Commute to Doylestown from NJ? (Allentown, Washington: car insurance, houses, employment)

[newtophilly]

Hi,

I am looking at a job in Doylestown, PA. I currently live in Washington, DC, so will need to relocate. I had my heart set on living in South Jersey (close to fiance's parents, really like the area). Is it crazy to try and commute from SNJ to Doylestown? I doubt I can afford to buy a house in Bucks (think teacher salary). If NJ isn;'t an option, could someone recommend an area close to the city with reasonable housing? Thanks.

[billb7581]

How far south you talking.. anything below Trenton looks like a lousy commute to me.

413 is a cluster****

Where do the Parents live?

From Southwest Burlington County it's probably not too bad as you take the Tacony Bridge, shoot up state road to 95 north hook off at Woodhaven (PA Rt 63) run that out to Welsh road to County line road to 202.

You're probably looking at 40-50 miles and an hour plus commute from somewhere like Palmyra.

[newtophilly]

Her parents live in Deptford. We really liked anything between Cherry Hill and Woodbury. Houses seem to more more affordable and there seems to be more space on the NJ side. I figured about an hour +, but wondering if it would be going against traffic?

[JerzBoy]

This is going to be a long commute. Your best and only real decent option is to take the NJ Turnpike North to Exit 6-PA Turnpike West then to 611north exit. Northbound NJTP is fine in the morning and westbound PATP doesn't get backed up until after the 611 exit so you will fine there. I do not know how 611north is in the morning though.

This is going to take over an hour from anywhere in SJ pretty much. I would recommend finding a place as close as possible to Exit4 on the NJ Turnpike - which is the Cherry Hill-Mt Laurel area. Mapquest puts this commute at about 1hr+5min which should be do-able if 611north is OK in the AM. Hopefully someone else knows how this stretch of road is.

[toobusytoday]

Why not just put more effort into finding a job where you want to live? At least within the same state...

[jazz03a]

I feel like I have the same answer to every post. Yardley. I guess I just like
where we live. Depending on what you want to spend (you said teachers salary so what? $325-375K? I don't know what teachers make). There are a lot of older neighborhoods in the 19067 area that might work for you. Hillwood Terrace (near the intersection of dolington and hilltop) is a nice area. Also the neighborhood around Breece Dr in the borough. It's about 45 mins to Doylestown (413 with the quarry trucks will slow you down) and about 45 mins to Depford.

You might want to consider the Hatboro/Horsham area (good school system)

[billb7581]

Robeling may be good since you'd be right at the foot of the TPK bridge... don't know much about the town thoug

[BillyBurrito]

Ha, you DC folks love the "big commute!" Get yourself close to work and enjoy more time with your home and family...

I think it would be a pretty brutal commute unless you're working way off-hours (like driving in at 4AM) Deptford I'd say would be *well* over an hour ... maybe pushing 2 ... during normal commute traffic times (Ben Franklin & Walt Whitman are brutal traffic in rush hour, lots of traffic both ways) and the "SureKill" (Schuykill expressway) is no treat (yes I've driven in DC... I'm not kidding.) Nice areas close to Cherry Hill. NJ Car Insurance and property taxes are killer, remember utilities being high - I would say total cost of living is probably much less in PA. Make sure you consider all of your expenses.

Take a look at Quakertown - 20 minutes from Doylestown, still Bucks county and right next to the turnpike (central to big employment areas like the Main Line, Allentown, Northeast, even Philly) ... but just north of the really pricey areas. Fantastic schools. Cool historic area, great parks, alot to do. Convenient. GREAT people. Lots of newer developments but they have an "Open Space" program so builders donate land back to the community for parks and trails - our development covers 200+ acres and 100+acres of that land is permanently preserved trails, pond, open land. Very nice. Probably 1 hr from Depford in non-rush hour traffic so easy trip to/from in-laws.

In Quakertown you can get a newer <5 yr old home 2000-2500 sq ft, nice private community, quarter to half acre for $350K-$400K Older homes a bit less. Look for a place on the "outskirts" (out of the borough) - utilities are less expensive... besides, that's where most of the new developments are....

Good luck!

[newtophilly]

OK, thank you for all your suggestions. Any ones that are closer to the city? If I have to drive behind a quarry truck every day to work I might as well drive off the road and into a ditch.

yardley and Quakertown aren't going to work, but thank you. Upper Bucks and Upper Montgomery are also out. I know I am asking for a lot, but if you have any suggestions on nice and reasonable communities near Philly and S NJ that are less than an hour to doylestown, that would be great.

yes, in DC we do like our commutes!

[Tone509]

An hour commute from anywhere in South Jersey to Doylestown isn't feasible unless you're breaking the speed limit in the middle of the night. As billb7581 mentioned, Roebling - as well as Florence - may be your best shot as they are right off the NJ turnpike which morphs into the PA turnpike when you cross the river. As mentioned, from the turnpike you can take an exit for Route 611 north to Doylestown.

Ask your employer if you can have flex-time to arrive earlier than 8:00am. Otherwise, I'm afraid that you'll have to get comfortable for an hour-plus commute to and from work.

That said, check the NJ forums here as well. They may have even more informed posts.