[Dr. Scarpetta]

Here's the deal. Joe the truck driver or John the junior analyst at Commerce Bank want to own a home, but don't want a fixer upper, a condo, or to gentrify a sketchy neighborhood. They want the same house as a senior executive on a large plot of land. Can't get that in Jersey, so they go to eastern PA. Then they find that the house they bought is of sh-t construction, traffic remains hellish, they spend half their day commuting, and half their disposable income on gasoline. Not too smart IMHO.

The Easton, PA suburban area has been taken over by expensive housing developments in recent years. Then Route 33 to Route 78 was finished in PA, and there are more commuters, developments, and shopping centers in Bethlehem Twp. Trans-bridge Bus Lines runs many buses back and forth to NYC everyday. Commuters can get new houses here for $350,000 and they think that's dirt cheap.

[Huck]

Crazy. I got a great house that I love in NW NJ for 175K.

[Clemenza]

That's because $350,000 IS dirt cheap. Where I lived in BAY RIDGE (see Saturday Night Fever) the Chinese were paying $600,000 for a two-bedroom/one bath frame bungalow on a postage stamp sized piece of property.

Most folks I have met who move to the Poconos tend to work in western New Jersey. It is suicidal to commute all the way to Manhattan, bus or not.

Then again, some people just need to have the huge new house on a large plot of land, even if it means a 60 mile commute. The rest of us think they are morons.

[NativeNewYorker]

...new houses here for $350,000 and they think that's dirt cheap

That'll buy you a SMALL one bedroom condo in Brooklyn, 5 stops from Manhattan.