How long is the commute from Philly - Lehigh Valley - Philly?

[SteveApathy]

I'll probably be like the OP and leave shortly after asking this, but I'm going to be in a similar situation. Fresh out of college with a great opportunity in the Lehigh valley (coopersburg). I have a friend working and going to school in Philly, and I'd much rather be close to the city and reverse commute. It's definitely a plus that I'd have a good friend there I'd live with.

I know that people have said a 2-hour commute should be planned for because of traffic, but is there any way to avoid the rush? Specifically, would taking 309 straight into coopersburg cut down travel time even if I had to drive an extra 10 minutes to get to it? How about leaving earlier to take 76/476 (i.e. leaving at 630 rather than 7)?

I'd like to at least try it out for a year so I can live with somebody I know and get myself grounded instead of jumping into the abyss alone. Would I just be driving myself mad with the commute? I'm used to commuting 40 minutes to work and have held a job requiring me to come in at 620 am on top of that 40 minute commute, so early rise is not a big issue if that's what it comes down to.

Thank you for the help, and sorry for the long post.

[toobusytoday]

Steve, I live in Coopersburg. Yes, the commute would be terrible, and no 309 is not better. There is not really a reverse commute because just as many people work in King of Prussia as Philadelphia so all of the roads are busy once you get to Plymouth Meeting.

You should probably consider living in Bethlehem which is a cool small city and an easy commute to Coopersburg. There are quite a few twenty somethings that live in the area that have moved back after college or stayed after attending a local college. My daughter graduated from College (in IL) in 2007, worked in China for a year and is now back here teaching locally. She has a regular group of friends that do all kinds of things together like hiking, kayaking, visiting wineries, going to bars or restaurants in Bethlehem, etc. It's really a neat area.

Let's see, would that be Lutron or Olympus?

[SteveApathy]

Haha. That'd be Lutron. Proud to be graduating from Virginia Tech with BS in Mechanical Engineering in May.

I guess I was just hoping logistically it could work out some way to where I could room up with my friend up there, but everything seems to be against that. Oh well, I guess it's Lehigh Valley life for me. Bethlehem definitely seems like a decent option. My biggest fear is just ending up somewhere that I feel is limited in activity. I worked for Caterpillar in central illinois last summer and hated my entire time there regardless of the fact that I loved my job.

Of course, I've had a couple people suggest Bethlehem, so I'm starting to trust that opinion. They'll pay me to go up there and check it out, so I guess I'll see for myself. Biggest issue is going to be paying higher rent for a single-occupancy place because I'll be damned if I'm going to do random roommate matching.

[toobusytoday]

LOTS of Hokies up here, you'll be fine. My son is a junior at Roanoke, currently in England, he's visited Tech a couple of times for concerts and football games. You've got a beautiful campus, almost as pretty as the mountains up here.