ibcrewin

I'm mulling over a major life-decision.

Should I move to NJ? If so where? Do you commute at all via bike? I know the PATH has rules about bikes on the train.

I'm looking for a nice small town, not too far, not too pricey. Any suggestions? Thanks!

pennstater

I commute Northern NJ to Brooklyn. From March to September I bike over the GW Bridge down the West Side Greenway across the Village to the Lower East Side and over the Williamsburg Bridge once or twice a week. I usually drive the other days. Often I'll bike home one day and in the next. Though I have also taken Bus/Subway and Ferry/Bike. I am at work around 7:30 AM before traffic gets awful. But questions such as secure bike storage, will you ride rain or shine and will you ride in the dark must be addressed.

As far as affordable, I don't know what that means any more. Towns near me like Bergenfield and Dumont seem "affordable" but that is a relative term. I also don't know what you mean by "too far". Is it time, or miles. I commute 25 miles each way. Usually less than an hour by car though rarely it has taken as long as 2 hours. By bike 1 hr and 40 minutes to 2 hours.

So many other questions. Do you want a house, condo or apartment. Are schools important. What kind of social life married or single. Shopping? Most stores are closed in Bergen County on Sundays. I like it that way. Others may hate it. Why do you want to leave NYC?

However, if you go to the top of the Empire State Building in the summer and look out over the 360 degree vista you will see two large green areas. Central Park and Northern New Jersey along the Hudson. I can't live in Central Park.

noteon 

Fort Lee is just over the George Washington Bridge, which lets out right near the Hudson River Greenway, which gives you a car-free path all the way down the island.

ibcrewin

Penn Stater: Good point. I'm 32, married with 2 small kids. One will go into K next year. We rent in Queens and now we've a massed just enough to get into something. We're looking for something sub 300K.

Hey thanks for the Dumont and begenfield suggestions! Never would have thought to look there.

neilfein

That sounds like it would be fun, but I found getting from the GWB to the greenway to be a bit of a chore; there's no direct connection to the greenway.

Speaking strictly from a commuting perspective:

NJ Transit is expensive, but nicer than PATH. If you're gonna do a train commute, look for something with a direct train to NYC. The Bergen County and PAscack Valley lines end in Hoboken, you'd need to hop the PATH to go the rest of the way

Princeton is nice, but expensive. The Montclair area fits the bill. Both areas have good cycling, but Montclair is pretty hilly.

You could also live by a ferry - the shore near Sandy Hook, or Hoboken. That also gives you access to the Jersey Coast line.

noteon 

No direct connection, true, but there are some good options. I'm not sure which ways you've tried (and you may already know all of these) but there are actually several greenway entrances pretty close to the GW. This one's easiest and quickest:

https://tinyurl.com/coeyqc

2 minutes to get to the greenway, and you lose maybe another 4 because of going north before continuing south. But it's an easy little connection, and almost entirely downhill.

If you want to avoid going north, you can ride on the streets for about 5 minutes to the 158th St. greenway entrance.

There's also a direct connection that begins at 177th and Haven Ave., which is currently being used as a greenway detour, but I don't like it because of the stairs and the fair-weather transient population.

pennstater

I have no idea about real estate prices. Quality of schools was the most important factor when we moved to NJ. My kids have all graduated so I no longer know which are highly regarded. We did not consider any area south of I80 due to congestion and pollution.

If you work in Midtown I believe the bus is convenient to the Port Authority. Or, you can drive to the Park and Ride on the Turnpike and take the bus from there. You could also probably find a bus route across the GW and get on the A train there.

You can check bus schedules and fares here: https://www.coachusa.com/rockland/

It's not that hard to get to the Greenway from the GW. There is a foot bridge over the Henry Hudson Parkway around 180 St. I usually take it on the way home. To work, I usually go south on Cabrini Blvd, right on 177 St, left on Haven Ave, right on Fort Washington Ave, right on Broadway and then a quick right down 158 St to the bike path.

neilfein

(I think another GWB ride is in order so I can try out all these routes to the Greenway. Cool.)

noteon 

I use Pennstater's 158th route almost daily. I live on Haven Ave. at 176th and no longer tow my kids to preschool, which went best if I used the 181st entrance.

I also use the 181st footbridge (the map I linked to) on the way home. 158th is so fun to ride down, and so not fun to ride up.