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Train is probably easiest because the PATH goes straight to WTC. Live on a train line that goes into Newark so you can switch to PATH. I live in Cranford and commuted to the WTC for about a year and it took about an hour.
Live in Glen Ridge, which I consider one of the closest, best education areas to NYC (10 miles due west), with both direct trains to Penn and Hoboken (30 min on paper). My wife works downtown. This is her commute:
Walk to the corner, wait for the Jitney - 3 min
Jitney to GR station - 10 min
Wait for train - 3 min
Direct train to Hoboken - 35 min (30 on paper)
Transfer to Path, wait for Path - 5 min
Path to WTC - 15 min
-Walk to office - 5 min
Total door to door is anywhere between 1 hr 20 and 1 hr 30. Shave off 10 min if you live within walking distance of the train.
So there you have it. Glen Ridge is a 30 minute train on paper to Hoboken, and the door to door ends up closer to an hour and a half. I dont think youll find many other towns that have a significantly shorter direct train to Hoboken with great schools, etc.
Although linking up to Newark via Cranford might be quicker. You may want to research direct trains through Newark instead of Hoboken. It will also get you out of essex (taxes)
As far as I know there isn't a bus terminal in lower Manhattan, so bus = at least 2 modes of transit in your trip (which isn't that bad). Public transit entrances from NJ to NYC are:
1. GWB bus terminal (Washington Heights)
2. PABT bus terminal (Midtown)
3. Train directly to Penn
4. Train to Hoboken, then take the northern PATH in or light rail/PATH to the southern PATH route and take that in
5. Get to ferry terminal however, ferry to WTC, wall street, or midtown
Ridgewood might be worth taking a look at.
Academy runs buses to Wall Street, but I don't know if they do that from those areas. You'd have to look on the website. They do run from here (Monmouth County).
As far as I know there isn't a bus terminal in lower Manhattan, so bus = at least 2 modes of transit in your trip (which isn't that bad). Public transit entrances from NJ to NYC are:
1. GWB bus terminal (Washington Heights)
2. PABT bus terminal (Midtown)
3. Train directly to Penn
4. Train to Hoboken, then take the northern PATH in or light rail/PATH to the southern PATH route and take that in
5. Get to ferry terminal however, ferry to WTC, wall street, or midtown
Ridgewood might be worth taking a look at.
Not sure what you mean by this? Train to Hoboken gets you to the WTC PATH, which is right in Hoboken Terminal. 10 minutes and you're in the WTC terminal.
I'm probably looking for a unicorn, but on the off chance one exists, here is what it would look like.
1) Easy commute to WTC NYC (>45 minutes, public transport, daily commute to work)
2) Excellent public school district (i.e. top 1% of high school graduates routinely get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc)
3) Kids friendly: professional gymnastic, ice hockey
4) easy weekend access to philadelphia and bergen county (fair lawn)
5) budget: ~800k for a 3br/3ba 2500-3300 sq.ft.
6) trader joes/costco nearby
Thank you all!
i would start here to drill down to the top handful of towns and work my way down your list from there:
Check out North Bergen ! Extremely underrated... My Husband works Near the world trade and his commute is around 40-45 minutes and doesn't have to take a bus.. he takes a light rail to the path and path to WTC .. great schools.. super low crime.. BJ, target walmart , home depot all with in 9 minutes away and Trader Joes about 15 minutes... we have 5 children and just moved to North Bergen... Tonnelle Light rail station... oh and husband has other options to get to WTC .. Ferry is a few minutes away... and buses also !!
I appreciate your enthusiasm for my hometown (North Bergen) but the schools are not really a selling point. Also, the area you're referring to, near Tonnelle Ave is really not the best in town.
Consider Westfield, just two stops past Cranford. Your budget is going to be tight and the commute is going to be longer than your 45 minutes, but the schools are great, gymnastics and ice hockey teams, a little long to Philadephia but decent from Bergen, and there's a new Trader Joe's in town since the roof fell in on the last one. Vibrant downtown as well.
If you're willing to give a little on the schools then you can make your budget work well in Cranford while getting a little bonus in a faster commute. A little different vibe to the downtown area with no national brands, but still very vibrant. It all depends on how stringent you are about the schools, they're very close but there's still a difference.
Consider Westfield, just two stops past Cranford. Your budget is going to be tight and the commute is going to be longer than your 45 minutes, but the schools are great, gymnastics and ice hockey teams, a little long to Philadephia but decent from Bergen, and there's a new Trader Joe's in town since the roof fell in on the last one. Vibrant downtown as well.
If you're willing to give a little on the schools then you can make your budget work well in Cranford while getting a little bonus in a faster commute. A little different vibe to the downtown area with no national brands, but still very vibrant. It all depends on how stringent you are about the schools, they're very close but there's still a difference.
Lol really though, what is the difference between Cranford and Westfield schools? Give a little? Give a tiny tiny amount, more like. It's basically negligible, like the differences between the schools in many similar towns.
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