Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I currently commute to the city via deer park and even that stinks. Looking for a house and unfortunately the houses with the bigger properties and bigger less expensive houses are out east. . It would add more time on my commute but I could get a bigger house. I'm looking at the Ronkonkoma area. Anyone do this now? Trying to figure out if it's worth it.

Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

DH commutes from Oakdale to western Queens. He HATES the commute. He spends easily 3 hours a day trravelling. It's the transfers that kill him. He'll eventually transfer further east, but for right now, he's staying there. But, we wanted to live out east, and we knew it would be rough. You might actually be better off at Ronkonkoma; you may be able to get direct trains.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I don't commute very far, or by train, but I do know that the Ronkonkoma line goes directly to Penn Station.

BTW, Ronkonkoma is a great town....

Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

My FH commutes from Ronkonkoma to Penn and hates it... but that's because he hates the commuter lifestyle. (waking up early, getting home late..) In the AM he catches an express 7:19am so he only stops at Central Islip, Jamaica and Penn (I think!.. I know it's limited stops) He works til 6 and catches a 6:21 into Ronk and gets in at 7:39 and we are 25 mins further east. We'll be moving towards the ronkonkoma area though in the next year so at least he doesn't have a longer drive once he's off. If you're already commuting from Deer Park it shouldn't be too much of a transition though :)

Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

Ronkonkoma to Penn is not a terrible commute...

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

LOL, I dont consider Ronkonkoma out east.

My dh commuted from west hampton to the city for years. Now that sucked!!

Ronkonkoma isnt bad at all. about 1 hour and 15 minutes or less if you catch an express.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

DH commuted from Ronkonkoma to downtown Manhattan for 8 years. It took about 1 hr, 45 minutes each way door to door (the drive to the LIRR, the ride on the LIRR, the subway transfer, subway ride, walk to work).

Where in Manhattan do you work? If you are walking distance to Penn Station, it's not that bad since you will be avoiding the subway. DH used to say the worse part of the commute would be having to take the subway after the 1 hour, 15 min LIRR ride.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

Dh commutes from plainview and he hates it. It's a long ride and he has to walk pretty far from penn to the office. Commuting is no fun, especially of you have small kids at home

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I used to live with my parents out in Holbrook and took the train from Ronkonkoma. ITS LONG!!!!! Hated it. The peak schedule was ok (other lines are better) but off peak its the worst!!!!!!

I am still on the same line but at least now the ride is only 50mins or so.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I use to commute 1.5 hrs each way. and that was when everything was on schedule. it was AWFUL. soul sucking. dranining.the lirr dring everyday was NOT for me. quality of life for me was more important. so i got myself knocked up and started staying home

just a reminder...commute time is NOT just the 45min of train time. there is driving to the station, parking, transfers, i also had to take the E train out of penn, or sometimes you need to walk. unless you work INSIDE penn station, you are going to have to add more time to that. also nothing ever runs smoothly. I think one out of 7 days there was always some kind of issue. and a few times it was 2-3 hr delays with hot sweaty grossy jossies all rubbing up on ya. ok im rambling now,

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

DH drives from the Ronkonkoma area to manhattan everyday. It is what it is. We have a quality of life with the extras out here that we probably wouldn't have if we lived in a similar town in Nassau.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

The reason why he drives is because he has a company vehicle and he travels off peak hours mostly. He is home in 1-1.5 hrs most days. The drive in is just about an hour. We used to live in Nassau and the commute took just as long for him.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

DH does this. From Ronk to Penn - two hours door to door. He sleeps, reads or watch movies on the train. The commute itself isn't bad at all, it's his hours that are awful.

We did the same as the OP. We were looking to move to W. Babylon and just didn't like what we got and so we started to look in the Holbrook, Holtsville, Ronkokoma area. We chose Holbrook because it was five minutes to the Ronk line.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I commute from Bethpage and it sucks the life out of me.

Unfortunately when you guy a home you have to pick the place where you want to live because work changes.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I think Ronk to Penn is doable. My DH used to do it (lived in Shoreham, drove to Ronk for the train). He actually enjoyed reading the papers/having coffee on the train (a beer on the way home ) But i'm sure some hate it more than others. He was also lucky b/c he worked like 2 blocks from Penn. If you're working way downtown or something - i think it would be a lot tougher.

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

We currently live about 10 min from Ronkonkoma Station. Previously we lived in Riverhead and DH drive to Ronkonkoma station once. His total ONE way was 3 hrs, but he was commuting to Glendale area of Queens. That meant LIRR to Brooklyn and 2-3 (I can't recall) different subways. After that, he drives. He has a Honda Civic and honestly doesn't mind the commute (drive).

Re: Anyone commute to the city but live out east?

I live in selden and commute from Ronkonkoma to Penn. I hate commuting. i take the 7:04 which gets me to penn somewhere around 8:20 and then I take the E uptown and usually get in my office around 8:45. I take the 4:51 and get home about 6:10. This is all assuming that the Ronkonkoma line hasnt struck a pedestrian east of wyandanch or is experiencing signal problems (which typically occurs at least 5x a month). I wake up at 5:30am and dont get home until 6:30 at night.