Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > Westchester County
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-15-2018, 06:52 AM
 
90 posts, read 144,535 times
Reputation: 28

Advertisements

I am a working mom with one kid in elementary and a second one coming soon.
Over the past few years I've been commuting daily from lower Westchester towns to the city and I find it very, very taxing, both physically and mentally. My door to door time is about 1h 15 mins as I dont work right near GCT.

I know many people praise lower Westchester towns for an "excellent" commute to the city, but I just dont feel this way.

We lived in a different state before moving here, where daily commute by car, even with the worst of traffic, was never above 40 mins each way. And on good days, under 20 mins. When you're rushing home to your kids, getting home 40 mins to 1 hr earlier each day makes a noticeable difference.

Am I just a whimp? So curious to know how other commuter moms are doing it!!

In my town, there is a disproportionate amount of SAHMs but I dont feel I can do it (plus we need second income). I considered finding a job in Westchester/lower CT but opportunities in my field here are much, much narrower vs what city offers.

Last edited by NYfamily77; 04-15-2018 at 07:01 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-15-2018, 06:37 PM
 
7 posts, read 25,085 times
Reputation: 19
It's definitely hard. Things that have helped me: being close to midtown/quick walk to GC; flexibility to work remotely some days so you don't have to commute every day; flexible child care arrangement so you don't have a panic attack when the train is delayed or if you miss it by a minute that you won't make it to daycare in time. I had a much easier time of it when I was right by GC. My office moved all the way downtown and my commute is now 1:45 each way at best, and often longer due to train or subway delays. I've only lasted for the last 1.5 years with this commute because I don't have to go in every day, but I still find it brutal and barely get to see my kids the days I do go in because of how much time I spend commuting. I do find the metro north portion quiet and relaxing- I can read or get work done, but it still depresses me how much time I'm spending commuting. I take it one day at a time and keep an eye out for jobs in westchester I think many people enjoy the ease of the commute- if you live close to train station and work near GC, it's fairly quick and relaxing/quiet v. spending time sitting in traffic and not being able to get anything done. It's all personal preference/tolerance, but I completely understand where you're coming from and how every minute counts and adds to the stress when you have young kids.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-15-2018, 06:44 PM
 
9,511 posts, read 5,369,888 times
Reputation: 9092
My daughter took a job for good pay and Bennie's as opposed to great and got a twenty minute commute. Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-15-2018, 07:07 PM
 
269 posts, read 478,377 times
Reputation: 719
Tons of commiseration from me. My kids are in middle and high school and the stress of commuting into the city is killing me, and I work from home 2 days a week. My only advice is to keep looking for a job in Westchester, hopefully something will open up, even if the money is not as good, it will be worth it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-16-2018, 07:48 AM
 
Location: New York
1,186 posts, read 958,586 times
Reputation: 2970
Wow! I don't know how you do it; here I sit complaining about commuting 4 days of the week, no kids and no major commitment other than picking my dog up from dog care. I hope you're able to find a better/more flexible arrangement soon! If your employer is supportive of remote work at least a couple days a week, that may take some of the stress out of commuting all 5 days?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-16-2018, 07:54 AM
 
2,196 posts, read 2,113,224 times
Reputation: 3862
New York is a difficult commute from about everywhere. People consider a good door to door commute to be under 45 minutes. I lied out in Portland and Seattle and a 45 minute commute would be about the worst anyone there would have, most were 15 to 20 minutes. It is difficult here. Chicago is the same and LA makes NY look great. It is what it is. I understand your frustration. At some point, you may have to try someplace in westchester for less money but more time. Best of luck to you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-16-2018, 01:03 PM
 
223 posts, read 825,421 times
Reputation: 62
Yes its extremely taxing. If I did not work within walking distance of GC I would have never survived doing it all these Years. I also only go into NYC 4 days a week which helps. Even a one day break is helpful. I also leave before 5 pm every day. Anything longer would be a deal breaker for me.

I do not mind Metro north because its very reliable but commuting does take a big ***** out of your day.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-16-2018, 01:24 PM
 
830 posts, read 1,083,364 times
Reputation: 534
It's about as good as it gets around here. You can't really compare NY metro with anywhere else in the US.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-17-2018, 05:44 PM
 
1,594 posts, read 3,559,832 times
Reputation: 1585
Metro north is decent but man packing my ass into the subway SUCKS!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-17-2018, 06:33 PM
 
263 posts, read 342,393 times
Reputation: 287
I moved to Westchester when my kids were 2 and 5... they are 5 and 8 respectively. I have one of those very consuming jobs.

Ive been doing the commute for 3 years now. I drive 10 minutes and get to scarsdale, then 30-35 minutes on the train, and then a short 8 minute walk to my office. Its about an hour door to door.

As a mom i have little time for me, so ive come to appreciate the train “me” time. I do grocery shopping, amazon, read, or get work done. I text my friends!

For us the real saver involves unfortunately spending more and saving less... we hired a “mother’s helper” who works 3 hrs. for us Mon-thurs. we started this once we no longer had the daycare expense...

We also live in a school district that has bussing. Now they are both attending elementary school (K for the little guy) so school bus takes them and then off i go to the train station.

A couple of pieces of advice that helped me: try to find daycare that is between you and your train station. We had our little guy on Cornerstone children’s center right by the train, so that helped for both drop off and pick up.

Also - we staggered our office hours so my husband leaves early and was on the hook for pick up before we had 5he mothers helper. I left late, put them on bus and was also able to stay in the office longer when needed.

Start looking for daycares early. You will figure it out. As long as you are happy with what you do, dont look back. The kids will benefit from a having a resilient working mother. I actually dont mind the commute and love what i do so that helps...

Good luck

Last edited by newnewyorkers; 04-17-2018 at 06:39 PM.. Reason: Typos!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > Westchester County

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top