Moving to NJ?

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Personally If I was your shoes and only looking to rent, I’d be looking at tarrytown/sleepy hollow and dobbs ferry area. (NY not NJ).
IMO the Hudson line is more dependable than Jersey transit and grand central is much better than penn station. My wife commuted for a few years through penn and couldn’t handle it anymore. The commute time wasn’t terrible but that station is like going to a terrible airport twice a day. And then the fight to get to your track is ludicrous. They call your track and if you don’t run and elbow people down a narrow escalator you’ll miss your train.
Westchester has some great riding spots (blue mountain, graham hills, sprain, tarrytown lakes) and is still close to the north Jersey stuff. And the road riding is good and there’s some actual gravel to be found.
Hands down the best advice given. Grand Central Terminal puts all other transit hubs to shame. And you will only be dealing with NY taxes if you live in the same state.
I'd 3rd this
Metro north is 100x better then anything NJ has to offer. Westchester and Putnam county's are an excellent location to jettison you to best the north east has to offer.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Another vote for Morristown. I did that commute for 8 years. Yeah it sucked at times but it’s a good balance of easily accessible transit and still close to all the north jersey gnar. Get some good lights and squeeze in some after work rides. Nothing cures commuter rage like smashing tech in the dark.
Morristown can be iffy. Our place is right by 287 so it's easy to get to the highway, and a few minute walk to the train station. But if our place was on the other side of the green where most of the housing is, it's far from the train station and everytime you drive somewhere you have to go through the traffic in town.

But if someone hasn't lived in NJ before it's a great place to find a place to rent for a year or so. Heck we moved here temporarily 10 years ago... Few days a week getting into NYC isn't too bad, easy to go mountain biking on the weekends. 287N traffic in the afternoons especially Fridays suck big time. Walkable town, restaurants, etc.

But I can't say it's *better* for someone else than Bloomfield/Montclair, etc. But I'd rather be here as it's closer to the highway to get to the better riding on the weekend in NNJ where I prefer to ride.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M-J

johnnyrides

Active Member
NJ is a great state to live in. Taxes are what they are and commutes going to suck sometimes no matter what (and that’s nothing new so don’t know why people cry about it) so pick as nice place to live as you can afford as your priority. Where you are in Manhattan will also be a factor and can change the time and complexity of the commute considerably. Do your homework but Morristown, Chatham, Livingston, Summit, Westfield, Cranford, Scotch Plains, Mountainside, Madison, Florham Park, Warren, Watchung, Bridgewater, etc are all nice options to consider.

No matter where you end up in NJ you’ll most likely be within 30-60 min of very good riding.
 

Victor I

aka Ridgehog
Personally If I was your shoes and only looking to rent, I’d be looking at tarrytown/sleepy hollow and dobbs ferry area. (NY not NJ).
IMO the Hudson line is more dependable than Jersey transit and grand central is much better than penn station. My wife commuted for a few years through penn and couldn’t handle it anymore. The commute time wasn’t terrible but that station is like going to a terrible airport twice a day. And then the fight to get to your track is ludicrous. They call your track and if you don’t run and elbow people down a narrow escalator you’ll miss your train.
Westchester has some great riding spots (blue mountain, graham hills, sprain, tarrytown lakes) and is still close to the north Jersey stuff. And the road riding is good and there’s some actual gravel to be found.
Definitely a great choice for a midtown commute. Graham Hills and Sprain are so much fun!
 

roc

Well-Known Member
Also, ironically our landlord is selling the condo and we're moving out. It's a 1 BR plus small office area, 1.5 BA. Everything's within walking distance. One reserved spot. No garage but a kind of mini-garage storage area that we keep all our bikes in plus tools, etc. The place is a good size but needs updating like a mofo.
I had the exact same kind of unit there.Sold it in 2004 for 266K, looks like the same kind of unit just sold for 385. I couldn’t believe we were able to get 266.

about how much is the rent on one of those units? 2500? 3000? Just curious
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I had the exact same kind of unit there.Sold it in 2004 for 266K, looks like the same kind of unit just sold for 385. I couldn’t believe we were able to get 266.

about how much is the rent on one of those units? 2500? 3000? Just curious

$385k sounds high for our style unit but who knows with the COVID market. There are three different floorplans here.... But ours is also all original appliances and cabinets and stuff. We pay less then what you mention but that price range sounds about right for many of the rentals in the area. Maybe even a little more for the more "luxury" apartments.
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Westfield, which is 12 miles closer to NYC is an hour ten door to door (I walk 8 minutes to the train) on the best day, so calling bullsh!+
Can confirm:

Sommerville is 1.5 hours on the train to NYC

Also it's on the Raritan Valley line which is usually NOT direct to NYC and requires a transfer at Newark (can do either Path or NJ transit for transfer)

EDIT: be sure to really check out the NJ transit map for direct lines... The app they have is actually good for figuring out schedules and buying tickets.
 
Last edited:

Soundguy

#SenditGuy
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Morristown can be iffy. Our place is right by 287 so it's easy to get to the highway, and a few minute walk to the train station. But if our place was on the other side of the green where most of the housing is, it's far from the train station and everytime you drive somewhere you have to go through the traffic in town.

But if someone hasn't lived in NJ before it's a great place to find a place to rent for a year or so. Heck we moved here temporarily 10 years ago... Few days a week getting into NYC isn't too bad, easy to go mountain biking on the weekends. 287N traffic in the afternoons especially Fridays suck big time. Walkable town, restaurants, etc.

But I can't say it's *better* for someone else than Bloomfield/Montclair, etc. But I'd rather be here as it's closer to the highway to get to the better riding on the weekend in NNJ where I prefer to ride.
I was on the outskirts over by speedwell lake. Morris plains train station was a 5 min bike ride and I never had to deal with the Green other than food and beer times.
 

robcleary

Well-Known Member
BUT... the mountain biking in this state is absolutely fantastic, especially if you like technical riding.... And it's everywhere... Where I live in rockaway there are at least a dozen different parks within 30min of driving.

*cries in South Jersey sand*

But you're right, unless you live in like Cape May there's usually something good with 30 minutes to an hour of driving.

That being said, the hike out to White Clay or Wiss gets old after a while....
 
Last edited:

chuprinko

Well-Known Member
Hey M,
Glad you took my advice and posted here, all good people. Will be good to see you again after what, 40 some years??. If you ever need a place to stay for the weekend when your checking out the east feel free to stay with us if you don't mind 2 dogs.
Neil
 

Jrzjoe

Well-Known Member
Woodbridge Nj is affordable and about an hour by train. Within 30 minutes or so from hartshorne, chimneyrock, round valley and six mile run…maybe forty to round valley. About an hour to allamuchay and that trail system. Welcome to nj. Good luck.
 

Mr. E Man

Well-Known Member
Welcome!

Move to Boonton, take train. A little over your hour, but not a lot?

Ride tourne and wildcat. Good food.

There are bike commute options if you are brave.
Depends where in Boonton - just don't be frolicking in the high rise projects off main street. yikes.
 

mntal

Active Member
Nah, but I'll buy you a beer sometime. I guess my point was that you pay another kind of tax living in those states. It just all depends what kind of tax you want to pay. All places have good and bad.
very true - they get you one way or another. i would rather pay non-income taxes at this point.
 

Bg01

New Member
As others mentioned, Morristown or Madison are nice areas with easy access to trails, the train and NYC.
 
Top Bottom