PA Neighborhood with "easy" commute to NYC
March 25, 2015 8:26 AM Subscribe
Looking for a good neighborhood (safe, good elementary schools, cozy) in PA which will still allow frequent trips (mostly off peak hours) into NYC. Prefer to have option to drive or Mass Transit, either direct or drive + train.
Work is bringing me up to NYC for a lengthy project. My SO has never lived in a major metropolis (I lived in NYC for 3 decades), and would very much prefer to reside well away from NYC.
We looked at several options (outer boros, upstate, NJ, etc.) and we feel that PA best suits what we are looking for. Long commutes aren't a death knell. Right now, my current project dictates a 1.5 hour one-way commute (West Palm to Miami), and we are relatively OK with that. Something similar would be OK, but anything over 2 hours would get more and more difficult. Commute times would often be during off-peak hours (ETA in NYC 10-11am, leaving at 6-7pm), but I would still like the option to leave the car at a train station or bus depot and not fight traffic.
We have a child starting Kindergarten this year, so good public schools are very important, with a house rental (non-apartment) and a cozy "suburb feel" coming in close second. I am not extremely familiar with PA, having only made the occasional trip from NYC to Philly for day trips, and have to make a decision soon.
I will be headed up there for an exploratory trip in the next two weeks, but wanted some input as to some areas to check out with a realtor. Max rent for a 3 bed + 2 bath or similar would be ~2,500 / month. However, buying a home was recently discussed, and I wouldn't be opposed to it if we fell in love with the neighborhood. Right now we have Lower Marion on the radar, but it is currently our only option.
If you have knowledge of PA, are there any other neighborhoods I should be checking out?
Work is bringing me up to NYC for a lengthy project. My SO has never lived in a major metropolis (I lived in NYC for 3 decades), and would very much prefer to reside well away from NYC.
We looked at several options (outer boros, upstate, NJ, etc.) and we feel that PA best suits what we are looking for. Long commutes aren't a death knell. Right now, my current project dictates a 1.5 hour one-way commute (West Palm to Miami), and we are relatively OK with that. Something similar would be OK, but anything over 2 hours would get more and more difficult. Commute times would often be during off-peak hours (ETA in NYC 10-11am, leaving at 6-7pm), but I would still like the option to leave the car at a train station or bus depot and not fight traffic.
We have a child starting Kindergarten this year, so good public schools are very important, with a house rental (non-apartment) and a cozy "suburb feel" coming in close second. I am not extremely familiar with PA, having only made the occasional trip from NYC to Philly for day trips, and have to make a decision soon.
I will be headed up there for an exploratory trip in the next two weeks, but wanted some input as to some areas to check out with a realtor. Max rent for a 3 bed + 2 bath or similar would be ~2,500 / month. However, buying a home was recently discussed, and I wouldn't be opposed to it if we fell in love with the neighborhood. Right now we have Lower Marion on the radar, but it is currently our only option.
If you have knowledge of PA, are there any other neighborhoods I should be checking out?
When you say "PA", do you really mean Philly? Because there are a lot of parts of Pennsylvania that are closer to NYC than Philly.
posted by smackfu at 9:33 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by smackfu at 9:33 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
What's your commute plan from Lower Merion? Driving, or going to the Ardmore Amtrak station? If driving, I think you will be heading up 95 during peak hours, and you can't get to 95 without going through rush hour traffic. Ardmore-->Penn Station is a 2 hour ride barring any delays, and the local rush hour traffic will increase that by various amounts depending on where exactly you're coming from. Lower Merion is close to a lot of very heavy traffic and major office parks, never mind the King of Prussia Mall, and traffic can get hairy pretty regularly.
Either way, I don't think you're likely to get a 2-hour commute from Lower Merion to NYC. Living basically on top of the Ardmore station, or in Philly within a short walk/cab ride to 30th Street Station, are the only ways it would strike me as really workable - and the latter option frankly raises school as a big question and kills your ability to get a standalone house. You say "PA" but Lower Merion is very much Philly Suburbs and getting to NYC for a daily commute just isn't a real option - usually people in PA who commute to NYC are living much further north in the state.
(I live in Philly, used to live in Lower Merion).
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:43 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Either way, I don't think you're likely to get a 2-hour commute from Lower Merion to NYC. Living basically on top of the Ardmore station, or in Philly within a short walk/cab ride to 30th Street Station, are the only ways it would strike me as really workable - and the latter option frankly raises school as a big question and kills your ability to get a standalone house. You say "PA" but Lower Merion is very much Philly Suburbs and getting to NYC for a daily commute just isn't a real option - usually people in PA who commute to NYC are living much further north in the state.
(I live in Philly, used to live in Lower Merion).
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:43 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Have a look at Stroudsburg and Delaware Water Gap. The Martz bus line has commuter buses to the city. I don't know anything about the quality of the schools though.
posted by smokyjoe at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2015
posted by smokyjoe at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2015
Response by poster: Initially I was looking at East Stroudsburg, as on the map it appears to be one of the most geographically close points in PA, but after a short drive through, it's appears to be a little too rural for my liking. Could be that I didn't happen to see an area around there that is actually to our liking, but if there is one, I didn't see it in my drive.
I'm not opposed to looking away from Philly and/or Lower Merion at all. Basically, we want suburb PA living with good schools and the shortest possible commute to NYC without being in the sticks.
The commute plan would be to train/bus it to NYC during the day, if possible, and if there is any late nights or weekend stuff to drive.
posted by Debaser626 at 10:29 AM on March 25, 2015
I'm not opposed to looking away from Philly and/or Lower Merion at all. Basically, we want suburb PA living with good schools and the shortest possible commute to NYC without being in the sticks.
The commute plan would be to train/bus it to NYC during the day, if possible, and if there is any late nights or weekend stuff to drive.
posted by Debaser626 at 10:29 AM on March 25, 2015
Best answer: Have you considered the Easton area? Depending on where in NYC you're working, it'd be a straight shot into Manhattan on I-78, or possibly a drive to an NJ Transit/Amtrak/Bus station.
posted by tckma at 10:46 AM on March 25, 2015
posted by tckma at 10:46 AM on March 25, 2015
A three hour total daily commute in Florida is very different from such a commute in the northeast because of weather. are you totally opposed to living in New Jersey? Somewhere like Montclair might suit you. Or even on Long Island.
posted by mareli at 10:59 AM on March 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by mareli at 10:59 AM on March 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
Lower Bucks County. Look in the Pennsbury, Council Rock and Central Bucks School Districts. Those will give you the most flexibility to get to the train in Trenton (right across the river) while also putting your child in a great school district.
posted by inturnaround at 12:16 PM on March 25, 2015
posted by inturnaround at 12:16 PM on March 25, 2015
What neighborhood in NYC would you be commuting to? You have to take into account any secondary commute once you get into NYC, which can be substantial depending on the location of your office.
posted by Falconetti at 1:09 PM on March 25, 2015
posted by Falconetti at 1:09 PM on March 25, 2015
I second Lower Bucks County. The Septa Regional Rail Trenton line runs from Philadelphia through Lower Bucks to Trenton where there are frequent NJ Transit trains to Penn Station. The Hamilton station on NJ Transit is also a reasonable drive from parts of Lower Bucks and is one stop closer to NYC from Trenton.
posted by dreaming in stereo at 3:21 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dreaming in stereo at 3:21 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Bieber bus does a direct trip from a commuter lot in Hellertown on I-78 into Port Authority, takes about 70 to 90 minutes. Near there, you could live in several towns in the Saucon or Lehigh valley areas.
posted by Dashy at 4:16 PM on March 25, 2015
posted by Dashy at 4:16 PM on March 25, 2015
Your commute times wouldn't be terrible for driving ... most of the time. Nine days out ten Lincoln and Holland tunnels and their approaches are in good shape by 10 a.m., and four days out of five the reverse path is clear by 7 p.m. too. If your office in NYC is near Penn Station, the Secaucus Transfer station has fairly cheap parking and you'll cut your bad traffic risk to maybe one day in 30 on the way in and one day ten on the way out.
posted by MattD at 5:52 PM on March 25, 2015
posted by MattD at 5:52 PM on March 25, 2015
This is what New Jersey is there for.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:02 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:02 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the input y'all! Spent some time looking on line in Easton today and will definitely make this area part of our upcoming trip. With regards to Lower Bucks County, are there ZIP codes I can search by? Doing most of this on my phone and by app, and can't make heads or tails from the search results of Lower Bucks alone. Destination point in NYC will vary between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
posted by Debaser626 at 8:08 PM on March 25, 2015
posted by Debaser626 at 8:08 PM on March 25, 2015
So I was thinking this over. You did say you had lived in New York for a long time but are you really familiar with what traffic and commutes are like now? Before you commit to PA, do a test commute, at the actual time you'll be going to work. Do this at least twice so you get an idea for variables.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:23 AM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:23 AM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
In 2012, I sold a 3 BR, 2.5 BA home in a suburban neighborhood with excellent schools for $275K -- we would have rented it out for about $2200. I know people renting houses of that size for less than 2K.
posted by hrj at 8:34 AM on March 25, 2015