Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I may have an opportunity in white plains, wondering if anyone knows what the commute is like? traffic on bridges, etc?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Where would you be coming from?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

DH works in White Plains & we used to live in Astoria.

He took the Triborough, because he lived pretty close to it, and they traffic was only bad on Friday afternoons & more so in the summer.

I think it took him about 45 minutes, leaving at 7:30am.

Would you be working regular business hours?

ETA-Jax is/was working in Valhalla I think , which is just past White Plains & commuting from Queens.

Message edited 3/14/2007 4:34:02 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Coming from Southeast Queens (near Kennedy) to White Plains.

I don';t have any offers yet, but I am up for 2 jobs.

One, that would be an ok job is in midtown, vs the job I really want in White Plains.

I live a lot closer to the Whitestone than the triboro. Probably working 9-5 or 10-6, not really sure, probably some late nights.

I figure midtown takes me 45min-1 hour on the subway, and white plains woud be 45min-1 hour driving, the only major difference would be the tolls, unless there is really stressful traffic. But I did commute to Long Island every day for school and I didn't mind it most of the time

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I'm not sure how the Whitestone is in rush hour, but that's what we usually take to get home from LI.
Without traffic (on the weekends) it isn't bad at all. We live just a few minutes south of White Plains & probably are over the Whitestone in about 25 minutes.

It also depends where in White Plains you have to go. If you have to drive through the downtown area it could slow you down, there are a lot of busses & cabs it is pretty crowded.

Message edited 3/14/2007 5:17:15 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I think you would be better off w/ the 10-6 shift if you get it. Traffic should ease up by then and I think you would be safe leaving your house at like 8:45-9:00ish.

If you take the Hutch up once you get into Westchester it is horrible from 7:45-9:00. After 9:00am it is usually wide open unless their is an accident or bad weather.

Going home after 6 shouldn't be bad.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

whitestone to i-95 north to 287 west

should take you about 40 minutes

traffic is opposite so i think you would be fine

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Thanks. I am applying for a few positions within the same company and the person I spoke with is actually my former boss and he gave me reason to believe I have a good chance at the job, but he asked me about the commute, I told him I really wasn;t sure and I had to look into it, but that I was definitely willing to make the commute.

I think if I can leave one hour ahead and ahve that be a safe margin, then it's not really a bad commute.

I'm guessing at the hours. If it's 10-6, it would be a LOT better

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I heard Whitestone has more traffic than Throgs Neck, with the construction and all. You do have to be concerned about the traffic on the bridge. Yes traffic wont' be that bad in the morning. I'm not sure about the evening.

Message edited 3/14/2007 10:32:42 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

DH had this commute and we are closer to the bridges than you are, right off the Clearview Exp. He hated it, especially in the winter months. He didn't love the job, so I am sure it made the commute worse, but the commute was one of the reasons he left the job.

From what he has told me, the mornings weren't too bad but the evening commute could be hellish. One accident could back everything up for a while. His commute home was always about an hour, usually longer if there was bad weather.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I commute from Bayside to Stamford every day

and I used to commute from Long Beach to Stamford (1 hour and 45 minutes on a good day- 3 plus hours on a bad day)

it cost me $10 a day in tolls and as long as it isn't raining, snowing, or some major accident I can get to work in about 40 minutes

however- when I had to come up from the southern state using the cross island or the van wyck- there is no time that those roads move quick- I would spend at least 40 minutes getting from the Southern State to the bridge

once I cross the bridge I am usually fine

Message edited 3/15/2007 10:47:34 AM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I commuted from Brooklyn to Stamford CT for approximately 8 months. It was the WORST decision I ever made in my life.

On a GREAT day the commute (driving) was 45 minutes - Belt Parkway to Cross Island to ThrogsNeck to I95 to The Hutch (Westcher/White Plains - 287.)

However, MANY times the commute home was MURDER - I believe one day I sat in my car for approximately 6 hours. I ended up smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes. You are just STUCK. This happened more than once, and more than TEN times that I immediately started looking for another position back in NYC b/c I was going to murder someone or kill myself.

In the mornings I would leave the house no later than 7am and the traffic wasn't bad since it was the reverse-commute. But going home, you would have to leave by 3pm to beat the traffic. There were times where I stayed at work until 8pm (our office overlooked 95 so I could see the traffic) just to wait it out.

p.s. Commuting via PT was NOT an option for me. I would've had to take three subways to Grand Central and then Metro-North.

ETA: I also tried different routes - BQE to the Tri-boro....BQE to the FDR to the Third Avenue Bridge...

Message edited 3/15/2007 10:46:43 AM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Yikes!

Why is the vening so much worse than the am?

I am reallty worried about the Van Wyck or the Cross Island. Is there an alternate route?

ETA: I applied for the SAME job in Garden City, but there's less competition for White Plains. I am praying hard that I get Garden City

Message edited 3/15/2007 2:17:55 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I commute from Forest Hills to Valhalla every day. It's not terrible most mornings. I take the Whitestone expressway over the Whitestone bridge, then the Hutch north, Cross County West and Sprain north. The cross county often gets backed up, but i'm not on it for a very long time.

In general,it takes me 45 min. to get to work w/o any major traffic. Maybe closer to an hour to get home. The problems come when there is an accident or flooding..then there is no predicting the time it will take. My two longest trips were 3 and 4 hours, but that is SO rare. Usually, it's no more than an hour 15, even with traffic.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I could take the streets up. and then get one something further north. Where is the whitestone expwy?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Do you think it's worth it for a great job vs and ok one in midtown?

Midtown takes me 45-1 hour on the train, and you're not guaranteed a seat, and I honestly get sick on the subway. I have no immune system and there are so many germs. So that's why I figured 45 min-1hour in the car is actually better than 45-min on the train

However, on the subway it's really never going to take more than 1.5 hours no matter what, wheras I guess form white plains it would take forever. Plus I literally know no one up there/

If I got the job in GC (Much less likely, and I'm not sure I'm up for ir), if it snowed a lot of the traffic was awful I could crash at FH's.

I guess I just need to pray

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I think your best options are the 8-4 or 10-6 shift. Also White Plains is another 15mins or so from Bronxville.

I live in the town next to Bronxville. I can tell you if you are going to be taking the Hutch North to WP it will be slow from 7:30-9:00. I used to commute to Stamford and had to take the Hutch everyday and it sucked.

Re: Has anyone ever commuted to the Bx or Westchester?

I commute to White Plains every day and it is really not bad.

I leave early - about 6:30 - because I'm a teacher and school starts early.

I take the LIE to the Clearview, over the throgs neck, and depending on traffic reports, I take the hutch to exit 21 or 95 to exit 18b.

I rarely hit traffic.

I can tell you, that after 6:45, the cross Island is hit or miss - it can be a mess at times.

FM if you have more questions.

ETA - if you do the 8-4 shift, you will have MUCh less trouble with traffic. If I leave school at 4, I rarely hit traffic - unless there is an accident or flooding on the hutch. After 5, it can take anywhere from 45 min to 2 hours and I'm in mineola.

Message edited 3/16/2007 11:30:16 AM.