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Cities: Massachusetts (Boston/Worcester alone beat all Jersey Cities)
Picturesque: Landslide Massachusetts (Rockport, Gloucester, Down Cape, MV, Nantucket > Jersey)
Suburbs: Massachusetts
Economy: Massachusetts obviously
Beaches by Quality: Massachusetts
Public Transportation: Massachusetts and the T, Commuter Rail
Schooling: Slight edge to Massachusetts
QOL: Tied. I could see MA taking the clear lead in the next 5-7 years with all their developments and T improvements. But well see.
Urban Living: New Jersey (Hoboken+Jersey City+Edgewater>Cambridge+Quincy+Slummerville+Brook line. For now)
COL: New Jersey (In the past year or so, MA has actually become more expensive.. especially near the Hub)
Things to Do: New Jersey (The Shore, NYC, Philly> Cape, Boston, MV/Nantucket and Berkshires)
Family Friendly: Slight edge to NJ
Overall: Massachusetts ... back in 2009 I would have given Mass the slight edge.. however, NJ has fallen behind a lot from MA in the last 10 years that I give it a huge margin. Almost EVERY category these two states rock the #1 or #2 spot... NJ has slipped a bit to maybe #3-5 in some categories. But again .. these are wicked awesome and smart states.
By age I think It differs however:
Age 1: Massachusetts
Age 10: New Jersey (More family fun in NJ) Age 15: New Jersey (Six Flags an beaches are more fun)
Age 21: Massachusetts
Age 24: New Jersey (Better Nightlife)
Age 30: Massachusetts
Age 40: Massachusetts
Age 50: Massachusetts
Age 70: Massachusetts/NJ Tie
I know where Massachusetts' beaches are, and it does have some great ones on the Cape, but I'd say those on the Jersey shore outrank the Bay State's for those qualities I'd label "beachiness." They certainly have finer sand and larger expanse. The only downside is that the Jersey Shore is way overbuilt.
I know where Massachusetts' beaches are, and it does have some great ones on the Cape, but I'd say those on the Jersey shore outrank the Bay State's for those qualities I'd label "beachiness." They certainly have finer sand and larger expanse. The only downside is that the Jersey Shore is way overbuilt.
Where's the Six Flags park in Massachusetts?
Agawam, near Springfield, I'm sure they have a website
I tend to feel sorry for Newark. Were it anywhere other than in Northern New Jersey, a mere 15-minute train ride from Manhattan, it would be a major metropolitan center in its own right. And even so, it still has the infrastructure and most of the attributes of one; granted, its airport is as big as it is because it's one of the New York region's three main ones, but it would still have a decent one if it stood on its own with its own suburbs and adjacent Jersey City.
This contest's a toughie overall, though. I'm fond of both Massachusetts, where I went to college, and New Jersey, next to which I live now.
On the cities tip, Boston tips the scales in Massachusetts' favor. (Someone once wrote a piece inThe Philadelphia Inquirer's now-defunct Sunday magazine arguing that Philadelphia should secede from Pennsylvania and attach itself to New Jersey. Should that ever happen - a highly unlikely prospect - this assessment will change dramatically.) Both states have their share of faded-glory industrial cities, but Massachusetts has managed to turn one of its into a historical theme park.
I'd also give Boston's suburbs higher marks than the North Jersey suburbs of Newark/New York. The South Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia are even less impressive. But both have their standout communities: Montclair and Morristown, to name a few, in North Jersey, Haddonfield, Moorestown and Collingswood in the south. But the "town common" design of most of the Boston 'burbs gives them an edge in the attractiveness department. (Wait, I forgot about terminally charming Princeton, which may put this into a jump-ball category.)
New Jersey, however, has a more varied landscape than Massachusetts. I can find parts of New Jersey that would not look out of place at all in New England, especially Sussex County in the state's northwest corner. And the Pinelands have a certain beauty about them as well, though I have yet to go hunting for the Jersey Devil in them.
As for agriculture, most of the really good stuff New England produces seems to me to come from the states surrounding Massachusetts. New Jersey actually grows more cranberries than Massachusetts does, and it has some of the nation's finest tomatoes to boot.
New Jersey ain't cheap either, and its property taxes are among the highest in the country, but I do think it holds a slight COL edge over Massachusetts.
Boston may be the nation's biggest college town, but there are actually more of those in New Jersey and the two metropolitan areas that border it. It's just that they don't define their environments the way Boston's seem to. (Though Rowan University is doing its best to redefine sleepy Glassboro in its image.)
QOL is a tossup. New Jersey, however, is the home base of the best supermarket alliance on the East Coast. The independent supermarket owners who together own ShopRite (Wakefern Food Corporation) are aggressive competitors on price - often enough, it's the low price leader in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - but they don't skimp on quality either. (Also: has Wegmans entered New England yet?)
Whoever gave Massachusetts the edge on transportation because of the MBTA must never have used New Jersey Transit, the nation's third-largest mass transit agency and one of only a few that operate statewide. Its rail network is heavily weighted towards the state's north half, but that only makes sense given how much later South Jersey suburbanized. Buses, including comfortable highway coaches, provide service to many points throughout the state and connect NJ communities to both NYC and Philadelphia.
As I said, this is close, but I'm going to give the nod to New Jersey. Maybe if I still lived in Massachusetts, however, I'd come to a different conclusion.
The_General: Thanks; I'll go look it up. As for "beachiness," I was deliberately vague because I think the attirbutes that go into it are highly subjective. But large expanses of fine sand are IMO a major component, and the sand at Massachusetts beaches is coarser. Plus I can't think of a Massachusetts beach that seems to stretch endlessly; New Jersey has a bunch of those on its barrier islands (south to north: Wildwood, Seven Mile, Sea Isle City/Strathmere, Ocean City, Absecon, Brigantine, Long Beach - plus Island Beach State Park, Seaside Heights/Park, the Ocean County shore and Cape May, which adds charming Victorian architecture to the mix). Put simply, coastal New Jersey is just about one continuous beach, with things like boardwalks and towns beside them. If I want someplace secluded, I'd go for a beach like that at Marblehead, but I like the higher level of activity at the Jersey beaches overall.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl
The_General: Thanks; I'll go look it up. As for "beachiness," I was deliberately vague because I think the attirbutes that go into it are highly subjective. But large expanses of fine sand are IMO a major component, and the sand at Massachusetts beaches is coarser. Plus I can't think of a Massachusetts beach that seems to stretch endlessly; New Jersey has a bunch of those on its barrier islands (south to north: Wildwood, Seven Mile, Sea Isle City/Strathmere, Ocean City, Absecon, Brigantine, Long Beach - plus Island Beach State Park, Seaside Heights/Park, the Ocean County shore and Cape May, which adds charming Victorian architecture to the mix). Put simply, coastal New Jersey is just about one continuous beach, with things like boardwalks and towns beside them. If I want someplace secluded, I'd go for a beach like that at Marblehead, but I like the higher level of activity at the Jersey beaches overall.
Agawam, near Springfield, I'm sure they have a website
That may have something to do with the prior poster's relative assessment of the two states for family fun.
Six Flags Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor are in Jackson Township, Ocean County, just off I-195, the east-west highway that runs across New Jersey's middle from Trenton to the shore at Belmar. It's very centrally located relative to just about everywhere in the state, including the shore.
You have to travel almost the entire length of Massachusetts to get from the beaches to Six Flags New England.
That may have something to do with the prior poster's relative assessment of the two states for family fun.
Six Flags Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor are in Jackson Township, Ocean County, just off I-195, the east-west highway that runs across New Jersey's middle from Trenton to the shore at Belmar. It's very centrally located relative to just about everywhere in the state, including the shore.
You have to travel almost the entire length of Massachusetts to get from the beaches to Six Flags New England.
I mean according to google maps it takes 1:15 from Newark to Six Flags and it takes 1:34 minutes to get from Boston to Six Flags.
I know where Massachusetts' beaches are, and it does have some great ones on the Cape, but...
There are beaches on the North Shore and the South Coast that rival the beaches on the Cape, imo.
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard have extraordinary beaches as well.
I don’t know enough about New Jersey’s beaches to make a comparison; I just wanted to point out that MA’s nice beaches aren’t just limited to the Cape.
Ill take Massachusett’s islands, in a silo, over the rest of New Jersey.
Jk (kinda)
Now, if we could only figure out a way to keep New Jersey’s elite from coming to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard...
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