Help please: Commuting between Springfield and Stoneham, MA? (Boston: home, living)

[orion2001]

Hey everyone,

Stumbled across this great site as I was doing some research and I must say that is is exceptionally helpful! I am currently in a big dilemma and I was hoping some of you folks could help me figure things out.

My wife currently works in Stoneham, MA. I was just offered a job near Albany, NY. It looks like we might have to live apart and meet on the weekends but we are really really trying to see if there is any option that would allow us to live midway and do the commute in a manner that won't drive us completely crazy .

I know nothing about the transportation options, and so I was hoping someone with more knowledge would be able to help me figure things out. We are looking at the Springfield area as it is midway between the two locations. I'm listing out some of my questions below, I'd appreciate answers to any or all of them.

a) Is a commute by driving even achievable between Springfield and Stoneham? What would be the estimated time taking rush hour traffic into consideration?

b) Are there any other options apart from driving? Any public transportation or private charter vans/buses that would work?

c) If neither of the above look promising, is there any other location that while not being equidistant, would allow us to both commute to our places of work (ie one of us maybe drives in while the other can take an express train to work).

Thanks a lot in advance. I have no idea how to get answers to these questions just by Googling. I'd really appreciate any help or even if you guys could point me in the right direction .

Cheers

[western mass and love it]

wow that would be a tough commute on both ends,there really isn't much in the way of public transportation from springfield to either of those 2 places.

[brightdoglover]

Unfortunately, I agree- no way to do it that works at all.
I'd suggest living apart (where are you now?) and getting a room or some such in Albany, so easy to get to work in the winter especially,and coming home on weekends. A commute from Springfield to Stoneham, especially in the winter, would be madness. You likely wouldn't have hardly any time together in such circumstances. Maybe the Albany job could be a four-day week or something? Best wishes.

[orion2001]

Thanks a lot for your replies guys, I really appreciate it. I was hoping there might be some magic solution , but I guess we'll have to live apart for now. Best regards.

[gf2020]

I'm curious, what kind of job is near Albany that you can't otherwise find in the Greater Boston area?

[RC1981]

^^^ What job period are you going to find in the Greater Boston area?

[Newdaawn]

Are both of your jobs so fantastic that neither of you would consider changing jobs so you might be together. It would be out of the question - for me anyway - to consider a commute to Springfield from Stoneham. Take a look at the map. Remember MA has "winter" and even if it isn't raining or snowing that drive would wipe anyone out on a daily basis each way.

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by gf2020

I'm curious, what kind of job is near Albany that you can't otherwise find in the Greater Boston area?

It's a research job, at GE. It's been hard finding similar jobs around the Boston area even though at first I thought it would be a lot easier.

Originally Posted by Newdaawn

Are both of your jobs so fantastic that neither of you would consider changing jobs so you might be together. It would be out of the question - for me anyway - to consider a commute to Springfield from Stoneham. Take a look at the map. Remember MA has "winter" and even if it isn't raining or snowing that drive would wipe anyone out on a daily basis each way.

At the moment, changing jobs is a very difficult/tricky situation, so unfortunately no. We are looking into options though. I do agree that commuting would be crazy. I was hoping that there might be some sort of transportation option, but it looks like that is a no go.

Btw, (this should probably go in the NY section), but any ideas about an Albany to Hartford Commute? Google Maps says it's 2hrs 20 mins total with the traffic patterns not looking too bad for weekday rush hour. If we lived somewhere in the middle, I'm wondering if that might be do able.


Thanks for the replies folks.