Job move from Boston MA (Philadelphia, Chester: real estate, apartment, homes)

[FL1024]

Hello,

I recently received a job offer for a position in Ewing New Jersey and I’ve been contemplating living in PA and driving to NJ. Currently my fiancé and I have been living in the Boston area, we are in our late 20’s and have no kids only a dog. The position would be offering 120-130K and I was wondering if there are any places to live (potentially outside of Philadelphia) with a reasonable commute that offer some sort of nightlife/bars/restaurants and shopping with general access to a train line. I have looked at maps and read up on the area, but I am not sure of which cities to specifically target.

Thank you!

[rowhomecity]

I would most certainly consider SouthEast PA, it has tons of character and I find it to have a higher quality of life than Central/South Jersey. There are tons of main street suburban towns that just have so much character! Its very pretty and most certainly will remind you of New England. NJ definitely lacks character for the most part (unless you are up in North Jersey). Within Southeast PA, given you are working in Central Jersey, I would consider to stay in Bucks or Eastern Montgomery Counties. This definitely affords the easiest commute.

If you are looking for transit access to Ewing. There is one line that goes to Ewing. The West Trenton Line. I am not sure how far your office is from the line? Here is a map of SEPTA, again you would want to look at the West Trenton line. SEPTA | Clickable Regional Rail & Rail Transit Map

If you plan on driving to work, and would like SEPTA to get into the city, then this definitely opens your options. As SEPTA is very expansive, and you can live in many places outside the city, and have rail access.

The fact you are late 20s, (I myself am also late 20s). I would consider:

1) Newtown (Really cute historic area; a little more family oriented, but absolutely stunning and accessible to Jenkintown and Ambler which have quite an array of restaurants/bars and accessible to lots, right along the PA turnpike which make it easy to get to shopping). Also a short commute to NJ, only about 20 minutes.
2) Yardley (the more family oriented; but has a charming historic village/main street, right across the bridge to NJ, so easily a 15 minute commute to work, close to New Hope, PA which has a thriving nightlife and is a very very hip town and right along 95, so makes getting to Philadelphia, extremely easy.)
3) Jenkintown (really cute town; with a bit of a hip/artistic vibe). (you also have rail access to Center City and Ewing). This is where Bradley Cooper is from.
4) Doylestown (really cute town; also has a hip vibe; a little far removed in distance to Philadelphia, but is very charming).
5) New Hope (real estate here is very expensive, with limited multi family/apartment options; its mostly just multi million dollar homes; but if you find something, its definitely a hip spot).

Personally I would never live in New Jersey. Southeast PA, has way more character.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

I would most certainly consider SouthEast PA, it has tons of character and I find it to have a higher quality of life than Central/South Jersey. There are tons of main street suburban towns that just have so much character! Its very pretty and most certainly will remind you of New England. NJ definitely lacks character for the most part (unless you are up in North Jersey). Within Southeast PA, given you are working in Central Jersey, I would consider to stay in Bucks or Eastern Montgomery Counties. This definitely affords the easiest commute.

If you are looking for transit access to Ewing. There is one line that goes to Ewing. The West Trenton Line. I am not sure how far your office is from the line? Here is a map of SEPTA, again you would want to look at the West Trenton line. SEPTA | Clickable Regional Rail & Rail Transit Map

If you plan on driving to work, and would like SEPTA to get into the city, then this definitely opens your options. As SEPTA is very expansive, and you can live in many places outside the city, and have rail access.

The fact you are late 20s, (I myself am also late 20s). I would consider:

1) Newtown (Really cute historic area; a little more family oriented, but absolutely stunning and accessible to Jenkintown and Ambler which have quite an array of restaurants/bars and accessible to lots, right along the PA turnpike which make it easy to get to shopping). Also a short commute to NJ, only about 20 minutes.
2) Yardley (the more family oriented; but has a charming historic village/main street, right across the bridge to NJ, so easily a 15 minute commute to work, close to New Hope, PA which has a thriving nightlife and is a very very hip town and right along 95, so makes getting to Philadelphia, extremely easy.)
3) Jenkintown (really cute town; with a bit of a hip/artistic vibe). (you also have rail access to Center City and Ewing). This is where Bradley Cooper is from.
4) Doylestown (really cute town; also has a hip vibe; a little far removed in distance to Philadelphia, but is very charming).
5) New Hope (real estate here is very expensive, with limited multi family/apartment options; its mostly just multi million dollar homes; but if you find something, its definitely a hip spot).

Personally I would never live in New Jersey. Southeast PA, has way more character.

I mostly agree with this, but Princeton, NJ is closer to Ewing than any of the locales you list besides Newtown, and has more to do due to being a college town. I would seriously consider it.

[FL1024]

Thank you for all of these suggestions I will certainly take them under advisement!

[Wells5]

See link below.


Doylestown, Yardley or Quakertown?

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I mostly agree with this, but Princeton, NJ is closer to Ewing than any of the locales you list besides Newtown, and has more to do due to being a college town. I would seriously consider it.

The only problem is that between taxes and real estate prices, Princeton is so ungodly expensive.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

The only problem is that between taxes and real estate prices, Princeton is so ungodly expensive.

Don't move to NJ if you value any type of firearm rights. I lived in the suburban Denver area for several years, Lone Tree, so if you tell us where in CO you moved from that will help. You may want to check out Phoenixville, and West Chester.

[NewtownBucks]

I live in Newtown, which is just across the river from Ewing in Bucks County. If you have any questions about the area, let me know. Newtown and Yardley are small towns with very nice downtown areas with plenty of very good restaurants and shops on the PA side fo the river across from Ewing. Newtown is a little bigger town and has more in the way of bars/nightlife (Issac Newton's, Temperance House, Green Parrot, etc.).

The commute from Newtown to Ewing is about 15-20 mins and maybe 5-10 less from Yardley and maybe 5-10 more during rush hour. The only potential issue with this is that the Scudders Falls Bridge on I-95 between Yardley and Ewing is under construction for the next couple years as they build a whole new deck, during which time, commuting from Yardley to Ewing may actually be faster to swim than drive. It should be a lot better when it's done, too, though (although I think they're adding a small toll).

There is a SEPTA train station in Yardley that goes to Center City Philly. Either that station or the Langhorne station, which is 2 stops further along the same line are both about 10-15 mins drive from Newtown. In addition, Trenton train station is about 20 mins away in Trenton, NJ that connects to NYC by Amtrak or NJ Transit.

[Becca8377]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

You may want to check out Phoenixville, and West Chester.

Uhhh the commute from Phoenixville or WC are both over an hour...

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

Don't move to NJ if you value any type of firearm rights. I lived in the suburban Denver area for several years, Lone Tree, so if you tell us where in CO you moved from that will help. You may want to check out Phoenixville, and West Chester.

This OP is coming from Boston.