Seeking advice on where to move to in Jersey...

[Jmann]

Not to pry into your life but what do you and your wife do?
Any WFH opportunities?
Chances of transfers to NJ?
That Brooklyn commute is brutal.
I loathed when I was sent to metrotech for jobs.
27 years of commuting to NYC which started just over the boarder of Pa. And ended 20 miles closer in the allamuchy area. I had it good till the end which is why I left. Work hours were 7am-2:30 so driving was a breeze. It changed to 8am-4pm. That put the the nail in the coffin. It was glorious that i could live in boonies yet and work for a top dollar.

Now I just want to get away from the whole metro NY area.

Fingers crossed in 4 years it will be Colorado/Utah bound...

I work for the postal service, so I could likely transfer. Kind of a bummer since I lose my office seniority. Done it before and was hoping if I did it again it would be anywhere near mountains. My wife has a good job that would only exist in NYC, plus she wants to be close to her family. So we are stuck in the northeast for the moment. I usually work 7-3:30 but can start at 6:30 if I want, so I wouldn't be hitting the worst of the traffic. But there's always traffic.

 

[Jmann]

What else matters to you besides bike & commute? Montclair is starting to feel like Brooklyn West.
Montclar area:
(+) direct train service to Penn is 35 minutes. <10 minute bike ride to local singletrack...not that anybody around here would ride dirt in Essex. Walk to restaurants, bars, farmers markets & concert venues. Lots of parks. Thriving local CX wednesday worlds scene.
(-) High taxes. car ride to most parks( 30 minutes to TOS, 40 to Mahlon, Mooch. 45 to Jungle, 1:00 to Stewart).

If MTB is what matters most, I'd look at Passaic or Morris. But if you want a good mix of commutability, community and outdoor potential, Essex isn't bad.

Thanks. I've heard good things about Montclair. It's at least an hour to most parks for me now, so a half hour will feel like a breeze. I have singletrack 5 minutes away from me in Prospect park, but your likely to run into male prostitutes on the trails.

 

[Jmann]

Strange as it sounds I love Essex.

We've been in Caldwell for 12 years and have about another 10 to go. The proximity to Bloomfield Ave with its diverse restaurants choices and bars, a supermarket and a movie theater is great. There's a coffee shop, library, a community center, county park and even a National Park (Grover Cleveland was born here) all with in walking distance. The Decamp 33 line goes to PABT but I can't says it quick and most commuters I know take the train in Montclair or bus at Willowbrook park and ride. Quick to access to 280, 46 and 80 and it's 1.4 miles to Hilltop singletrack not that I would know anything about that.

View attachment 53019

Thanks, this is the type of feedback I was looking for.

 

[soundz]

I work for the postal service, so I could likely transfer. Kind of a bummer since I lose my office seniority. Done it before and was hoping if I did it again it would be anywhere near mountains. My wife has a good job that would only exist in NYC, plus she wants to be close to her family. So we are stuck in the northeast for the moment. I usually work 7-3:30 but can start at 6:30 if I want, so I wouldn't be hitting the worst of the traffic. But there's always traffic.

Are you allowed to deliver mail to your own home?

 

[Jmann]

Are you allowed to deliver mail to your own home?

Sure. I've done it before.

 

[Jmann]

Also looking at strava heatmap there is serious void of activity from paterson south to elizabeth. I'm guessing those aren't great spots to live if you like doing road rides out your front door.

 

[StayHydrated]

I'm guessing those are great spots to live if you're Danny Summerhill.

You're welcome.

 

[Jmann]

You're welcome.

I think Danny would be more of a West Milford kind of guy

 

[Steve Vai]

Anywhere on this route is good.

 

[Zaskar]

Thanks, this is the type of feedback I was looking for.

There's a small trail network behind the a Essex Fells PO.

 

[moose35]

Also looking at strava heatmap there is serious void of activity from paterson south to elizabeth. I'm guessing those aren't great spots to live if you like doing road rides out your front door.

Yea do yourself a favor and stay outta Paterson.

 

[Jmann]

Yea do yourself a favor and stay outta Paterson.

I'm interpreting that as Patterson is ripe for gentrifying

 

[rocbike]

Ever drive from there to Staten Island at rush hour?

Not all the way to SI during rush hour but at other times and on the Jersey side during rush hour. The southbound Turnpike isn't too bad during rush hour and the Goethals is hit and miss. The SI Expressway is bad a lot but sometimes not. Route 3 going to the turnpike is always bad in the morning. Coming back during PM rush all roads are bad.

 

[rocbike]

I'm interpreting that as Patterson is ripe for gentrifying

It's slowly changing and parts of it are improving but the city government is too corrupt. I don't think it will undergo a renaissance like Newark. BTW there are nice parts of Paterson, like the Hillcrest section. Also, I'm in Paterson almost every day and never have problems. I go shopping, eat, etc there. Like any city you just have to know where to avoid and when to be or not be in places.

 

[Norm]

My wife and I are beginning to tire of our increasingly bleak future regarding NYC real estate, and thinking of making the migration to the garden state. Although I'm in jersey often, mostly it's just the ride to the ride. Whether it's driving to Ringwood or Allaire or a cross race, I don't have a lot of time actually spent in the many towns I've driven through. So I'm interested in any suggestions of towns that might appeal to a cyclist who wants a yard for his dog. My wife will have to commute to union square so unfortunately we can't go too far into the sticks, and I'll have to drive to work in Brooklyn for the time being. We don't have kids so schools don't matter. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm asking here because I respect the viewpoints of other grownups who choose to hurt themselves on bikes in the woods.

Personally I feel that if you are going to need to go to NYC for work you'll need to be central, somewhere between Morristown to New Brunswick at the extreme ends. Unfortunately I believe the midtown direct service is going away for a limited (haha, hahahahahaha) amount of time, so whatever slight convenience that affords you is lost for now.

I commuted to Brooklyn (Jay Street) and then Downtown (Wall Street) for the better part of 10 years. Here is my summary of those 10 years:

1. Fuck commuting to NYC.

LMK if you have any questions.

I have done every iteration of commuting and here is what I will say:

Midtown: Drive to Newark, hop on NJT train to NYPS.
Downtown: Drive to Newark, hop on path to WTC.
Brooklyn/Jay St: Get to midtown, then take A/C 2 stops into Brooklyn*.

* I understand that Brooklyn is big and this may not work. But my commute to Brooklyn via mass transit was actually faster than downtown. Only when I started driving to Newark did the commute get a bit faster.

Let me list the positives of parking in Newark:

1. Newark sucks.

Again, LMK if you have any questions.

I will now list the various negatives you'll need you need to be aware of:

1. NJT is garbage. It will cost you far more to take NJT than to drive. It is never on time. I have had the train take me 3 hours ONE WAY to get to NYC before
2. Going into Newark early is actually easy. Learn to sneak in between Broad & McCarter and you'll save even more headache.
3. If you park in Newark don't get too close. There is a law of diminishing returns. The closer you park the harder it is to get out.
4. After work route 78 will be backed up 52% of the time.
5. Getting out of NYC via NJT is like going to Vegas and betting the house on 1 color. You've got a 50% chance of success.
6. If you love NYC, you will try to find a new job because commuting into the city will likely kill your appreciation for it.
7. Driving into the city makes every negative above sound like nirvana.

In the end, here is where you should move: Summit.

Addendum #1: I don't like Summit but it affords you great launching points into NYC.
Addendum #2: If you like to road ride, go further west.
Addendum #3: The guys promoting the shore are ignoring the insane summer traffic.

Additional caveat: I am not super well-versed in the route 80 corridor which offers another option. What I do know if that if you go too far west on 80, the commute gets just stupid after work. If it is possible to WFH or work off hours, explore that as well.

 

[Jmann]

It's slowly changing and parts of it are improving but the city government is too corrupt. I don't think it will undergo a renaissance like Newark. BTW there are nice parts of Paterson, like the Hillcrest section. Also, I'm in Paterson almost every day and never have problems. I go shopping, eat, etc there. Like any city you just have to know where to avoid and when to be or not be in places.

I was mostly joking but thanks for the input nonetheless. I've made a wrong turn through Paterson a couple times. Neighborhood changes pretty quickly. Reminded me of parts of philly.

 

[Jmann]

Personally I feel that if you are going to need to go to NYC for work you'll need to be central, somewhere between Morristown to New Brunswick at the extreme ends. Unfortunately I believe the midtown direct service is going away for a limited (haha, hahahahahaha) amount of time, so whatever slight convenience that affords you is lost for now.

I commuted to Brooklyn (Jay Street) and then Downtown (Wall Street) for the better part of 10 years. Here is my summary of those 10 years:

1. Fuck commuting to NYC.

LMK if you have any questions.

I have done every iteration of commuting and here is what I will say:

Midtown: Drive to Newark, hop on NJT train to NYPS.
Downtown: Drive to Newark, hop on path to WTC.
Brooklyn/Jay St: Get to midtown, then take A/C 2 stops into Brooklyn*.

* I understand that Brooklyn is big and this may not work. But my commute to Brooklyn via mass transit was actually faster than downtown. Only when I started driving to Newark did the commute get a bit faster.

Let me list the positives of parking in Newark:

1. Newark sucks.

Again, LMK if you have any questions.

I will now list the various negatives you'll need you need to be aware of:

1. NJT is garbage. It will cost you far more to take NJT than to drive. It is never on time. I have had the train take me 3 hours ONE WAY to get to NYC before
2. Going into Newark early is actually easy. Learn to sneak in between Broad & McCarter and you'll save even more headache.
3. If you park in Newark don't get too close. There is a law of diminishing returns. The closer you park the harder it is to get out.
4. After work route 78 will be backed up 52% of the time.
5. Getting out of NYC via NJT is like going to Vegas and betting the house on 1 color. You've got a 50% chance of success.
6. If you love NYC, you will try to find a new job because commuting into the city will likely kill your appreciation for it.
7. Driving into the city makes every negative above sound like nirvana.

In the end, here is where you should move: Summit.

Addendum #1: I don't like Summit but it affords you great launching points into NYC.
Addendum #2: If you like to road ride, go further west.
Addendum #3: The guys promoting the shore are ignoring the insane summer traffic.

Additional caveat: I am not super well-versed in the route 80 corridor which offers another option. What I do know if that if you go too far west on 80, the commute gets just stupid after work. If it is possible to WFH or work off hours, explore that as well.

Thanks. I think I'm going to work on transferring out to jersey before making any big real estate moves. I would prefer being in ridgewood area but that won't work with the driving commute. If I work out there then I won't have that to worry about. My wife only works four days a week in the city, so she'll have to deal with that. And I second i80 at rush hour, trying to drive to allamuchy after work is a mess.

 

[gmb3]

My wife and I had the following criteria (good schools, land, reasonable for NJ taxes, town feel, 1 hr NYPenn direct commute, proximity to riding) and we landed in Madison last year. The key for us was finding the midtown-direct train lines and investigating towns along those lines. (Sorry, don't know them all off the top of my head) We're on the Morristown/Dover line which is direct and takes 50-60 min to get to NYPenn from Madison so you'd wanna be east of us on this line if you want sub 1hr. Trails close-ish-by we have Lewis Morris, Tourne, Dickerson Mine, Wildcat & Chimney Rock and it's easy to hop on I-287 north to get to the best trails in way north NJ.

 

[Jmann]

My wife and I had the following criteria (good schools, land, reasonable for NJ taxes, town feel, 1 hr NYPenn direct commute, proximity to riding) and we landed in Madison last year. The key for us was finding the midtown-direct train lines and investigating towns along those lines. (Sorry, don't know them all off the top of my head) We're on the Morristown/Dover line which is direct and takes 50-60 min to get to NYPenn from Madison so you'd wanna be east of us on this line if you want sub 1hr. Trails close-ish-by we have Lewis Morris, Tourne, Dickerson Mine, Wildcat & Chimney Rock and it's easy to hop on I-287 north to get to the best trails in way north NJ.

Thanks, looks like there's some nice towns on the Morristown line

 

[Jmann]

As a side note, if anyone has a friends/family that are postal workers in northern nj, any feedback from them on their office would help me out. Each office is its own animal, and some are worse than others (has nothing to do with how nice or not nice an area is). It's hard for me to get input on areas I rarely visit.