Moving to Jersey

[nczephdog]

I'm moving from Durham to Jersey to start a job in the Princeton area. My partner is already in Manhattan. Goal is to buy a house some time next year, although we'll be living separately in rentals for a while, which will give us time to test commutes, identify communities we like, etc. I'd love to hear your thoughts about commuting (I already know about the 3 year wait list for a parking space at the train station in Princeton, but if you've got ideas about how to get around that, we'd love to hear them), towns that are lovable and livable, restaurants and shops in the Princeton area that you enjoy, green spaces to check out, etc.

It's going to be hard to leave Durham--especially now, when it's just taking off--but I know there must be a few Jerseyites out there who can show us the way.

Thanks!

[Truth]

Keep the car windows rolled up!

;)

[Deslok]

I'm moving from Durham to Jersey to start a job in the Princeton area. My partner is already in Manhattan. Goal is to buy a house some time next year, although we'll be living separately in rentals for a while, which will give us time to test commutes, identify communities we like, etc. I'd love to hear your thoughts about commuting (I already know about the 3 year wait list for a parking space at the train station in Princeton, but if you've got ideas about how to get around that, we'd love to hear them), towns that are lovable and livable, restaurants and shops in the Princeton area that you enjoy, green spaces to check out, etc.

It's going to be hard to leave Durham--especially now, when it's just taking off--but I know there must be a few Jerseyites out there who can show us the way.

Thanks!
I grew up in Princeton Junction(which I presume you know is the train stop outside of Princeton(Princeton train station just being the end of the dinky, which runs you over to Princeton Jct where you can switch over to the Northeast Corridor line). The wait list for the lot at the Junction is brutal, and the only way around that is the quarterly permit at 2.5 times the price or the daily rate which is 5x the price or so. And I believe both those fill up as well though I'm unsure.

Since I've left they've opened up the new station in Hamilton which is probably a much better bet for parking. If you are looking to raise a family, Hamilton isn't the best township in the area(my biased rating of the public school systems in the county would be, in order, WWP, Princeton, Hopewell, Lawrence, Hightstown, Hamilton, Steinert, Trenton). But if you have no kids/plans for kids the town is just fine. And the schools aren't bad, its just that the top 4 on that list are very very good school districts, while the 3 above Trenton are just ok. But the commuting options are much easier there than Princeton Jct(though I'm unfamiliar with their process, not sure what the deal is for nonresidents, if there's a waitlist, etc. But its not that far from the Princeton area so if you can get a nonresident permit, easy to get to).

For shopping, pretty much the Route 1 malls are kind of the ummm duh main stop with Quakerbridge, Mercer Mall, Marketfair, and Nassau Park. That cluster is all pretty much in a row of about 1 mile along Route 1 and covers just about everything. The Wegman's at Nassau Park is the grocery store to hit(if you've never been to a Wegman's, you'll love it).

More info will kind of depend more specifically on where you end up looking at.

[xenic]

I'm moving from Durham to Jersey to start a job in the Princeton area. My partner is already in Manhattan. Goal is to buy a house some time next year, although we'll be living separately in rentals for a while, which will give us time to test commutes, identify communities we like, etc. I'd love to hear your thoughts about commuting (I already know about the 3 year wait list for a parking space at the train station in Princeton, but if you've got ideas about how to get around that, we'd love to hear them), towns that are lovable and livable, restaurants and shops in the Princeton area that you enjoy, green spaces to check out, etc.

It's going to be hard to leave Durham--especially now, when it's just taking off--but I know there must be a few Jerseyites out there who can show us the way.

Thanks!


I have a friend that is trying to sell a really nice house within walking distance of Seton Hall... Probably a bit too far from Princeton, but much closer to the city.

ETA: My friend and his wife both graduated from Duke with me, and they just moved back to Durham.

[nczephdog]

Deslok: Thanks--this is just the preliminary information I need as I prepare for my first scouting trip next week.

Xenic: Yeah, Seton Hall is rather far from Princeton, at least I suspect it is at 7 in the morning. I think your friends who just moved back to Durham will be really excited to witness the changes here. Downtown, there's a new restaurant opening every week, and the retail businesses are starting to become a presence, too. On Ninth Street, the old McDonald's Drugstore just reopened as a retro soda shop/sundries joint, the brainchild of two 20-smthg Guilford College (I think) grads who knew the place as children (at least one did). Whole Foods will be taking over the big building on the corner of Perry and Broad (right next to its current location) in order to expand quite significantly. Etc.

Thanks again!

[sue71, esq]

You may also want to look somewhere in-between. I grew up in Branchburg, which is between Somerville and Flemington (along rt. 202). Look at all 3 of those as well as Hillsborough, Bridgewater, Raritan, and towns in those areas. All good areas with good schools and access to all the major highways as well as NJ Transit trains (I would take the train back & forth to NYC when I wanted to go there.). The Bridgewater Commons is the area mall, fwiw.

[Lord Ash]

Princeton is GORGEOUS, you will enjoy greatly.