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Due to personal circumstances I plan to live in Manhattan and commute to Newark to work. I've never lived in either place but google says the commute will be about 50minutes. 50 minutes each way seems like kind of a bear. Should I sack up and get a car for this commute and reduce that time by 20 minutes each way? If I'm earning money in Jersey, am I still going to have to pay all those crazy NY taxes I keep hearing about? Any thoughts on going from Manhattan to Newark each day would be really appreciated.

Anonymous User wrote:Due to personal circumstances I plan to live in Manhattan and commute to Newark to work. I've never lived in either place but google says the commute will be about 50minutes. 50 minutes each way seems like kind of a bear. Should I sack up and get a car for this commute and reduce that time by 20 minutes each way? If I'm earning money in Jersey, am I still going to have to pay all those crazy NY taxes I keep hearing about? Any thoughts on going from Manhattan to Newark each day would be really appreciated.

Unless you're living in the financial district, the path commute will be at Lear an hour twenty minutes door to door.

Car isn't much better. Traffic through the Holland tunnel is atrocious at all hours. Expect at least 45 mins in the car.

And, any savings from nj taxes will be negated by parking and gas.


Fuck manhattan. Live in jersey city or Hoboken. No reason to live in manhattan for this.

Live on the west side and take the train -- 10 min to Penn Station, 20 min to Newark.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york ... ersey.html

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/servic ... come.shtml

You're paying tax as if you worked in NYC. It's quite a bit higher than if you were to live in NJ. That alone makes it a questionable idea, though you mentioned you had personal reasons, so I won't comment further on that.

A 50-minute commute from home to work is about middle of the road in New York. My commute is 30-40 minutes. I used to work with people who rode the train an hour and a half each way. Keep in mind that, unless you already have your apartment or neighborhood picked out, that 50-minute estimate from google may vary quite a bit. Living in the FiDi cuts it in half, and living on the UES doubles it.

I can't imagine driving in New York rush hour would actually save you 20 minutes, though you are going against the grain somewhat (most people will be driving into the city, not away from it). Plus you lose the ability to read or zone out and have to deal with New York drivers.

Anon OP. Like I said personal reasons which essentially=very low rent in manhattan (east) but better job prospects in Jersey. This is definitely not looking like the funnest commute. Thanks for any additional advice!

I live in Brooklyn and go to school in Newark. Door to door if I hit my connections it's about 55 minutes. It can be longer, but rarely has it been rough enough that it truly pisses me off; and the subway I'm off of is traditionally ranked the worst in New York. I would not recommending getting a car, for a host of reasons. I can PM you if you want more details.

Driving to New Jersey from the East Side would be insane. Just take mass transit like everyone else.

sunynp wrote:Driving to New Jersey from the East Side would be insane. Just take mass transit like everyone else.

Um, just use a car service. Don't any of you have money?

There is no reason ever to do this. Hoboken FTW.

Echoing what people above have said: driving would be complete madness.

Either you can manage the commute, which really isn't THAT bad, or you should live in Hoboken or that faceless waste Jersey City. I personally would never live in New Jersey, but to each their own. It just depends on what your priorities are.

ndirish2010 wrote:There is no reason ever to do this. Hoboken FTW.

+1. Hoboken is awesome too, and you can get a ton more space for your money than in MFH.

Regarding Hoboken: If you are a single guy trying to enjoy the the city night life, Hoboken is a pain in the ass. Late at night the PATH trains run like once an hour. And girls aren't going to be very excited to take a train to Jersey at night when they have an Upper East Side apartment.

Just suck it up and live in the city.

TTH wrote:

sunynp wrote:Driving to New Jersey from the East Side would be insane. Just take mass transit like everyone else.

Um, just use a car service. Don't any of you have money?

Some of us have money but no one should waste it on a daily car service that is going to take longer than mass transit to get to your destination.

Also OP is living rent- free in Manhattan. That is an awesome deal and he shouldn't be complaining about the inconvenience of travel. Or he should get a job in Manhattan.

WanderingPondering wrote:Regarding Hoboken: If you are a single guy trying to enjoy the the city night life, Hoboken is a pain in the ass. Late at night the PATH trains run like once an hour. And girls aren't going to be very excited to take a train to Jersey at night when they have an Upper East Side apartment.

Just suck it up and live in the city.

Plenty of girls in Hoboken... But you are otherwise correct.

Personal circumstances, yet single, does not sound like personal circumstances to me...

Sounds like he is copping dat family open bedroom connect bros.

Desert Fox wrote:Sounds like he is copping dat family open bedroom connect bros.

But then girls would prefer NJ to that awkward moment where they see the family members... unless family out of city, but house in... in that case, that property needs to be rented.

It is not ideal, especially living on the east side, but definitely doable. My main concern would be how close your office is to public transit on the Newark side. If it's a five minute walk from NJ Transit/PATH, then no big deal. But I wouldn't really want to be leaving work at 8 and then walking 20 minutes to the train or waiting for some Newark city bus.

OP: sure it'd be nicer to live in Hoboken but l don't exactly have the option if I want the extremely low cost housing. If it makes any difference it isn't the upper east side, its like village LES area. Where I'll be working is really close to the PATH station according to google.

I disagree that Hoboken is better than living rent-free or low rent on the LES. OP: why are you complaining about this commute? You should be overjoyed you can live in Manhattan for next to nothing. Most people here who are working in the NYC area would love to be in your shoes. Just listen to music or read a book or audiobooks. It isn't that bad considering the financial gain you are making.

Wasn't trying to complain and I realize I'm in a great situation. I'm just not from the area and was trying to figure out what I was in for. I'd actually love to get 2hrs of reading done a day commuting, just have no idea if this is standing room only every morning or what.

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Anonymous User wrote:Wasn't trying to complain and I realize I'm in a great situation. I'm just not from the area and was trying to figure out what I was in for. I'd actually love to get 2hrs of reading done a day commuting, just have no idea if this is standing room only every morning or what.

The PATH isn't particularly comfortable and tends to be crowded. But you're doing a reverse commute, so I really doubt it'll be standing room. Additionally, if you are taking the PATH from the WTC station (which I'm guessing will be the case), the reason your commute will be so long is because it will be split... first, for you getting from where you're living to the PATH and then taking the PATH to Newark. So I really doubt you'll be able to get very much reading in on your commute... (and I can't see being able to do work on the PATH train).

I do the reverse commute every day and never have trouble finding a seat. If you can work on any train, or subway, you can work on the PATH. It's no different, just a bit shorter.

If you're living anywhere but Avenue D, I can't see the whole commute taking more than an hour on a regular basis. I'm the poster from above who does it from Brooklyn. 90% of the time during the week, it's not that bad. Late nights and weekends can be rough, but last night for example, I had a night class that ended at 10:15 and walked in my door at 11:10.

mreng220 wrote:I do the reverse commute every day and never have trouble finding a seat. If you can work on any train, or subway, you can work on the PATH. It's no different, just a bit shorter.

From my experience, it's a lot easier to work on NJT, but that's probably because the commute is longer. I'd say the PATH is pretty similar to the subway in terms of being able to work. And yeah, the commute time will probably vary at night depending on when you manage to get the train and if you get lucky or not.