"1 hour from New York City" challenge

[Patrick Ruff]

The setup: wife and I live in NYC, her parents recently rented an apartment close to us in order to be with our firstborn son (who is just starting to crawl...), THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH (some good YouTube clips on that if you're interested) and we can both work remote so why not move somewhere with a lower cost of living?

The challenge: wife is okay with the concept of house hacking but will only do it if it's within 1 hour of the city for fear that her work forces her to come into the office

Main question (please post on this if you know): are there places within an hour's commute to New York city that we could move, get a nice multi-family, and not pay the $3k+ rent we currently pay (the in-laws I'm guessing could find something better/cheaper than the short-term rental they have now)

My thoughts: I'm not looking for something like $600k or whatever, more along the lines of something like a $300k 3 br / 3 br duplex that we could live in one half and rent out the other

[Al Diaz]

You may be able to find something along those lines in West Orange, Belleville, or possibly Bloomfield. Travel into NYC from those towns in under the hour range (I've lived in West Orange for the last 7 years, and while there is no direct station into the city, you are within 10 minutes or less of at least 6 stops). 

Also - if you plan on house hacking, (gulp) why not consider having your in-laws as your first tenant? They are already in the rental market, and you know when issues pop up, you will have more cooperation from then since you fathered their grandchild. It's not for everyone, but it's an option.