Where can the fam live near EWR?

[padusmaximus]

Soon to be in class at CAL. Considering moving the fam to the New York area. Where's the best place to live within an hour and a half or so. Need good schools, 3-400k. I've heard PA is the best for broke young families. Any suggestions would help, as I don't know the area well.

Thanks.

PS. Will someone lend me 400k?

 

[funnyman12]

I live near Allentown, Pa...about 70 miles from EWR. NJ and NY are much more expensive and Eastern PA has some nice areas.

 

[JPAustin]

Pick a nice, relatively inexpensive place, on the East Coast and just commute. With the frequency of shuttle flights into and out of the area, it shouldn't be that much of a commuting issue. Better yet, if you are on a rail-line, you could live in a number of places and go straight to the airport (PHL for example).

 

[JPAustin]

I like Allentown by the way, nice surroundings. Everytime I fly in there though, I can't get the Billy Joel tunes out of my head!

 

[TV9Driver]

cleveland.....

 

[AWACoff]

Don't try to commute out of RIC, ORF, or PHF. I'm sure there are others but it was a nightmare for me. I was home about 4 days a month when commuting to reserve due to the load factors and the frequent COEX cancellations. A lot pilots appear to live in eastern PA. Allentown, Bethlehem, etc. seem to be the best deal.

 

[Scrapdog]

Don't try to commute out of RIC, ORF, or PHF. I'm sure there are others but it was a nightmare for me. I was home about 4 days a month when commuting to reserve due to the load factors and the frequent COEX cancellations. A lot pilots appear to live in eastern PA. Allentown, Bethlehem, etc. seem to be the best deal.

I live in RIC due to my military unit - but I can partially agree with AWA...it can be a challenge. I haven't had an issue yet, but that's because I'm very aggresive about getting up there. If there is any chance of not getting up there the day of my scheduled start (for a PM start), I'm heading up the day prior. And obviously for an AM start - I'm on the road the day prior anyway. COEX loads are haenious - and the weight restriction deal they have is the pits. If you do plan on commuting - wherever it may be...be every aggresive about getting to EWR and have a couple of back up plans.

Good luck, CAL is a good place to be.

 

[RocketRob]

I have to recommend to anyone to moving to a new area to rent first! My family and I moved out here from California and didn't have a clue where to go. Inevitability everyone seems to recommend where they themselves live (kinda of like.... should I buy ford, chevy or toyota). Nothing wrong with this of course but as always different strokes for different folks. We ended up finding a new town house to rent for 9 months. Then we looked all over the area, covered lots of PA and ironically enough ended up moving to Jersey. Be careful with the schools in many areas of PA (try www.schoolmatters.com ). We found many of the area with good schools in PA had property taxes that were around the taxes in NJ. Just depends what you like, but rent first.

FWIW we moved to Lake Mohawk in Sparta, NJ and really like it.

 

[NavinRJohnson]

PA is nice, if a little boring. Not much out there but rolling hills. It's certainly a good bet if you want to remain less than 2 hrs from EWR.

There are also some OK places along the Jersey Shore worth looking into. Princeton isn't too bad. Everywhere in Jersey, however, you'll here the sucking sound of your income being drained away by property taxes.

This is an opinion, but check out the hudson valley area of NY. Granted NY has high taxes, but I don't think nearly as high as NJ. If you don't mind a small town setting, check these areas out. They're all from an hour to an hour and a half from EWR:

Warwick, NY (good schools)
Goshen, NY
New Paltz, NY (College Town)
Carmel, NY (in the Housatonic region, but nice)

Some people live a little further abroad, about a 3 hr drive, and hang out in the Berkshires of MA or Glens Falls/Saratoga NY region. Saratoga is especially nice, as you can hit the Adirondacks or go into Vermont on your days off. Good schools and outstanding recreation opportunities.You pay the price with the long drive, but it is a positive space car. Beats commuting by plane any day.

Good luck. It is a real challenge finding a place that's good for the fam that's affordable around EWR. I've driven all over the place. PM me if you want to know more.

Seeya, Navin

 

[NavinRJohnson]

I second the rent first theory. Give yourself a year to know what you really want and explore the area. You don't want to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a home and wind up regretting it.