This is long overdue.
“Dane” asks Trainjotting for the best commuting town in the area.
Hello! I was wondering if there was a secret consensus on what the best commuting town into Manhattan is? For instance, if someone could move to any commuting-into-Manhattan town (in NY, PA, CT, or NJ), which town is considered as having the easiest commute/quality of life when you factor in several variables – such as being able to find a seat on the train each morning, a quaint village surrounding the train stop, etc?
Thanks,
Dane
Excellent question, Dane, and I leave it up to you, dear readers. Which town offers the best quality of life for commuters? Every town has some sort of dealbreaker: Bronxville has that $2.4 million price tag for starter homes. New Rochelle has that crime. Pleasantville is a slightly long haul for our tastes. Montclair has the Jersey factor. Hawthorne has TJ.
Shoot us your vote for the best-ever commuting town in the area, and ideally a reason or two why it’s best. We’ll crown a winner once we have a consensus.
Wow, that is a tough one. As Einstein used to say…too many variables! (actually, I doubt he ever said that.) Here are some thoughts…
Let’s contain this to commuting, so let’s avoid the town factors of real estate, schools, crime and taxes.
Depending on where you work in Manhattan, your city-side commute in heavily impacted. But to contain the comparison to the outskirts, best to discount city destination as well.
The rule of thumb for a New Jersey on-train commute is less than an hour. The express trains coming from The Boonton Line (Montclair), Morristown/Gladstone Line (Summit), and Northeast Corridor (New Brunswick) , North Jersey Coastline (The Amboys) all go directly into Manhattan. This speeds your trip, and avoids switching trains each day.
http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf
Unless you work on Wall Street, and take the ferry, this way you can avoid Hoboken and Secaucus.
Some people in New Jersey like to commute by bus – I don’t know why. But if pick-up and drop-off are at the corner of your street, the first and last leg of your commute is a no-brainer. The bus express lanes and out of the Lincoln Tunnel have greatly improved the commute in the last 8 to 10 years.
These two factors compensate in a big way, I guess, for the labyrinthine Port Authority and the tourists of Times Square, that every commuter must dodge, on their way to catch their bus home.
So my vote for best commuting town is a three-way tie: Ho-ho-kus, Towaca, and Little Silver. I know absolutely nothing about these towns, but the names sound cool, so somehow they seem like a good bet.
Wow. This is indeed a profound question. As a relocated Manhattanite now living (5 years)in Pleasantville (a Pleasantvillan ? Pleasantvillager?), I can second the “just a bit too far” comment. But, at least its GCT and not PABT or Penn Station.
P’ville is eminently walkable and human scale, being a classic pre-automobile village, as yet unsullied with sprawling development. A very livable little burg. Seems to me that everyone has either lived here since their grandpa built the house in 1912, or moved here from U.W.Side, Park Slope or Queens either 10 or 5 or 2 years ago. Taxes are murder, houses were expensive but are now at least available. If its the “moving for better schools” motivation, the schools here are W o n d e r f u l.
Some of the towns on the Hudson are of similar vintage, and places like Ossining & Tarrytown seem to have some old small multistory commercial buildings that appear derelict. Ive never enquired as to why it is, but those buildings seem to cry out for loft conversions, and Ossining in particular is a pretty town with an interesting mix of income & ethnicities – with a large Cent’l American population & corresponding cultural diversity (& FOOD!) enlivening the place.
Another Pleasantvillager weighing in. We moved 6 months ago from Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn where we lived for 8 years and haven’t regretted it one bit. I walk 8 minutes on the sidewalk to the train and so far haven’t minded the commute time. Given the dreaded F train and transfers my commute is the same time within 5 mins or so depending on the day AND we always get a seat.
Again walking to the train is a HUGE plus and is something we looked for in our real estate search.
Great Blog and I’ve been reading it since the move. Excellent writing. Keep up the good work and maybe I’ll see you on that 8:16 someday. It’s my 8:12 and it’s often the one I’m on.
Well I’m originally from Long Island, but….if you’re looking for an easy commute, Mamaroneck in Westchester is a pretty good bet. 37 minutes to Grand Central and you can find affordable places that are walking distance to a) the train, b) a nice little downtown (we have a Starbucks now!!) and c) a beach!!
Ok the beach is in a harbor on the western Long Island sound and the water is therefore not exactly pristine. But when was the last time you really went swimming anyway? The fishing is good and if you happen to hit the lottery you can buy a boat.
I’ve been looking into this *extensively*. I can’t speak for Westchester, but I work near NY Penn so I looked at the options in NJ and LI.
Generally, NJ gives you much more bang for the buck. My goal was to find a town with:
- good schools
- less than one hour from the city
- good WalkScore – someplace where, if my car broke down for a week, I’d be able to walk to everything.
The best options IMO are Westfield and Metuchen. Westfield doesn’t have direct service to NY (you have to transfer at Newark), but it is an easy transfer. Metuchen is probably the best combination of schools, location, and transit service on the NE corridor – you don’t need a train schedule in the peak because service is so frequent.
Both are walkable and let you enjoy the suburban life without being dependent on the car.
Montclair has (7) train stops, great night life (see Wellmont theater and Egan’s and Sons for examples).
The commuter tickets are 1/2 that Metro North, but yes the taxes are pretty high.
Over all I’m pretty happy with our choice to move from Park Slope to Montclair – check it out.