New Jersey or not

While I waited to start my new job in New York, I've been out and about trying to find a new "home" for myself. It has proven to be a bit of a challenge and an eye opener for me.

At the beginning of my search, I consulted with a few experts (ie. current and past New York residents ranging from my own relatives to future colleagues). I asked them to suggest some areas that they thought should be good for me. Actually the suggestions were very consistent.

The consensus was I should stay out of New Jersey. For those of you unfamiliar with the US geography, New Jersey is the state kind of on the right of New York, separated by the Hudson River if you are looking at Manhattan. The rent in NJ is cheaper than New York so a lot of people actually live in New Jersey (NJ) and commute to New York (NY) for work daily.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity (since my experts all made NJ sounded so far away), I went there to see a place in an area called Weehawken in NJ. What a view of Manhattan it had!! I am sure the night view would have been mind-blowing. Buses would be the transport of choice for the particular place I saw. The alternatives would be PATH (like MET trains) or ferry service to Manhattan. I ended up taking a stroll there for almost an hour just soaking in the view (and the chilling wind).


It only took a 15 minutes bus ride back through the Lincoln tunnel to get to midtown Manhattan. That's not bad at all, but this was the weekend. The girl who showed me the place assured me that it would be very convenient and quick to get into NY, but for the price she wanted for the room, I could get a studio apartment in Queens around the Forest Hills area (which lays claim to be the best residential area in Queens).

So the jury is still out on New Jersey as a home base.