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As I didn't purchase anything yet but I am planning to do so within the year, I am quite tempted by saving some money and getting more space swapping a tiny studio with a crazy HOA in Nyc for a good one bedroom with a more reasonable HOA in Weehawken.
At the beginning I thought Brooklyn but nowadays looks like upper Brooklyn became comparable to Nyc (price wise) so NJ became a better option and apparently closer to Manhattan - where I'll be working and already have a few friends.
So my questions are:
1) is it an acceptable neighborhood? My main concern is safety.
2) is the commute easy and quick? How much time does it take to get to Nyc by car? And by train? And ferry? And please, how much is a one month pass for coming and going everyday? Is it a 24/24 service and is it like, every hour/half an hour?
3) When my friends won't come pick me up at night, is taxi expensive? When I am in Nyc I jump on taxi cabs as I get on the street, will I have to dial a number and call it to come pick me up at home instead?
1) Weehawken is as safe or safer than nearly any part of Manhattan.
2) The commute from Weehawken is a piece of cake. Conservatively, about 20-25 to Port Authority during peak times and about 15 mins during off peak times. Monthly NJ Transit bus pass is $107. I don't know about ferry prices but you can be sure they're pricier but the ferry is also a bit quicker and more reliable. Buses run more frequently during peak times (about every 7 minutes) and less frequently during off peak (about every 30-40 mins). They run up until ~ 1 am but there are jitneys that are 24/7.
3) I have no idea what a traditional taxi costs but I can tell you that a Lyft or Uber will be about $25-$30. There aren't yellow cabs roaming around like in Manhattan so if you don't want to Uber you would have to call a cab. I think they come pretty quickly.
Thanks for your answer.
Do you know if I can extend my choice to Union City and Hoboken as they are both very close or do you think safety and transportation to Manhattan there might be an issue?
Thanks for your answer.
Do you know if I can extend my choice to Union City and Hoboken as they are both very close or do you think safety and transportation to Manhattan there might be an issue?
Hoboken has the best commute to NYC out of any place in NJ. You have the PATH train, bus, and ferry options. It would be a great place to live if you're coming from Manhattan but it's also very expensive compared to Union City and Weehawken.
Of the three, Union City would probably considered the least safe but that's not to say it's dangerous at all. It is a low income, predominantly Latino area. It would be the least expensive of the three but just as quick a bus ride as Weehawken.
You will spend good amount of time stuck in traffic at the Lincoln tunnel. It will be a long wait for the bus if you returning very late.
I am sure you will not feel like living in NYC.
eh, the buses have dedicated lanes during rush hour and I think most people that rely on the bus memorize the schedule pretty quickly. So if you know there's a 10:35 bus and an 11:35 bus, you just time yourself to arrive for one of them. You don't arrive at 10:45 and wait almost an hour.
Anyway, my husband rides the bus and has a 28 minute door to door commute.
I've been commuting to NYC from Union City for about 5 months now and I have yet to see this dreadful tunnel traffic everyone speaks of. I haven't had a single day with a commute time over 30 mins. Waiting for the bus heading towards NY is a non issue because 1) they run very frequently during peak times and 2) I can text my bus stop number to NJ transit and they tell me how much time til the bus gets there. I never wait more than 2 or 3 minutes. Going home sometimes is a different story. Sometimes I leave work as late as 7:00 pm (like right now) and I've had to wait up to 15 mins for the bus to arrive.
I lived in Weehawken for 2 years after spending my whole adult life in Manhattan apart from a year of renting in Hoboken.
The positives are, it's quite safe and has a super easy commute to NYC -- especially if you are close to Boulevard E where the Latino and Pakistani (I think) minibuses run every 5-10 mins and charge a little less than NJT. Thanks to them, the night commute is easy too. They pick up in NYC across the street from PA, on 40th IIRC. We always took them. It's a safe town with decent schools and a nice library.
The negatives are mostly due to the town having the weirdest geography ever. It is like 3-4 separate towns in one. Part on top of a cliff and part at the foot of the cliff. So the residents are all over the place and it's hard to meet people unless you're into yoga (free yoga classes ... when I was there, check out the Rec Dept on their website), have kids in school, or are a senior. They do try to offer activities but you have to make an effort. We finally started taking free ballroom classes and met a bunch of nice folks of all ages. Sadly, the teacher has died, but one of the students may be teaching them now. We lived in the Heights (top of the cliff) which is close to Blvd E, the library, the grocery store, the Sr Center and HS where a lot of the free Rec activities are, as well as the main st, Park Ave. But that part of Weehawken is very thin, like two blocks between the river and Union City (which starts on the other side of Park Ave), so in a way there's no there there. There's very little night life. After a short while I knew I didnt want to be there forever, so we sold our house and moved to Rutherford, which is a better fit for us.
Union City is kind of fun for cheap eats and shopping, and I went to church there. I speak some Spanish so I could manage but anglos stick out there uncomfortably. It seemed safe enough, but what depressed me was how ugly it was. For various reasons people there dont invest in making their homes and streets attractive and there are almost no trees or gardens. It was too crowded for me to walk my dogs there (lots and lots of cars and moms with baby strollers and shopping bags on very narrow streets and sidewalks). Young urban adventurer types and/or people who are fluent in Spanish might be happy there, but my husband was lost. Something about it captured my imagination and I enjoyed hanging out there those two years, but I wouldnt want to live there.
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