucks and cars all headed towards NJ or NYC. Route 476 and the Schuykill or I-95 are full of fast reckless drivers towards Philadelphia.

The reason people are moving to the Lehigh Valley is that housing is supposedly cheaper and our schools are good. However, because people are now willing to pay more, the cost of houses is rapidly going up and our schools are getting crowded. The pay for a part time job (that you say you are looking for) is not going to be that much more in a city if you have to drive over an hour to get there. Smaller cities and towns have lower cost houses but perhaps lower wages, I think it all evens out.

[graysmom8]

My husband changed jobs about a year and a half ago because he couldn't stand the commute from the Lehigh Valley to Eddystone (outside of Philly). It took him over an hour (sometimes as long as 2 or 3 hours if there was a bad accident-which happened about every 3 weeks or so) each way. So on top of an 8 hour day, he also spent another 2+ hours in the car, making his "work day" seem like it was 10+ hours long. Add that to the wear and tear on the car, more frequent oil changes, tolls, and gas (and gas wasn't that expensive when he was commuting!) and we discovered that even though his new job is for $10K less than his old one, we still pretty much break even on the money side. Plus he actually gets to see our son when he's awake and ready to play.

You also need to think about where in Philly your job might be. Getting into the inner city adds a bunch of time to your commute, plus parking costs. Another thing to consider is whether you might have to go in to work to fix something if it breaks (my husband had to do this quite a few times when something went down and had to be rebooted onsite)-no fun to do the commute 2x in one day.

I can't really comment on the NJ commute because we've never done it.

[recruiter]

I actually went the opposite direction. i lived just outside Philly and commuted to Bethlehem. I took Rt 309 the whole way and usually was able to do it in under 40 minutes. That is without accidents or snow.

[jjj]

Is that by Helicopter?

[recruiter]

nope. just worked better when you go against all the traffic. i would see cars backed up everywhere but i just kept going. i did get slowed down passing through the quakertown area.

[smercatili]

When I first moved to the Lehigh Valley I was working in NW NJ (Whippany). It was a very bad 75 mile drive. I then took a job in Philly. I have been doing the commute for 2 1/2 years. It is not to bad. Since I live in South Whitehall, I am close to the NE EXT of the TPK. I drive to Fort Washington (45 Miles) and take the R-5. 1-way door to door takes 1h25 min.The combination of train/drive breaks it up. I could park closer in Lansdale, but the traffic from the TPK to the station is bad, and there is not much parking. So I go to Fort Washington. Also, barring an accident, the traffic on the TPK moves pretty good.
The other option is the Bieber bus from Quakertown. I just like the train better.

Steve