My Job is NYC, Wife's job in Farmington, CT

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by jcoltrane

The New Haven commute is quite feasible. Done everyday. It's the ole skool 'Man In The Grey Flannel Suit" commute! Ever see that movie?

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Haven Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/planning/schedules/pdf/102009NHavenLineM_F.pdf (broken link)

Anyway, New Haven is about as far a commute as would be feasible. Any further would be too much. Check the train schedules. The three main concerns would be,

a) length of commute; I'm not sure, but its at least an hour;

b) Which trains would get you to work on time? I'd plan for two trains. For example, presuming a 9 am start time, then it'd be best to have two trains which will get you IN your office by 9 am, or not long after. So, if you miss the first, there's another one coming that'll still get you there relatively on time!!

c) The last train in the evening. If you routinely work late, then you'll need a train that runs late as well.

Of the four main commuter routes, the popularity would be:

1) Long Island and New Jersey
2) Westchester
3) Connecticut

Connecticut may be the least popular, but in a region of millions, we're talking hundreds of thousands! Frankly, if one is of a certain set, CT, particularly Westport and its environs, is the far superior choice.

BTW, check Google again. To my eye Waterbury, at the intersection of I-84 and Route 8, is closer than New Haven. I'm not really familiar with the town, but off hand I'd say that the New Haven area might be more appealing for a young urban type couple (presuming that's you and wifey). New Haven has Yale University (one of the top American schools) and all that comes with a college town.

If you're thinking of making the commute from Farmington, I wonder how quick is the drive during rush hour? Also, anything more than a 90 minute total commute would be onerous; and would wear you down after awhile. Particularly if your job is demanding.

Living in or around New Haven would make the commute better, but actually living in New Haven might be a little tricky. The city itself is a bit down on its heels, except for certain spots that have and are going through 'gentrification'. The University is the major employer and very much involved with turning the city around. Areas around the university are fairly nice in an urban way; and there's a bit of a night life college style. It's an Ivy league town, so it's not raucous as one might find elsewhere. New Haven is (code word -->) 'diverse'! Keep that in mind if such makes you or wife uncomfortable. The areas surrounding New Haven is typically American suburban, and in places a bit upscale. Presuming you're at one of the times square area firms I imagine, you won't be the only CT, nor New Haven commuter.

A couple of summers ago, I spent time in the area looking for investment properties.

7wishes has it pretty much on the money. As I've said, the CT commute is the better way to go, depending upon your job. Most of the folk I've known to do it are at a certain employment level, and weren't 'on the clock'. The come in late, leave early types and can get away with it.

Luck!

Waterbury -- issue with trains is they don't run as many as from New Haven, and I believe you have to switch trains in Bridgeport to boot.

Regarding driving from Farmington, I was in the Hartford area last summer on a temporary assignment, lived there 5 days/week and came home on the weekends. With NO traffic it took me just under 90 minutes for the weekend drive home and back, and that was to southern Westchester, not Manhattan. So I doubt a drive from Farmington to Manhattan is really feasible on a daily basis. Maybe just on Monday mornings to have a little more weekend time at "home".

[jcoltrane]

If you're thinking of making the commute from Farmington, I wonder how quick is the drive during rush hour?

I meant from Farmington to New Haven to catch the train.

Hopefully, it'll work out for him.

[bmwguydc]

New Haven is really too far for a commute on a daily basis -- it's over two hours, and then you have to get from GCT to Wall Street, so that's more time on the subway. By the time you get there, from the station in New Haven, it would be roughly two and a half hours, with no delays.

[smuggy_mba]

Hi Guys,

Here's a summary of what everyone responded:

• Lower Westchester - No NYC resident Tax

• Pelham - 30 mins to GCT, No NYC resident Tax

• New Rochelle - 40 min to GCT, No NYC resident Tax, Amtrak goes to CT

• Queen's - Forest Hills, Astoria, Hunter's Point

• Riverdale - take Metro-North hudson line to GCT

• Greenwich

• Fleetwood section of Mt. Vernon

Ok now, which one is the best in terms of rent, parking, commute to wall street, access to CT. Obviously, I'll have to compromise on some of these aspects and would love to hear what everyone has to say.

Thanks all for their valuable time.

[bmwguydc]

Riverdale and Queens are going to have more apartments on the market than suburban areas in Westchester. I would put Riverdale as first because you're on the mainland, and practically in Lower Westchester when you get back to the car to go to Connecticut. Plus, you can avoid the I-95 corridor/Hutch entirely on a bad day, and just follow the Saw Mill Parkway to Katonah where you would end up on I-684 north, or on days when the Saw Mill can flood, just take the Sprain Brook Parkway from Yonkers to the Saw Mill at Hawthorne. You can also enter I-684 at White Plains, but you would need to take the exit for the Cross Westchester east, and traffic can be heavy to the Connecituct line as the Hutch/Merritt, I-95, I-287, and I-684 come together in the general area between White Plains and Rye.

From Riverdale, you can take the Metro-North to Grand Central and then the subway to Wall Street, or you can take the BxM18 express bus. The bus takes over an hour, whereas Metro-North can get you to GCT in under 30 minutes; however, the subway can be packed, and getting downtown (depending upon the hour of day) can be annoying. On the return trip, if the bus does not run, as it's a limited-service line (last return bus starts at 7:15), you could always take the subway to Metro-North, and I would definitely do that on Fridays, especially in the summer, since the bus gets stuck in traffic on the highway.

BxM 18 bus schedule

Queens can be a good choice, but parking is not the easiest proposition in Forest Hills, since there are many buildings without garages. As such, you will pay more for a parking spot, but not the same price as you would pay in Manhattan. Forest Hills does offer the option of the LIRR, which will take you to Penn Station in about twenty minutes, so you would not be dependent upon a longer subway ride.

Astoria and LIC offer options that would be good bets, and you can find parking, but mostly in the newer buildings. The subway commute is not too long to get to Wall Street, comparatively, but you don't have the option of the commuter rail line from either. The other drawback to Queens is driving to Connecticut, since there can be a good deal of traffic on the bridges and the Deegan getting to Lower Westchester, using either I-95/Hutch or heading toward Yonkers and taking the Saw Mill/Sprain to get on I-684 in Katonah or White Plains.

I would look to Lower Westchester next if you do not want to pay the city resident income tax. Pelham is a small village, generally speaking, and there are not too many apartment complexes. The supply will be limited, and there's not much price competition in the area, and you need to be in walking distance to the train, since parking can be an issue. Fleetwood has some nice areas, and you are close to the train. There are a few more apartments, but nothing on the order of a White Plains, Yonkers, or New Rochelle, so there might not be as much variety as you would find in Riverdale or Queens.

New Rochelle has more apartments, and the option of Amtrak to Connecticut on a stormy day, but you could always just leave your car in Riverdale, provided you didn't need to bring anyting from NYC to Connecticut that you didn't want to bring to the office first, and take the train directly from Penn Station to Connecticut. It would be more efficient just to take the subway from Wall Street to Penn, and then to Connecticut, as opposed to going back to New Rochelle to catch Amtrak. In New Rochelle, there are areas that are not as nice, and walking to the station might not be practical. You might have to catch a bus to get to the station, one of the Westchester Bee Lines, or a shuttle from the apartment complex.

Greenwich will offer a shorter commute to Farmington, but a longer one to GCT, followed by the subway downtown. It's at the longer end of the commutes you're considering, though some in Queens that are subway only commutes could be as long. And, if you were to take the 1 subway from The Bronx, it would be about the same time, all things considered. Aside from the length of the daily commute, Greenwich would offer a nice apartment, and parking should be included. However, some will pay more for a Greenwich address, so it might erode any savings that you would find where you'd have to pay extra for parking. Greenwich offers flexibility as well, since I-95 can be a parking lot from Greenwich to Stamford (and sometimes beyond) some afternoons, because you can take North Street to the Merritt (CT-15) and avoid 1-95; or, you can take Weaver Street, following it when it becomes Riversville Road through North Greenwich to Bedford Road (Route 22) in Armonk where you can enter I-684 north.

[smuggy_mba]

I'll will analyze your answer in detail, appreciate your time. One more question -

How far does the train from Penn/GCT go into CT....do they go all they way to Farmington of just to New Haven?

[bmwguydc]

Metro-North will go to New Haven, and has limited service on the Waterbury Branch Line. Metro-North's New Haven Line has several branches, to Danbury, Waterbury, etc. that leave the main tracks along the shoreline. However, the service is limited and can take much longer. For instance, there's branch service to Danbury, but it's faster to drive/take the bus to Brewster in NY and commute on the Harlem Line train.

Amtrak goes to Hartford from Penn, using a Northeast Regional train, so you could get close to Farmington that way. Amtrak is a little more expensive than Metro-North.

Another option to Hartford would be to take the Peter Pan Bus from the Port Authority. It's an express coach service, so it would likely be around the same time as the branch service to Waterbury, which then requires a longer drive to Farmington. Greyhound also has buses that go to Hartford, even some that leave from Penn Station, but those are local buses that an take hours to get there, and they might be slightly more expensive.

[smuggy_mba]

Hi bmwguydc,

can you name some areas in NJ that offer a easy commute (25 mins or so) to wall street and have rent less than 2000 for a one bedroom (I need car parking also).

Any apartments, apartment buildings near a train line where I can walk to train and be on wall street in 25-30 mins.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by bmwguydc

Metro-North will go to New Haven, and has limited service on the Waterbury Branch Line. Metro-North's New Haven Line has several branches, to Danbury, Waterbury, etc. that leave the main tracks along the shoreline. However, the service is limited and can take much longer. For instance, there's branch service to Danbury, but it's faster to drive/take the bus to Brewster in NY and commute on the Harlem Line train.

Amtrak goes to Hartford from Penn, using a Northeast Regional train, so you could get close to Farmington that way. Amtrak is a little more expensive than Metro-North.

Another option to Hartford would be to take the Peter Pan Bus from the Port Authority. It's an express coach service, so it would likely be around the same time as the branch service to Waterbury, which then requires a longer drive to Farmington. Greyhound also has buses that go to Hartford, even some that leave from Penn Station, but those are local buses that an take hours to get there, and they might be slightly more expensive.

[bmwguydc]

I would look to Jersey City and Hoboken, since you can get on the PATH and be at the World Trade Center in only a few minutes, during rush hour. I think that your budget will work, including parking fees.

[smuggy_mba]

I know it's too much too ask but can you give some apartment building names that in around 2000 (for 1 Bedroom and parking) and really convenient to get a train to wall street. I'm also looking online, but could use more help.

Thanks as always.