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What is the best place in America to live in the outskirts and commute via rail to the city? Smaller places/ hidden gems where there's a car culture, but one can easily hop on a train and be downtown within the hour? I currently reside on the Philadelphia Main Line, but am curious as to other communities' commute, COL, etc. Places like Long Island, Eastern Mass, and DC immediately spring to mind, but I have no firsthand experience. Any thoughts?
Virtually everyplace that's not Oakland or San Francisco on the BART lines. If you're looking for really far flung, it's probably Pittsburg/ Bay Point or Dublin/ Pleasanton lines. BART is specifically designed to be a commuter rail with subway like frequency, unique to the United States (very high-tech at the time), but somewhat common in East Asia or Europe. With BART, the train frequency is about every 6 minutes at peak hours, and during off-hours it's like every 15 minutes. Average speeds are 30-40 MPH, and at certain long stretches its 70 MPH (80 if there are delays). It's the fastest subway system in the country, and automated, so getting to San Francisco or Oakland in under an hour isn't a hard feat.
Virtually everyplace that's not Oakland or San Francisco on the BART lines. If you're looking for really far flung, it's probably Pittsburg/ Bay Point or Dublin/ Pleasanton lines. BART is specifically designed to be a commuter rail with subway like frequency, unique to the United States (very high-tech at the time), but somewhat common in East Asia or Europe. With BART, the train frequency is about every 6 minutes at peak hours, and during off-hours it's like every 15 minutes. Average speeds are 30-40 MPH, and at certain long stretches its 70 MPH (80 if there are delays). It's the fastest subway system in the country, and automated, so getting to San Francisco or Oakland in under an hour isn't a hard feat.
I was going to say Pleasanton too. It takes about an hour to get to San Francisco (via Oakland), lots of car culture, and has a nice little downtown so there are some things to do in town. It also has quite a few jobs itself, so you wouldn't necessarily need to commute into SF.
There are a dozen or more "cute" commuter rail towns throughout NJ. Places like
Montclair, Morristown, Red Bank, Ridgewood, Madison, Chatham, Summit, Westwood, Metuchen, Princeton to name a few. They've got commuter rail stations and nice downtown areas, much like some of the other towns suggested so far in this thread.
But is that "exurby" enough for what you're looking for? If you want really exurby (less of a "downtown" town feeling), maybe a place like Peapack-Gladstone, NJ would be what you have in mind. No downtown, just affluent exurbs with access to a train.
For feeling like you're away from it all, I'd nominate Cold Spring. Yes, it's often touristy on weekends. but otherwise it feels like a small town along the Hudson, nestled amongst scenic hills.
I mean...where are you talking about commuting FROM and TO? Cleveland itself is not a commuter rail suburb.
I could buy Shaker Heights, which is a very nice suburb on the rail lines. But I don't think it compares to any of the other places we're talking about on this thread.
Lakewood is a decent contender, but their rail station is nowhere near their downtown.
I'm going to throw in Kenosha, WI. Picturesque little downtown, nice little streetcar route that connects to the METRA station. It's a growing community with arts organizations, museums, symphony, etc. And the beaches on Lake Michigan are spectacular.
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