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We are considering moving to NJ.
We would need a reasonable train commute to NYC-midtown and want to stay within a 30 minute drive to south shore Staten Island. As if this was not enough I need a good school system... And would like one with resources for a gifted child. We are looking to spend around 900-1 mil on the house. Any help is appreciated... I saw that Princeton and Chatham have great school systems but are way too far... Am I right in thinking that Holmdel or Westfield are our only options?
We are considering moving to NJ.
We would need a reasonable train commute to NYC-midtown and want to stay within a 30 minute drive to south shore Staten Island. As if this was not enough I need a good school system... And would like one with resources for a gifted child. We are looking to spend around 900-1 mil on the house. Any help is appreciated... I saw that Princeton and Chatham have great school systems but are way too far... Am I right in thinking that Holmdel or Westfield are our only options?
In order to give you truly useful suggestions we really need some further info from you. Please take the time to read this sticky post located at the top of the forum, Questions For Future and Potential Residents and then provide us with your answers to the questions. While you have given some info, you have left out some pretty important info, such as = Are you wanting a SFH, multi family, or a Condo/Townhouse? How long of a commute are you comfortable with? (the phrase "reasonable commute" is subjective and means different things to different people) Please be as specific as possible on what you are looking for in a new hometown community. Are we correct in assuming that you mean a 30 min commute to SI non rush? Do you want an urban area?, maybe something suburban, but with a walkable downtown area?, or a more rural/bucolic area? Do you want to be near a a specific type of store? (such as Whole Foods or similar, or are you more of a super Walmart shopper?) Do you want to be near a specific type of religious house of worship? (Mosque, Hindu Temple, Synagogue, AmE, etc)
I am confident that when we forum members have that information, we will be very forthcoming with good suggestions and ideas to suit all of your circumstances, wants/needs etc. as well as within your budget.
Some additional information: we are looking for a detached single family home, would prefer 30 minutes to SI in rush hour, commute to midtown no more than 1-1.5 hrs. My husband would commute daily to Manhattan and my daughter and I daily to SI...
We have no religious affiliation and would like to be within a 5-10 minute drive to a supermarket/town/store, etc..
Thanks in advance.
Some additional information: we are looking for a detached single family home, would prefer 30 minutes to SI in rush hour, commute to midtown no more than 1-1.5 hrs. My husband would commute daily to Manhattan and my daughter and I daily to SI...
We have no religious affiliation and would like to be within a 5-10 minute drive to a supermarket/town/store, etc..
Thanks in advance.
You will always be within a short drive (15/20 min or less) to shopping and a grocery store anywhere in Northern NJ. Both Holmdel and Westfield are wonderful places to live, and both have good schools, however there is no way you can get to the south shore of SI in 30 min during rush hours. Westfield is more urban and homes are on smallish lots, it has a wonderful walkable downtown, whilst Holmdel is considered a typical suburban community, no walkable downtown, but dotted liberally with
strip malls/small shopping centers. Homes tend to be more spread out, and some are even on acreage, as opposed to city lots. Traffic is heavy heading towards the bridge from either 278 or 440 (if you are coming from Westfield) or the Parkway (it you are coming from Holmdel) In fact with no traffic at all, like 2 am, it is over 30 minutes from either town.
Something is going to have to give here. There are many wonderful towns with excellent schools and a commute to NYC Penn in under 1.5 hrs via train, but the driving commute to SI will be similarly long as the hubby's train commute. The schools in towns near to the Hudson River are just not very good, you need to get to western Union Co, Essex Co, or even eastern Morris Co to find the top notch schools.
Westfield does have the good schools, but hubby's commute will be pushing 1.5 hour range, as there is no direct train access, so he will have to switch trains to get to midtown, and you are looking at a commute of ~1 hr to SI during normal rush times and a lot depends on exactly where on SI you are heading. If you are looking at Westfield, also look into Cranford, which is located 3 miles away and would afford you commutes simmilar to WF. Cranfords schools are also very good, they have a train station, walkable downtown, albeit small than WF's. Just be careful of flood zones, as parts of Cranford are in a notoriously awful flood plain. Plenty of gorgeous, large, older homes in both towns.
Holmdel's schools are also great. However, the commute into Midtown from Holmdel will be a bit more problematic. You'd have to either take a bus to the PABT and then transfer to either the subway or a bus to get to hubby's office, so you are looking at an ~2hr commute, or you can drive from Holmdel to either the Hazlet train station (right near the northern section of Holmdel) and take the train to Newark (approx 45 mins) then take the path to midtown, (20-25 mins). If you live closer to the Aberdeen/Matawan station take the train from there. By the time you drive to the train station, park, and then take the two trains into Midtown you are looking at ~2 hours as well. The drive to SI will also be much longer than your desired 30 min, and more in the 1 to 1.5 hr range, depending on where on the southern part of SI we are talking about. 440 tends to back up due to the sun glare heading east on SI during morning rush.
If you want something closer to SI, you will have to compromise/prioritize your wants/needs etc. a bit. For example, Metuchen is a nice small town, a bit closer (read shorter commute time) to SI it has a train station for Hubby's commute to midtown, (again we are talk in the 1 to 1.5 hr commute range) and schools are decent. Not top tier, but good. (SAT and HSPA scores are above the statewide average, but to compare, Metuchen's SAT's ave is 1629, while top school districts are over 1700 and the statewide average is 1550. The results on HSPA are similar) Hubby's commute to midtown will be ~1 hr. Edison is another community to consider. Again, shorter commutes for your family, and good (but not top tier) schools. A plus for Edison, is that due to the large Asian Indian community, you will find great Indian restaurants and groceries. There are several other communities like these two if you are willing to make those compromises and are interested. The homes in these towns are generally more middleclass/blue collar and are not McMansions, or large like many homes in Holmdel or Westfield.
Millburn has top schools and the train is about 45 mins to NY Penn. Your drive to Staten Island would probably be slightly more than 30 mins.
Millburn is a 40/45 min drive to the bridge to SI, WITHOUT any traffic, so going from Millburn to the south shore is going to be even longer, and then you have to add rush hour traffic to that! No way is it going to be ~30 mins for the OPs commute. Yes, Summit which is next door to Millburn has great schools, it will have a similar commute time, both for train and driving to SI, maybe 3-5 min less, depending on where within each community your starting point is.
When speaking of commutes you also have to take into consideration not only the time spent on the train, but also the time it takes to get to the station,(walking) and if you have to drive, add the time to drive to the station and park your car and then walk to the platform.
You will always be within a short drive (15/20 min or less) to shopping and a grocery store anywhere in Northern NJ. Both Holmdel and Westfield are wonderful places to live, and both have good schools, however there is no way you can get to the south shore of SI in 30 min during rush hours. Westfield is more urban and homes are on smallish lots, it has a wonderful walkable downtown, whilst Holmdel is considered a typical suburban community, no walkable downtown, but dotted liberally with
strip malls/small shopping centers. Homes tend to be more spread out, and some are even on acreage, as opposed to city lots. Traffic is heavy heading towards the bridge from either 278 or 440 (if you are coming from Westfield) or the Parkway (it you are coming from Holmdel) In fact with no traffic at all, like 2 am, it is over 30 minutes from either town.
Something is going to have to give here. There are many wonderful towns with excellent schools and a commute to NYC Penn in under 1.5 hrs via train, but the driving commute to SI will be similarly long as the hubby's train commute. The schools in towns near to the Hudson River are just not very good, you need to get to western Union Co, Essex Co, or even eastern Morris Co to find the top notch schools.
Holmdel's schools are also great. However, the commute into Midtown from Holmdel will be a bit more problematic. You'd have to either take a bus to the PABT and then transfer to either the subway or a bus to get to hubby's office, so you are looking at an ~2hr commute, or you can drive from Holmdel to either the Hazlet train station (right near the northern section of Holmdel) and take the train to Newark (approx 45 mins) then take the path to midtown, (20-25 mins). If you live closer to the Aberdeen/Matawan station take the train from there. By the time you drive to the train station, park, and then take the two trains into Midtown you are looking at ~2 hours as well. The drive to SI will also be much longer than your desired 30 min, and more in the 1 to 1.5 hr range, depending on where on the southern part of SI we are talking about. 440 tends to back up due to the sun glare heading east on SI during morning rush.
HTH
KoalaNJ
Hey Koala-
Gonna disagree a bit with you here- Depending on where in Holmdel and where in midtown this can be done in 90 min via Academy bus with plenty of free parking which many towns along the train lines don't have- many have multi-year wait lists for paid permit parking. I've don't this commute from farther away from PNC and gone into mid fifties and done it in 90 min ballpark. Snow or summer friday PM is a different story- but day to day this is def possible.
For the SI commute- there's a poster here who drives from Holmdel to Brooklyn daily- so perhaps he can chime in on times- although time you leave will make a big difference. 30 Min is pushing it but 45 could be possible. Holmdel is a great town and Monmouth county in general is a great place to live. IF you can live with those times I would seriously consider it.
Thanks Metsfan. We can make it from Great Kills Staten Island to Holmdel in typical 30 minutes without traffic... I have to time it in rush hour one day. I'm only concerned about the morning, she has a 9 am school start time, so leaving at 8-8:15 is reasonable.
My husband is on 54th and 6th, so I guess it depends where we purchase in Holmdel. Holmdel seems to have the type of homes we are looking for... What are the rates for academy bus and are the stops spread throughout Holmdel?
Quick question.. What are we looking at for a tax increase if we put in a pool?
Millburn is a 40/45 min drive to the bridge to SI, WITHOUT any traffic, so going from Millburn to the south shore is going to be even longer, and then you have to add rush hour traffic to that! No way is it going to be ~30 mins for the OPs commute. Yes, Summit which is next door to Millburn has great schools, it will have a similar commute time, both for train and driving to SI, maybe 3-5 min less, depending on where within each community your starting point is.
KoalaNJ
I've done Millburn to SI without traffic in 30 mins using local streets - Morris Avenue etc. Granted, during rush hour it will take longer but probably not more than 30 mins if you go straight down 78. The good thing is if 78 gets backed up there are local roads to get through to the bridge.
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