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Hi,
We are contemplating a move to northern NJ and looking for
1. Town between New Brunswick and NYC-- no more than 45 min driving and ~1 hr train respectively
2. Diverse, young, lots of places to go out, and very walkable
3. I want a big old house but ideally updated
Great schools are a plus but we have a few years til we need it
Considering all price ranges at the moment til I get true sticker shock...
I LOVE the look of downtown South Orange but with traffic, the trip to NB looks to be 1 hr+.
Metuchen seems to fit the bill but door to door to NYC is 1.5 hr (office 10 min walk from Penn Station)
I will probably have to compromise on something but not sure what yet. But wanted to see if there's anything I'm missing.
I have those towns on my list. Are there neighborhoods you are aware of that are more walkable?
The other question I have is around the commute to NYC. Google maps has most of the route options (and the ones they show first...) as 1.5 hrs. The "Raritan Valley" line is faster. What gives? Does the Raritan line run less often so Google maps doesn't suggest it first?
I have those towns on my list. Are there neighborhoods you are aware of that are more walkable?
The other question I have is around the commute to NYC. Google maps has most of the route options (and the ones they show first...) as 1.5 hrs. The "Raritan Valley" line is faster. What gives? Does the Raritan line run less often so Google maps doesn't suggest it first?
If you really need door to door under an hour, then your list is going to pretty limited.
You could do Secaucus and the person commuting to NB could take the train.
I'm in Cranford and do about 80 minutes door to door. I walk five minutes into town, catch the 8:17, transfer to PATH, out at 14th Street, walk five minutes to work and am in my desk by 9:30. The RVL is not direct during rush hour, so there's a few minute wait for PATH or the other lines that do go to NY Penn.
Diversity is also not something that can be applied to either town. It's not that anyone has any objection to diversity it's that people live here for 50 years and there's not a lot of turnover.
A big old house will run you 5-600K in Cranford add 20% for Westfield. A big old house that's updated will run you upwards of 1 million (1.3 in Westfield), so look for that sticker shock too.
Why not do New Brunswick and the NY commuter takes the train from there? The fast train is 45 mins.
If big old houses are your thing check out Sleepy Hollow in Plainfield. Not a great area outside of Sleepy Hollow but check it out in case you're into it.
TBH everyone wants <1hr to NYC door to door but in reality its very unlikely.
Maybe Jersey City Heights? Some great old homes renovated recently or renovate yourself.
Thank you all for the responses! I know I am probably asking for too much but as I said, I'm starting with the full list and will figure out where to compromise.
I was wondering about Seacaucus-- industrial commuter town? Or up and coming cool?
I live in South Orange, so I'm obviously biased to just tell you to deal with the traffic to NB. Most of the towns you're looking at are probably a 10-15 minute difference which on a 'NYC commute scale' isn't anything crazy. The difference is if you prefer the South Orange/Maplewood vibe to the Westfield/Cranford vibe.
To overgeneralize, SO/Ma is more of an aging hipster vibe and very liberal and W/C is more of an aging yuppie vibe and while Clinton still took the towns, it's more slight (and Garwood went slightly for Trump).
As I'm more of a super liberal aging wannabe-hipster I'd deal with the extra minutes. Of course, everyone's mileage varies. And with NJ you definitely need to weigh various options to see what is most important to you. While a commute is a reality and important, your home is going to be your home. And with the amount that it's likely to cost you in NJ you might as well get what you want as much as you can.
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