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Our family is planning to make a move to the NY suburbs for work reasons. Here is our situation:
Family:
2 parents (one Asian-American, one Jewish-American) - work in creative fields; are both liberal Democrats
2 kids (elementary school age)
Work locations (the twist):
Parent A works in Stamford, CT (near train station) - can do driving or train commute; needs to be there 2 days a week from September-May. Other days, work from home. Summers, work from home.
Parent B works in South Jersey (near Atlantic City) - can do driving commute only; needs to be there 2-3 days a week from September-May. Other days, work from home. Summers, work from home.
Schools:
Desire excellent top-tier public schools from K-12
Budget:
Can go as high as $1 M, however prefer to keep it around $750,000
Narrative:
The distance between our work places is approximately 2.5 hours. The midway point driving is Perth Amboy, but we don't really want to live there. We have our eyes on either:
- Millburn, NJ (Parent A will have 1 hr 45 minute train commute, Parent B will have 1 hr 40 minute driving commute)
- Larchmont, NY (Parent A will have 20-25 minute driving commute, Parent B will have 2 hr 10 minute/2hr 20 minute commute)
If we did Larchmont, ParentB would commute down to Atlantic City area and stay for two days and come back up. If we did Millburn, we would both return home each work day. We work at our remote locations on opposing days, so the kids would always have someone nearby regardless of location.
Given these parameters, which would you choose, and for what reasons? Are there any other towns that you would suggest that we take a second look at?
Are you both professors? Your work schedule and commute problem are really interesting. I would say insane, but I guess a 2 days a week, it's doable. Is the commute for both people during rush hour? Or can you flex it a little, like leave at 5:45 am to arrive by 7am, and then leave by 4 pm?
Your demographics and political affiliations will fit in fine in either area.
Maybe also check out Ridgewood/Glen Rock? It's closer to Stamford (cuts the commute down to an hour, if it's not right during rush hour), but is not as bad as Stamford---> A.C. He'd probably still want to stay for 2 days and not drive 4 hours in a day.
Are you both professors? Your work schedule and commute problem are really interesting. I would say insane, but I guess a 2 days a week, it's doable. Is the commute for both people during rush hour? Or can you flex it a little, like leave at 5:45 am to arrive by 7am, and then leave by 4 pm?
Your demographics and political affiliations will fit in fine in either area.
Maybe also check out Ridgewood/Glen Rock? It's closer to Stamford (cuts the commute down to an hour, if it's not right during rush hour), but is not as bad as Stamford---> A.C. He'd probably still want to stay for 2 days and not drive 4 hours in a day.
Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll check out those spots.
Yes, professors. We do have some flexibility on commuting times so that might help. On the other hand, when I mapped driving from Millburn to Stamford, there were bright red traffic spots along the map starting from as early as 530am!
We cross shopped Larchmont and GR and bought in GR. These towns are very expensive given the schools and short direct trains. GR is less than Larchmont even accounting for bidding wars. You could search my other posts
Given the commuting access You’ll be paying a massive premium to live in a 2500 SF 1.0MM house with 25-30k in taxes. And won’t even be using the trains. It doesn’t make sense.
Why not live in Central Jersey in a top notch school district and poor train access. 3000-4000 SF house for 650k with taxes literally 10-20k less. And stay at a hotel for 200/nt in Stamford 10x a month (during the months you actually need it). Or even a studio apartment crash pad. Or find towns with excellent schools in NJ with good highway access and no direct trains. They will come at a big discount.
You’re circling towns that people avoid if they don’t need a quick train. The taxes and home prices are really suited for high strung NYC workers that work long hours and are willing to pay the premium for ease of commute...because it’s the next best thing to living in NYC but comparatively less than an NYC condo and paying NYC income tax.
Ouch, I hate responding to a thread like this because of the cognitive dissonance it gives me...there is no good option LOL. Honestly, my recommendation would be Metuchen. About a halfway point between the two workplaces. It may not be as rich as Millburn and Larchmont, but that town is still quite well off, and the schools are great, and your money will go further there. It's pretty much at the intersection of the Parkway (for going south to what I assume is Stockton in Galloway) and the Turnpike (for going north to Stamford). Larchmont is too far for the Stockton commuter, and also as an NJ employee living in NY, you will get dinged with higher state income tax. Not to mention, I think a law was passed a few years ago that state employees have to live in NJ. If one of you is a professor at Stockton, then you are technically an NJ state employee, as it is public. I don't know if this rule applies to college employees or just certain kinds of state government workers...might want to check that out, but the state income tax issue is real.
Millburn will contract your dollars rather than stretch them. The other thing is it's not any closer of a drive to Stamford despite being further north than Metuchen. Metuchen puts you pretty much right on the Turnpike, vs. Millburn having to go east on I-78 to then get on the Turnpike, so it evens out. But a train commute would be breezier from Metuchen. NJ Transit to Metro North requires a transfer; you get to Penn, then have to take a subway/taxi/walk to Grand Central, and then get on Metro North. Whereas from Metuchen, you could drive 5 minutes or so to get to Metropark and take a one-seat train on the Amtrak Acela to Stamford. Something else to consider if one decides they would rather take a train to Stamford.
Bonus...moving to Metuchen might be a good play for your future because this is something I can't imagine you want to do long term. That means in due time, one (or both) of you can look into switching your job to teach at Rutgers in New Brunswick, which is super close by.
One parent is Asian American and the other is Jewish? Obviously the answer is Livingston, NJ.
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