PA towns for moving out of NJ (Jersey City, Trenton: townhome, find a job)
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Folks - I would really appreciate any help you can offer. I have two kids aged 3 and an infant. I presently live in NJ and commute into Jersey City which takes 3 hours round trip per day on NJ Transit and path. I have been doing this for 10 years and would like to spend time with my family more. I am possibly going to find a job in Hopewell soon and if that happens would have a 30 minute commute from my current home in NJ. Since my family has expanded and I live in a townhome I am trying to move to a SFH. My budget is $500k but for that price I am unable to find what I am looking for in NJ and taxes are high as well. Is moving to PA a good option? Can you please guide me to towns I should consider which would be within a 30 minute commute to Hopewell, a 45 mts or less commute to Philly and also give me the option to either go to Trenton or Robbinsville if I need to go to Jersey City or NYC? I am looking for SFH with 2500 or above sq.ft, good sized lot, basement and reasonable property taxes. I would really appreciate any help.
Is it fair to say the towns in the following order will provide me a) a good commute to Hopewell b) a reasonable commute to Philly c) a good commute to Trenton NJ Transit and offer good school districts d) offer cheaper taxes than NJ?
Primary
Yardley
Washington Crossing
Lower Makefield
Newtown
I did and I was told the exact opposite thing that I may get more help in NJ thread.
That is interesting because you are specifically asking about PA towns. Most of the NJ people here will not know much about those areas you listed, though some will. Most people here will not know about schools in those PA towns, taxes, or what the commute to Philly would be like.
There are some people here that are from here and now in PA and still visit this forum or are originally from PA or have lived there, so I guess you could wait to see if they show up in this thread. Did you post to the right PA forum? I know there are multiple by region. It would probably be Lehigh Valley.
Edit: Okay maybe not Lehigh Valley, looks like that region is a bit further north than where you're looking. I checked your history and see you posted it in Philly, the one person who responded told you to come here but perhaps didn't see the towns you specifically asked about because you put them in a second post. That would be that person's fault though, because you clearly did list Philly area PA towns. Strange. You'll probably get some responses on either or both threads so I'd wait a little.
I am familiar with the areas on both sides of the river.
Property taxes are definitely lower in PA. Not to mention that unlike NJ/NY, PA and NJ cooperate with each other when it comes to income tax time. You only need to file a form in the state where you work from what I remember.
Washington Crossing is the closest to Hopewell and a very nice town. That would be my first choice. Yardley and Lower Makefield are very nice too and convenient to a very good hospital - Mercer Medical Center in Trenton, NJ. Newtown used to have a nice country feel to it, but it has become built up.
Don't know much about Upper Makefield. Newhope is nice and it's right across the river from Lambertville which is a fun and safe small city with many eateries.
I don't think you would go very wrong with any of these PA town you mentioned.
Folks - I would really appreciate any help you can offer. I have two kids aged 3 and an infant. I presently live in NJ and commute into Jersey City which takes 3 hours round trip per day on NJ Transit and path. I have been doing this for 10 years and would like to spend time with my family more. I am possibly going to find a job in Hopewell soon and if that happens would have a 30 minute commute from my current home in NJ. Since my family has expanded and I live in a townhome I am trying to move to a SFH. My budget is $500k but for that price I am unable to find what I am looking for in NJ and taxes are high as well. Is moving to PA a good option? Can you please guide me to towns I should consider which would be within a 30 minute commute to Hopewell, a 45 mts or less commute to Philly and also give me the option to either go to Trenton or Robbinsville if I need to go to Jersey City or NYC? I am looking for SFH with 2500 or above sq.ft, good sized lot, basement and reasonable property taxes. I would really appreciate any help.
Is it fair to say the towns in the following order will provide me a) a good commute to Hopewell b) a reasonable commute to Philly c) a good commute to Trenton NJ Transit and offer good school districts d) offer cheaper taxes than NJ?
Primary
Yardley
Washington Crossing
Lower Makefield
Newtown
Secondary
Upper Makefield
Newhope
I think I know who your employer is...
Anyway, I used to work in Hopewell, and I'd say Yardley or Upper/Lower Makefield is your best bet. Also look at New Hope, PA. That's a pretty cool town that's right on the river. Property taxes in these areas are a bit higher than other areas of PA, so you might not get as much relief as you were hoping for. Also, NJ and PA have a reciprocal tax agreement, so you'd pay PA income taxes rather than NJ. So check that out.
I would avoid Newtown. To get from Newtown to NJ you need to take the Newtown bypass which is a nightmare at rush hour.
As far as whether it's a good option? Hmmm. I lived in Morrisville (right next to Yardley) and I didn't like it. Yes, it's cheaper, and yes the taxes are lower, but the culture is different (even so close to NJ) and the tax money you save shows up in the quality of the infrastructure. I guess you'll have to decide what you want. I'm surprised that you can't find something in NJ for $500k. That's a lot of money.
I didn't like Yardley because it bordered Morrisville in a lot of spots
OP you should look at Robbinsville. Lots of cute single family houses on there for 500K
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