Where to live to commute to Philadelphia (Temple Med) and Princeton

[invisiblebird]

My partner is attending med school at Temple and I'm starting a PhD at Princeton. I'm seeking recommendations on where to live in between. We are both planning to drive due to variable schedules and would prefer to keep our commutes under 40 minutes. Driving distance is our primary concern; everything else is negotiable.

What towns/neighborhoods would have roughly similar commute lengths, given typical traffic? Any thoughts welcome - thanks in advance!

[thedirtypirate]

Yardley, PA

[NewtownBucks]

Yardley is a nice in-between spot right along 295, but we could give better recommendations based on what type of housing you are looking for and your budget and stuff like that (I assume no kids so school district isn't a concern?). The commute from Yardley is going to be a little longer to Temple than Princeton (~45 mins vs 30 mins). Closer to exactly in between might be like Morrisville or Bristol or something.

[invisiblebird]

We're primarily looking at apartments, and our budget is around $1800/month - and yes, no kids, so school district doesn't matter. We aren't picky about the type of neighborhood or proximity to things to do, etc.

I'm not familiar with traffic patterns between Philly and Princeton and wondering if it makes more sense to live along 95/295, route 1, or somewhere on the Jersey side? I think we're more worried about traffic heading into Philly - it looks pretty variable on Google maps, so I'm having a hard time gauging what real commute times look like. So far, we've been looking mainly at Lower Bucks County/Far Northeast Philly, for reference.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by invisiblebird

We're primarily looking at apartments, and our budget is around $1800/month - and yes, no kids, so school district doesn't matter. We aren't picky about the type of neighborhood or proximity to things to do, etc.

I'm not familiar with traffic patterns between Philly and Princeton and wondering if it makes more sense to live along 95/295, route 1, or somewhere on the Jersey side? I think we're more worried about traffic heading into Philly - it looks pretty variable on Google maps, so I'm having a hard time gauging what real commute times look like. So far, we've been looking mainly at Lower Bucks County/Far Northeast Philly, for reference.

Got it. I think you're on the right track with the lower Bucks/Far Northeast. The commute into Philly is going to be the one to watch. I'd probably recommend something closer to 295 rather than US 1 because it's better for the Philly commute. For the Princeton commute, it doesn't matter. Somewhere between Langhorne and Bensalem is probably closest to halfway in terms of time. Bristol has a pretty cool downtown area that will be close by no matter where along there you choose to live.

From Bensalem, the Princeton commute is up 295 to Princeton Pike into Princeton and the university is right there. You can also take US 1 to Alexander St, but US 1 is more prone to traffic. The 295->Princeton Pike route is going to be pretty consistently ~40 mins. The biggest traffic obstacle was removed when the Scudders Falls bridge was widened.

The Temple commute is going to go down 95 and probably cut across the city at some point, either Cottman to the Blvd or maybe use Erie Ave or something. No matter which way you go, it's going to go through some pretty rough neighborhoods, but that's unavoidable since Temple itself is in a pretty rough area. This one is also far more traffic dependent. From Bensalem, it could be anywhere from 30-45 mins, closer to 45 in any sort of even semi-busy time.