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My wife and I own a Xmas tree farm in central Virginia and she works in New York City. The commute back and forth to VA takes 6.5 hours on Amtrak, or we pay a ton and fly. I spend most of my week working on our farm while my wife is in NYC. We switch off weekends for traveling to see each other. We would like to sell our farm in VA and buy a farm that's maybe 1-2+ hours north, outside NYC by train. After spending days on the Internet we just don't know enough about upstate NY, or PA, or CT to figure where we should look. We own an apartment in the city and would love to be able to go back and forth in only a few hours instead of killing a whole day.
We are looking for a minimum of 75 acres, house that does not need work, hunting, pond(s), creek(s), secluded, and most of all, near (10-15 minutes) a cute, New England style town. Money is always an issue but for now we just want to start looking. Our plan is to find that perfect little town and than work with a local Realtor to search the surrounding area for a farm (or a place we could turn into another Xmas tree farm). Any ideas? Thanks!
I would look in PA. There are some really good deals upstate but it's further out...
I agree with this. You might be able to find something near Bethlehem, or south of it which is about an hour and a half commute to NYC. (They also have buses that go into Port Authority).
Any farms north of the city would easily be more than 2 hours. NJ might also be an option, but chances are any farms there would be fairly expensive.
For a couple of reasons ,I would use Wassaic,NY as a center point and then concentrate a search on towns that are within a 30 minute or so drive to the East, North and Northwest.One of the biggest reasons is Wassaic is the last and northernmost stop on a metro north commuter line which will provide frequent train service to midtown. It is about 90 miles outside the city and is positioned so that it is within short driving range of some very beautiful towns and countryside in Dutchess and Columbia Counties in NY,Litchfield County in Northwest Connecticut and The Berkshires in Southwestern Massachusetts.
The area also has easy access to the Taconic Parkway.To get to Pennsylvania you must traverse New Jersey.It is visually and mentally grueling and the car is pretty much your only viable option.To me,the combination of frequent rail service and less stressfull parkway driving as dual options would seal the deal.Plus,it really is New England ,which Pennsylvania is not.
Unfortunately, this is probably too much to ask for.
When you factor in traffic and bridges, everything north of the city within a 2 hour commuting range of Manhattan will be suburban or exurban, not working farmland. I don't know PA and Jersey as well as I do the Hudson Valley and CT, but I'd guess that the situation there is similar.
If you were just looking for a home, you could find a secluded older farmhouse in the Hudson Valley. Cold Spring in Putnam County is a good example of the kind of town you're looking for, and it's a 70-90 minute Metro-North ride to Grand Central.
One option might be to live in the Hudson Valley and buy farmland further upstate. An hour or two further will take you out of the commuter belt and into areas where land prices will be lower. You and your wife would have to commute in opposite directions, but it would still be an improvement on your current situation.
For a couple of reasons ,I would use Wassaic,NY as a center point and then concentrate a search on towns that are within a 30 minute or so drive to the East, North and Northwest.One of the biggest reasons is Wassaic is the last and northernmost stop on a metro north commuter line which will provide frequent train service to midtown. It is about 90 miles outside the city and is positioned so that it is within short driving range of some very beautiful towns and countryside in Dutchess and Columbia Counties in NY,Litchfield County in Northwest Connecticut and The Berkshires in Southwestern Massachusetts.
Agree with the Wassaic area except it that it's not under 2 hours. Dover Plains / Pawling might have some farmland nearby and could be about 2 hours to Grand Central. This is a few miles from Wasssaic station:
There are some farms from Cold Spring northward as mentioned. Might be under 2 hours.
The other hassle with Wassaic is that you have to switch trains at Southeast, so that adds to the commute time for the entire train to disembark and then get on the next train that goes to Grand Central.
Are you planning to keep the apartment in the city? The way I read the OP, I thought that the apartment was to be kept, and it was the farm property that was to be sold and a new property purchased closer to NYC. If that's the case, you may also consider Bucks County, PA and Lancaster County, PA, though Lancaster would put you at 3 or so hours to Manhattan. From parts of Bucks, however, you can be in the city in 2 hours or less. Lancaster is supposed to be a very good area for farming (Amish country), so that may be a consideration as well.
Westchester has farms, too, but mostly smaller operations with respect to crops, and many are equestrian farms. And, because the areas are easily commutable to NYC, the prices (and taxes) are much higher than what you can find in a rural environment.
The USDA has soil samples by county, so you could compare your current land in Central Virginia to a proposed area in the Northeast to see if you can find similar conditions for the crops that you grow, and the Christmas trees. NRCS Soils
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The other hassle with Wassaic is that you have to switch trains at Southeast, so that adds to the commute time for the entire train to disembark and then get on the next train that goes to Grand Central.
There are a couple rush hour trains that go direct, running at about 2hr to Grand Central from Wassaic.
Yes, that's right about the rush hour trains, I had forgotten that MNRR has the capacity to switch to diesel above Southeast, which makes the trip in about two hours, without delays, not ideal on a daily basis. Outside of the few trains, though, it's shuttle service from Wassaic to Southeast.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
There are some beautiful farms in Ocean County NJ in and around New Egypt. Its is a bit less than 2 hours from NYC via car and you could also catch the train from Trenton. Maybe post on the NJ forum for some more information, I have only been there as a visitor and don't know the area that well. This location has the added bonus of not being to far from the jersey shore.
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