Where best to live no more than 1 hour Manhattaan

[Lula26]

Thanks everyone ! Some really helpful advice here which will help with our search . It's such a tough one and I've been frustrated enough to think of abandoning the idea at times and just staying in dreary old England !
Really want to get over 'the pond' though and be close to our family . Your opinions and knowledge are just what we need ! ��☺️��

[throwitdontshowit]

Originally Posted by JerseyGirl415

If you don't have to work in the city and go every day you can expand your search to Union County (it baffles me that people frequently neglect Union County even when recommending towns with decent city commutes). I used to commute from Cranford to the WTC and once I got on the train in Cranford, the commute via PATH was less than an hour. If you want to go to the city for a day, just for some fun, you can either make the switch in Newark or pick a station on a line that goes direct into the city, in Union County these towns/cities are Rahway, Linden, and Elizabeth. We frequently drive not even 10 mins to the Linden train station and take a direct train from there rather than make a switch in Newark on the Raritan Valley Line, the whole trip to Penn Station is around an hour.

If you don't need to go to the city every day, you can expand your search to other counties. People are used to recommending Essex and Bergen towns but Union and even Morris and Middlesex could do. Some areas might be a little tough on your budget but I suggest looking into basically all of northeastern NJ and not limiting yourself to one or two counties.

Very underrated, and outside of the local routes people are used to in UC, it has some nice green parts and some nice shopping/restaurants too. I don't know about industry and jobs though.

[jaymoney]

Montclair has probably been mentioned as it has a small artist community and a decent art museum. However, its property taxes are high. West Orange also has a nice community as does Maplewood, but these are all in Essex county and local property taxes are higher there for a number of reasons, mostly dealing with community services like a full time fire department and the like.

I'm going to second JerseyGirl415's recommendation of Union County, but that's before I hear about where in NYC your family is. The commute is about the same for Montclair or West Orange but property taxes are around 10-15% lower for the most part.

Where around Boston did you live? There might be a similar NJ town that we could think of.

[daliowa]

OP - will your family in NYC be driving to your residence or will they take the train?

Do you need to consider the NJ Transit routes into the equation?

[FLnative1989]

Bergen County, New Jersey

- Fort Lee
-Palisades Park
-Leonia
-Edgewater
-Engelwood
-Ridgefield
-Cliffside Park

All those towns are under 10 min from the bridge.

[Atsushi]

Fanwood? We paid a lot less than $450 to get a 3bedroom 2 bath house that is 7 minute walk to a train station. From there (although you have to change train at Newark most of the time), NY Penn is an hour away. Tax is reasonable, and amenities in Westfield is only 5 minute drive away. Some people in Westfield think of Fanwood as a baffer zone between themselves and bad elements in Plainfield. But I don't think they really know where Fanwood is.

[qrysdonnell]

Originally Posted by FLnative1989

Bergen County, New Jersey

- Fort Lee
-Palisades Park
-Leonia
-Edgewater
-Engelwood
-Ridgefield
-Cliffside Park

All those towns are under 10 min from the bridge.

I spent 9 years living in Washington Heights, which is actually IN Manhattan, and my commute Downtown (or later to West Chelsea) was an hour. So while Ft. Lee is only minutes from Manhattan, it's a stretch to imagine that that's what the OP was looking for.

For what it's worth, my commute from South Orange is only about 10 minutes longer, so it's the equivalent of living in Inwood I guess.

[sirk98]

Scotch Plains/Fanwood/Westfield/Cranford... Those towns on the Raritan valley Line are great! Westfield would be a challenge at that price, but you should be able to find a decent 'starter home' in the other towns I mentioned.

For family in NYC: if they are near Penn Station or a PATH station, it'll be closer to 1hr 15/1.5 hours to Fanwood (and Scotch Plains). You have to transfer in Newark (except for a handful of direct trains to Penn Station--those are 'off peak'), which adds time to what is only an 18 mile commute (to Fanwood)

[madbach]

Good suggestions, I'd 2nd Fanwood, but your options at that price will be limited to a very small old house/fixer upper. If that is OK with you then go for it.