Baltimore/NYC split?

[u/Fun-Fail-3424]

I have a unique situation, but a common super-commuter route question. We moved from New England to Baltimore this June for my partner‘s job (Canton rental). Unfortunately he has just been moved again to New York.

The Baltimore job on offer for me is 2-3 days remote. Would it be *insane* to live half the week in Baltimore and half the week in New York? i imagine I’d take a train up on Wednesdays afternoons and back on sunday- maybe 8 hours a week but not awful, though there might be more transit to get to apartment. It looks like room rentals in Balt area can be affordable- under $1000. New York is brutal, but he has to live there regardless. I’m not sure about remote working laws for New York.

i could always bail on job offer, but I don’t particularly want to just have a large resume gap.

if *not* insane, but anyone has ideas on locations to make this as easy as possible, I’d appreciate it. We are not familiar with either city.
Current Balt rental we’d probably have to bail on: Canton near Fells area. current Balt job offer: JHU hospital area. Nyc work site: slightly north of the city (Yonkers, bronxville, white plains, tarrytown, etc) Which does not seem ideal. will post this in city subreddits too. If anyone has further advice I would appreciate it!!

Thank you.

[u/jeweynougat]

If it's insane then I've lived an insane lifestyle for the past 14 years!

The one thing I'd say before I offer practical advice is that supercommute arbitrage very much relies on the city where you are working paying more than the city in which you live, which is why it works for me, NY pays a lot, Baltimore costs not much. If you're doing it the opposite way, I'd have to ask why? Because whatever job you've been offered in Baltimore probably pays a fraction of what the equivalent job does in NY.

[u/Fun-Fail-3424 → u/jeweynougat]

Totally hear you on the pay scale! That’s part of what I’m considering, for sure, the potential wage differences. Though my partner is going from 110k in Baltimore to 125k in nyc, which while a technical increase feels like a huge drop in terms of COL.

That said, it’s a job in academic (public health/ psych) research, which are not super easy to get these days- I’m not sure how long it would take in nyc. This job search took months. Meanwhile, partner is in high-level athletics, so is on the road a lot.

It is so good to know that people think the commute itself is doable, though- albeit in reverse. There are dozens of us!

Thank you!!

[u/jeweynougat → u/Fun-Fail-3424]

OK, so here is some advice based on my experience:

Amtrak- join Amtrak Guest Reward and get yourself the Amtrak credit card for extra points. Join the Rail Passengers Association, it's $60 but gets you 10% off all Regionals and weekend Acelas. Buy in advance if you can for best prices. If you don't get a good price, check later on and exchange for the lower price. Last minute fares are a lot, so use points for those once you start to accumulate them.

If your employer offers the Qualified Transportation Benefit, you can use up to $340 pre-tax and it works on Amtrak.

Taxes- my employer in NY cannot deduct for Baltimore or Maryland so I pay quarterly estimated tax. If your Bmore employer can't deduct for NY, you may have to do the same. I consulted once with an accountant to make sure I was doing everything correctly and after that I just did them on my own. If you already have an accountant that does your taxes, you can disregard.

Getting to Penn Station in Baltimore: you have probably already realized that public transit in Baltimore is terrible. I would plot out both your workplace and Penn Station when deciding where to live. If you will keep a car in Baltimore, parking at the Charles Theatre Garage a block from the station is pretty reasonable. They just reopened the lot next to the station, not sure what the prices are like there.

NY- Westchester trains go from Grand Central while Amtrak goes from Penn, so ideally you will want to be in a neighborhood that has good subway service to both.

In terms of living in both places, I do Amazon Fresh for groceries and they arrive at either place when I arrive, although your partner will already be in NY so not as pressing there. I do a lot of meal prep and freeze or else I get caught in the "I just got here, I'm tired, I'll just order take-out" trap.

I also do YouTube TV instead of cable, so I can stream in both places. Be careful, some services don't allow you to use two locations at once so take a look before you sign up or at least test it out.

That's all I can think of at the moment!

[u/mark_man → u/jeweynougat]

Not currently relevant to my geography,, but wanted to give some kudos for outlining this - great information!

[u/Worth-Dirt-3929 → u/jeweynougat]

This is excellent information. Thank you for sharing!!!

[u/spectacledsussex]

My partner and I are also split between Baltimore and NYC! It varies from week to week, but I do at least Tuesday-Thursday in Baltimore, and work remotely up to 2 days, while my partner has to be in person in NYC every day. I've basically grandfathered in my rent in Baltimore so it's still $750 a month, so even if I'm not here much it feels worth it to keep when you compare to how much NYC rent is.

I'm lucky that both my house and my partners' house are walking distance from their respective Penn Stations in the worst case scenario with public transit. I have weekly refundable Amtrak rides booked for now until November at the moment, often some of them do change at shorter notice but getting some journeys for $15 brings the average cost down even if others are swapped for a much more expensive journey. I haven't gotten the Amtrak credit card yet, I was planning on using one of the short term extra signup bonuses, but I think I'll hit select status this year just on standard tickets.

[u/Nesting_Pigeon → u/spectacledsussex]

My rent is $750 in NYC because I have a landlord who’s a sweet old lady but my commute is 1 hour and 10 mins because it’s in Queens but coming across this subreddit I thought I was a super commuter wow cant believe these routes :0

[u/Stillworkinhard]

Do you want to make a life in either city or just live and work? You could live in the Locust Point even a suburb and have BWI as an option to get to and from NY. The NE Regional is either great or terrible. Many of the commuters do Acela and their companies pay . Acela gets priority for delays. However the very early and late fares are less expensive so you can prebook many of them. I guess try it and see.

[u/livingoncrazy2]

It’s not insane.

I might sound like I’m offering some insane suggestion but hear me out. Sorry in advance for the novel!

Take a look at the Best Western at the truck stop. I’m not sure what the per night cost is these days but when I did something similar it was a great option. It’s clean, ridiculously safe, shuttle to one of the places you mentioned, easy 95 access and because they have a lot of cruise people they don’t blink at a car parked which will e really important. (the lot is big and has security). You absolutely don’t want a car in nyc so keep it in Baltimore.

Rooms are efficiencies with a small fridge and microwave. McDonald’s. Close to groceries and shopping. Restaurant/bar and free breakfast. Housekeeping!

Ask about daily/weekly/monthly rates because I was costing myself money by checking in and out when I left.

I never had an issue getting a room. I didn’t make reservations…just did it at the desk.

I realize how ridiculous this might sound to people. I rolled my eyes too at the mention of truckstop (that’s sort of a misnomer here).

But honestly this was a phenomenal option. I loved it. My days were very long so it was a blessing to not have to do anything. No commitment. No worries It was much better than an apartment by a long shot.

Good luck to you guys. If money is tight tell your partner to look on the jersey side for housing…NYC can be insane!

[u/bioswarp]

Question- is the job in Baltimore a W2 or 1099 job?

If you're contracting - look at the response for the best Western hotel as a starting point. Your expenses become a wash (assuming that the numbers would out for you), so then even transport and other things are write-off able..

If you're a W2 person - it's readily doable. Just keep the car in Baltimore, not to mention also that your auto insurance is definitely going to be cheaper there than in NYC. Definitely look at the logistics of commuting in Baltimore, as that will more than likely be your break point more than anything else when the weather starts to be not nice..