Parking at/near the the SOMa train station

So, how early does one need to be to get one of those non-permit spots near either train station?

Moving to WO in a couple of months and we're considering daycare options in WO, SOMa, Millburn, Livingston, Summit, but then where do I park the car after drop off? Do I take her on the jitney with me to SO and figure out how to get to the daycare from there?

Just got a call today that a spot opened up at the Y. Been on the wait list for about 9 months. Great news! Until I starting thinking about the logistics. With a 7am drop off, is that considered "early" for a parking spot? Or are the lots full by that time?

TIA

Congratulations on the Y spot! I'm a very happy Y parent to one preschool grad, and one kid in the waddler class. It's a great program. (Yes, I'm biased! )

At 7AM, you're probably not going to find a super-close paid spot by the Maplewood train station. However, you'll have your pick of non-permit spots, I'm wager. I'm a Maplewood resident, so I have a permit and no problems parking after my 7:02AM-ish dropoff. I'd sure others will chime in on what the best options for WO families will be. Good luck!

Do you commute into NY or Hoboken?

Hoboken preferably and switch to the Path into NY.

Thanks @Meganlibrarian.

I was hoping for a couple of daycare options in WO, but pick up seems to be until 5:30 at the two places I reached out to. That won't work for us.

Welcome to the area @DesignBox! there are a few of us WO folks on here and many commute from SO daily. If you are commuting to Hoboken, the Mountain Station stop offers good train options, the best is the 820AM, which is an express that only stops in Newark and Hoboken.

Thanks @seaweed. I'm sad to leave Brooklyn, but so excited to move to the St Cloud area.

I've wondered about the Mountain Station, but I'm not familiar with it. Is parking better there? I'd have to do a search for daycares nearby. Or, find one in WO, drive back home and take the jitney. That seems exhausting to me.

Parking is much better at mountain station--you can find a daily pay spot ($3/day) if you are there before 8 am.. It is very close to SO main station (just past the park) so if you have daycare near SO town center then it is just as convenient.

PS- many other families have moved to the area from Brooklyn and love it! you'll quickly see there is a very strong community here

So looking forward to it @seaweed. I'd been looking at SOMa for so long and never found something that fit our needs. Hadn't considered WO, until we fell in love with 2 houses we saw. Trying to choose between the two was the hard part.

It's been difficult trying to find community boards for WO. Any additional useful tips or info would be appreciated.

Definitely will look into Mountain Station. Thanks!

Mountain is super easy, day spots are available until at least 8:15 and maybe later. It only took a few (8?) months to get a monthly permit.

I ended up in WO in a similar way @DesignBox -- after a couple of years of shopping in Maplewood and a transaction that fell through after inspection, I stumbled on my current home almost accidentally, while driving around the SO/WO area and seeing an open house while WO does not have it's own message board, we fit into the SOMA community quite well and our neighbors are very welcoming here on MOL.

Aside from MOL, if you are a facebook regular, there is a very active Gregory Neighborhood Group with 800+ members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/168683286849/?fref=ts and there is also an active group for St Cloud, with 700+ members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stcloudwestorange/?fref=ts

As for other things -- when you move to the area, be sure to give all the local restaurants a try, some of my favorites are Arturos in Maplewood, Falafelly Yours in SO, Giorgios in SO, Lorenas in Maplewood, Kim's Sushi in WO. For groceries I recommend the Whole Foods in WO as it is never crowded and I love Trader Joes in Millburn. My favorite thing about this area is the south montain reservation, and being in St Cloud, you will be right next to it, so make sure to go hiking, especially see Hemlock Falls and check out the new walkway around the reservoir! Get to know your neighbors, most around here are much more friendly than I have experience elsewhere

Awesome! You're actually making me giddy with anticipation! Proximity to So Mountain Reservation was the selling point between the two houses we saw. My husband loves running on trails and he misses his Jersey Shore haunts. Thank you for all the suggestions!

@RobB, do you not need to be a resident for the Mountain Station parking permit?

@DesignBox your hubby will love it!!

Re the parking permit, you do not need to be a SO resident. You can submit the application and once your spot comes up, they will send you a letter by snail mail at which point you will start paying monthly for the spot at (if i recall $40/mo) I did this when I was taking the train, but by the time I got the spot, I had only one more month of train taking so I did not end up taking the permit, instead just parked daily and never was left without a spot

S.O. Country Day School is across the street from mountain station

Also, our lady of sorrows offers daycare and I'm pretty sure parents can park in their lot. It's a 5 min walk to the train (SO)

There are no super close to the Maplewood train station non-permit parking spaces. The closest non-permit parking spaces I am aware of do not become legal for parking until 9:00 am or later, which likely won't work for you. The closest unrestricted non-permit required spaces are likely to be about a ten minute walk from the train station and will most likely require walking up/down a steep hill.

Edited to add: There are NJT parking lots adjacent to the tracks by the Maplewood train station. You might still be able to find a space at that hour in the NJT lot by Maplewood Avenue and Baker Street but these are pay-by-the-day lots, not free parking.

There's tutor time day care on Northfield .

We have been extremely happy with Little Stages daycare in South Orange. They have a wonderful curriculum through Pre-k, very accommodating hours and are around the corner from the SO train station. It's smaller but they take advantage of their location with frequent trips to the parks, library and even SOPAC shows. There's also 12hr metered parking (.50/hr) across the street and there are a number of WO families enrolled.

DesignBox said:

@RobB, do you not need to be a resident for the Mountain Station parking permit?

You don't need to be a resident, but there might be some kind of SO resident preference (SO parking authority distributes the passes) I'm not sure.

I am officially overwhelmed!

@SuzanneNg - I just found out this morning about Tutor Time. It would be 5 min from the house so that would be ideal. I can go back home and take the jitney to SO. Being that it's new, I imagine there are no referrals. It's a chain?

RobB said:

DesignBox said:

@RobB, do you not need to be a resident for the Mountain Station parking permit?

You don't need to be a resident, but there might be some kind of SO resident preference (SO parking authority distributes the passes) I'm not sure.

It's an NJ Transit lot, so I'm pretty sure there's no preference for SO residents. (That might just be wishful thinking on my part as a WO resident waiting for a permit, though.)

DesignBox said:

I am officially overwhelmed!

@SuzanneNg - I just found out this morning about Tutor Time. It would be 5 min from the house so that would be ideal. I can go back home and take the jitney to SO. Being that it's new, I imagine there are no referrals. It's a chain?

Actually, it is a new building for an existing business (which is indeed part of a chain). They moved there from a site a mile or so away on the Livingston/Millburn border (freeing that site up for condo development).

Bee said:

S.O. Country Day School is across the street from mountain station

According to their website, they offer before care starting at 7:30 a.m. and after care ending at 6 p.m. Obviously this option works best if you can get parking at Mountain Station. The Village website gives the permit wait list time as 2 years, but I saw that RobB said upthread that he had to wait less than a year for a permit...

mauras said:

RobB said:

DesignBox said:

@RobB, do you not need to be a resident for the Mountain Station parking permit?

You don't need to be a resident, but there might be some kind of SO resident preference (SO parking authority distributes the passes) I'm not sure.

It's an NJ Transit lot, so I'm pretty sure there's no preference for SO residents. (That might just be wishful thinking on my part as a WO resident waiting for a permit, though.)

There is no preference, first come first serve. Mine took just over 4 months and unfortunately it was too late for me at the time

As for Tutor Time, they moved to that location very recently from Millburn and the building is brand new. If you look at the reviews of the Millburn location it will reflect the current WO location as it is the same place...

Mountain Station is great if you commute to Hoboken. Older trains but lower stress than the SO->Penn mess.

marcsiry said:

Mountain Station is great if you commute to Hoboken. Older trains but lower stress than the SO->Penn mess.

So much lower stress! I've been parking in the daily lot lately and commuting through Hoboken both ways (previously I was returning home via Penn Station to SO station), and my stress levels have plummeted. :-D

I just put in my application for a permit, and the confirmation email said the wait is currently 12-18 months. I'm hoping it will actually be less, but in the meantime, the daily lot is fine.

mauras said:

marcsiry said:

Mountain Station is great if you commute to Hoboken. Older trains but lower stress than the SO->Penn mess.

So much lower stress! I've been parking in the daily lot lately and commuting through Hoboken both ways (previously I was returning home via Penn Station to SO station), and my stress levels have plummeted. :-D

I always recommend commuting through Hoboken, when fairly practical and possible. In my case, it gets me to work perhaps 5 minutes slower than via Penn, and it's such a pleasant experience by comparison.

Though, if too many people switch to Hoboken, this might not be the case down the line. Whoops. Um.... HOBOKEN SUCKS. COMMUTE THROUGH PENN. ;-)

Good point, @meganlibrarian--we wouldn't want to give away NJ Transit's best-kept secret! ;-)

So the two lots at the Mountain station are NJ Transit? One for permits and another for daily?

I think we'll sign up for the Y, still need to find something for the summer. And if she likes where she ends up, maybe I'll keep her there. If we stay at the Y, we'll try the daily lot in Maplewood.

So many things to consider...plus pack, close on our apt, move everything to storage, then close in WO and move/unpack.

The daily lots in Maplewood are first come, first served. Try to have a back-up plan in case the lot is filled on a given day.