I know someone who works at EWR, and lives near Allentown, PA. Says its about 1:30 to the employee lot at EWR. Allentown/Bethleham/Easton area looks decent, and looks like you could find a small aparment for under $1000 - though I'll admit, I haven't searched in a while (about a year - when I though I might get displaced to NYC myself.)

Good luck!