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Is commutability one of the criteria you are concerned with in selecting/comparing these towns? If so, Metuchen is, by far, the most commutable of the three.
Is commutability one of the criteria you are concerned with in selecting/comparing these towns? If so, Metuchen is, by far, the most commutable of the three.
Rt 27 is closed over there now, and that's how the OP would get to the Parkway since (s)he works in Paramus.
Location-wise, my vote is definitely for Metuchen. I lived in the area going to Rutgers and a few years after, and being from Bergen County and a fan of going to the beach anytime I can, I'd say Metuchen is pretty convenient for going both ways.
Maybe it's because I'm from Bergen County, but I don't find the traffic THAT bad in the New Brunswick/Edison area if you know where to go. I'd say 27 is the worst going through New Brunswick, takes about half an hour to get across the bridge to Highland Park during rush hour. It can get slow in Metuchen, but Metuchen is a small town and has direct access to 287 which you go on for a short while to get to the Parkway. The traffic in Metuchen is NOTHING compared to the traffic you'll deal with in Paramus.
Is 27 really closed? The whole road can't be, I know that one of the exits off of 287 for Rte 27 Metuchen was closed, but I still was able to get to 27 just last week.
I don't know anything about the other towns, but I find Metuchen to be a very pleasant town. I have a few friends who grew up in Metuchen and they're a close-knit group. I worked at a family-owned restaurant in Metuchen, and their customers were probably the best clientele I have ever dealt with. Just going next door to the drug store, I was almost irked by how friendly people were. Plus there are things to do (restaurants, bars, the theatre) in New Brunswick close by, and the train in Metuchen goes directly into NYC. In fact, I find going to NYC by train from Central Jersey more convenient than public transportation from Bergen County.
Maybe it's because I'm from Bergen County, but I don't find the traffic THAT bad in the New Brunswick/Edison area if you know where to go. I'd say 27 is the worst going through New Brunswick, takes about half an hour to get across the bridge to Highland Park during rush hour. It can get slow in Metuchen, but Metuchen is a small town and has direct access to 287 which you go on for a short while to get to the Parkway. The traffic in Metuchen is NOTHING compared to the traffic you'll deal with in Paramus.
Oh no. The traffic on Rts 17 and 4 is WAYYY worse. I'm just speaking for this general area. Cut-through traffic along 27, which winds and twists and loops around through Metuchen, is the worst in all of the congestion of Northern Middlesex County. Anywhere in Edison or Woodbridge is not as bad, IMO, and other areas south of the river aren't bad at all, save for Rt 18 perhaps, but that whole highway needs to be rebuilt IMO. Southern Middlesex is much more spread out.
The pic Kracer posted is a good alternate to 27 if you want to get from Metuchen to Woodbridge or Menlo Pk Malls, or anywhere else in that shopping mecca.
If I had to compare Metuchen to anything in Bergen County it would be a breeze though. I don't have much exp of Rt 4 during rush hour, but 17 is a nightmare until it turns into a highway as you get north of Paramus. Bergen County is way more congested and built out than this area. It basically consists of a lot of little Metuchen-like towns all next to each other for the most part and while the Edison/Woodbridge area is quite crowded and built out, Metuchen is more densely populated than any place in Woodbridge or Edison.
Like I said I think Metuchen is a very nice town and it has a lot of things going for it, but I wouldn't live there for the cluster of 27 going through it, then again that's probably the only reason why I wouldn't want to live there, so if traffic wasn't a pet peeve of mine, in that case by all means it's good.
Not all of 27 is closed, just the northernmost stretch of it in Metuchen as it goes over that bridge into Menlo Pk area toward the parkway.
Note: Route 27 will hopefully be re-oppened within the next two months (see article at: Route 27 bridge in Metuchen to close for nearly half a year | mycentraljersey.com | MyCentralJersey.com). Although the article does state 5 months (which will bring it to thend of September), these projects always take longer, so by the end of October, early November, the route will be clear again. In the mean-time there are other ways around the traffic (besides the "official" detour).
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