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Anyone have any advice on this topic? We are a young married black couple (23&26) with 4 year old daughter. I have a new job in BK. He works from home. I was thinking of moving to LI or in Union County in NJ. Just any advice is greatly appreciated. My concerns are ways to get around traffic (I am an independent contractor so tolls aren't a huge issue because I can write them off but I would still like to avoid them if possible, but quickest route is more important). I would like to be in a town where there is a high ethnicity percentage. But it's hard to find good schools in that type of environment. That would be a major plus though.
There is no reasonable or reliable route to get from NJ to Brooklyn by car at anything which remotely approaches peak hours. Maybe if you live right near the state border and are going to something just barely in Brooklyn you could usually do it in a somewhat sane amount of time.
But otherwise, there's just too many points to kill your commute. You're either going through Staten Island or through the streets of Manhattan.
You've got river crossings which are very congested every day, approach highways (Staten Island Expressway, 495, Turnpike Extension/Skyway) which are very congested every day, and then the Brooklyn highway network is a disaster.
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If it's a closer to Manhattan part of Brooklyn with good subway access it can be doable that way. It's not a good commute, but *some NJT train depending on where you live into Newark Penn* -> Transfer to PATH to WTC -> Transfer to NYC Subway can be plausible.
If you have no other reason for picking NJ (like family), then pick LI. You will have to cross 2 to 3 to 4 "possible problem spots" on your commute, and your travel time will be HIGHLY variable.
Anyone have any advice on this topic? We are a young married black couple (23&26) with 4 year old daughter. I have a new job in BK. He works from home. I was thinking of moving to LI or in Union County in NJ. Just any advice is greatly appreciated. My concerns are ways to get around traffic (I am an independent contractor so tolls aren't a huge issue because I can write them off but I would still like to avoid them if possible, but quickest route is more important). I would like to be in a town where there is a high ethnicity percentage. But it's hard to find good schools in that type of environment. That would be a major plus though.
TIA!
If budget is not of concern, look into Great Neck in Long Island. Its literally first town into Nassau county, great school district, plus you can jump on LIE to BQE or take LIRR then MTA. School and commute wise, its a lot more reasonable.
Because crossing bridges or tunnels to get to Brooklyn from NJ is like pulling out your own teeth kind of pain. Why? Because if you'll need to get through downtown Manhattan and that means driving through canal st and canal st is horrible. Unless you do it through State Island which has its own problems with bridges.
Not only that if you want to try public transportation, unless you live in area with really good transit system like Path (aka Jersey City or Hoboken which both have poor public schools). It becomes quite an ordeal to get to Manhattan and then MTA down to Brooklyn.
I think a lot depends on whether a person can handle living on an island too. That is the truth. I've been in that situation and others too. It's not an easy commute except when everything is clear but its not impossible either.
Lets say the closest it would be... say you had a residence like in Linden NJ which is 5 or 10 minutes from the Goethals Br then you have to either take I-278 the SIE or lots of days the various service roads alongside most of it because 278 is all jacked up across SI, then over the Guintified Gangplank (VZB). Now you're in Bklyn and the rest depends how close to the West you are.
Other alternative is across the Holland Hole and over one of the 3 Lower Manhattan toll free bridges.
As I say some people would do that rather than live on an island. I had several bosses who lived in Bklyn and worked in the boonies of NJ also but I don't think they had to come in each day at least not at a set time.
Logically, it is best to stay closest to Staten Island on the NJ side. Good luck wit the traffic though, the roads are all ****ed up.
If train isn't an issue for you, most trains on NJT go into Penn Station (or is an easy transfer at Newark or Secaucus). Then you could get a subway over to Brooklyn. Long Island is still a better bet for you.
NJ to Brooklyn is a horrible commute if you're driving. Depending on where in Union County you would be living you could take NJ Transit to Newark Penn and then take the Path train to World Trade. Then take a subway from World Trade to wherever you need to go in Brooklyn. But that is at least 3 trains and 2 transfers which is probably as much of a nightmare as driving. As others have said, Long Island is probably your best bet.
people here must have some pretty sweet commutes because i drive from nj to brooklyn daily and it isnt that bad. i live in holmdel and it typically takes about 1 hour 20 minutes for my commute. there seems to be a mythical nightmare commute conjured up by people that i havent experienced. my commute is very expensive though. you may have to deduct more than you would expect.
union county is a little different because you risk having more local traffic or just slow driving on the roads that it will take you to get to the goethels. for me, its all GSP & TPK (or 440) so its smooth highway driving.
if you are looking for a higher black people ratio and still better commute, then you probably could do better on long island. you also wouldnt have all the tolls you would from nj.
Last edited by CaptainNJ; 05-29-2015 at 02:33 PM..
people here must have some pretty sweet commutes because i drive from nj to brooklyn daily and it isnt that bad. i live in holmdel and it typically takes about 1 hour 20 minutes for my commute.
An hour and 20 minutes isn't that bad? The farthest I have ever had to commute in my life was 45 minutes and there were days back then I was ready to drive right off the road. Nothing is a bigger waste of time than commuting. My commute for the job I have now is 10 minutes...and that doesn't include the 2 days a week I work from home
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